Valuing your Experience
The access initiative seeks to address systemic barriers to equal access and opportunities. Most often, these types of barriers will take the form of substantial discrimination on grounds recognized in the Ontario Human Rights Code (race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, religion, family status or disability). The Access Initiative in the Faculty of Education recognizes applicants who may be subjected to differential treatment in society and its institutions based on their social identities, including:
- Indigenous Persons (First Nations, Métis, Inuit, Status, Non-Status)
- Disabled People/People with disabilities
- Racialized Persons (A racialized group is a group of people who may experience social inequities based on their racial background and intersections with ethnicity, faith/spiritual worldview, and place of birth. Examples may include those who identify as Black, Asian, Latinx, Muslim and so on.)
- Other Minoritized Persons (Examples may include: people marginalized by poverty, gender and sexual orientation, language, accent, dialect, and refugees or people with refugee experiences)
Applicants are encouraged to select all relevant categories that are applicable to their lived experience. All eligible individuals will have their varied experiences valued throughout the application process. As we read access files, we are committed to recognizing, valuing, and fairly assessing applicants who have diverse experiences and insights into teaching and learning. We are actively recruiting and supporting applicants from communities in the Greater Toronto Area in which there has been historical underrepresentation of teacher candidates.
How to Apply
Applicants who apply under the Access Initiative will complete the same application process as non-Access applicants applying for either the Bachelor of Education concurrent or consecutive program models. In addition, those applying under the Access Initiative are asked to include the following:
- On the supplementary application form check either yes or no beside the Access categories.
- Refer in the personal statement to the individual and/or systemic barriers encountered.
- Explain how your learning through these experiences might be valuable when building relationships and working with diverse groups of students.
The Access Initiative seeks to provide opportunities for all eligible individuals to have their varied experiences not only considered, but valued. Our commitment is to graduate an outstanding cohort of educators who will reflect and inspire a diverse student population.