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Concentrations and Specializations

Concentrations

Five concentrations are offered for the MEd, MA(Ed) and PhD(Ed) degrees.

Educational Counselling

This concentration expands your theoretical knowledge and your practical skills in both personal counselling and career development. On the strength of these degrees, you can practise one-on-one or lead group interventions in community or institutional settings. You could also opt for private practice. Graduates of the PhD program will be positioned for assuming supervisory and managerial roles in varied counselling contexts.

For example, our graduates work throughout government in both career counselling and employee-assistance programs. Others practise in non-profit organizations, such as addiction-treatment centres, youth centres or other agencies requiring counselling experts.

Indeed, the list of possible employers open to you once you graduate is long and varied: community and social-service agencies, elementary schools, secondary schools, colleges, universities, government agencies and private companies.

Finally, completing the MEd/MA with concentration in Educational Counselling qualifies you for certification with the Canadian Counselling Association and, with additional requirements, for certification with the Ordre des conseillers et conseillères d’orientation et des psychoéducateurs et psychoéducatrices du Québec (OCCOPPQ).

Organizational Studies in Education

This concentration is intended for people wishing to exercise effective leadership in an educational institution, to acquire a better understanding of their work environment, and to expand their knowledge of the components of leadership.

This concentration covers four areas:

1. The operation of structures
2. The human dimension
3. The design and evaluation of programs
4. The ecology of school organization

Second Language Education

Being able to speak a second or third language is a powerful tool, which can, however, sometimes prove very difficult to acquire, hence the importance of a solid program and skilled instructors.

This concentration will allow you to enhance your knowledge of the theoretical foundations of second language teaching and related research, of the development of educational programs and materials, and of educational practices.

The program will provide you with the tools needed to identify and evaluate how related disciplines (psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics and pedagogy) contribute to second language teaching, to analyse and evaluate various approaches based on the fundamentals of the discipline, and to acquire a critical and creative perspective on the methods and techniques used to teach second languages.

Society, Culture and Literacies

Literacy is our way of coming in contact with the environment and decoding it.

Literacy takes many forms, for example the written word, technologies, discourse, science, art, and factors into its development the influence of the family, individual differences, and society. It enables people to see and interpret the world from these different perspectives. This concentration focuses on the social and cultural issues related to diverse literacies.

Teaching, Learning and Evaluation

How do people learn? How can we teach and evaluate people effectively? This concentration is designed to achieve a better understanding of learning processes and strategies, teaching strategies, and learning and evaluation methods as these apply to children as well as adults. It also meets the needs of people interested in working with exceptional children or with adults, whether the focus is on delivery or evaluation.

Courses address the four following areas:

1. Evaluation of learning
2. Adult education
3. Theories and strategies for teaching and learning
4. Exceptional children

This customized and balanced program of study will allow you to choose at least one course within each of the various areas, based on your personal and professional interests.

Collaborative Programs

Women’s Studies (Master)

The collaborative program in women’s studies at the master’s level is designed for students from selected disciplines in arts, education, health sciences, law, social sciences, and counselling and spirituality (Saint Paul University), who have an interest in women’s studies. These students are permitted to combine advanced studies in their primary discipline with analyses from a women’s studies perspective. The program thus adopts at the graduate level the interdisciplinary structures and approach which have proven effective in undergraduate studies. The degree awarded is a master’s degree in the primary discipline with “specialization in women’s studies”.

Canadian Studies (PhD)

Because of its strength in relevant areas, its bilingual character and its location in the national capital, the University of Ottawa is uniquely positioned to offer a collaborative program leading to a specialization in Canadian Studies at the doctoral level. The program is especially designed for doctoral students in selected programs in the humanities and the social sciences who wish to enrich their training in a particular discipline by including an interdisciplinary component.