Grant program: Teaching and Learning Development Grant (TLDG)

Grant recipient: Clint Burnham, Department of English

Project team: Sarah Grant, research assistant

Timeframe: November 2013 to May 2014

Funding: $5,000  

Course addressed: The courses required for the MA for Teachers of English

Final report: View Clint Burnham's final report project (PDF).

From the final report: "Interest from elsewhere in the province (outside the lower mainland/Fraser Valley) does not suggest we should change the delivery mode of the program. And there is strong interest in Aboriginal/First Nations literature." Read more >>

Description: This project addresses the problem of declining enrolment in the M.A. for Teachers of English (MATE) program of the English department (based at the Surrey campus). The viability of MATE, which started in 2007, is threatened by low enrolment, and we are trying to determine if changes in delivery modes and curriculum items will reverse that decline. If the project is successful, student learning in the area of First Nations literature will be greatly enhanced, with positive outcomes for both those students and, in turn, their students throughout BC.

Research would entail the design, distribution, and analysis of a questionnaire sent to several school districts in BC regarding the school districts interest and demand for English literature programs at the masters level.  This research would contribute to a curriculum document, to be drafted based on its outcomes. It would also potentially lead to a second teaching and learning development grant project, which would implement the findings in a redesign of the delivery/curriculum of MATE.

Questions addressed:

• Is there student demand in various school districts in BC for remote and/or online delivery of a graduate program in English literature designed for working teachers?
• What interest is there in those districts for an enhanced First Nations literature core curriculum?

Knowledge sharing: This project is overseen by the MATE steering committee, which includes the MATE director, the director of graduate programs for SFU English, and the chair of the department. We will report to the steering committee at regular intervals.  We will later present a business case to SCSC as part of remodelling the delivery and curriculum components of MATE, for a 2015 intake.