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Christine Suurtam, Ph.D. - Prix d'excellence en enseignement 2013
>>> Christine: So I’m Christine Suurtam currently the director of teacher education
and I’m also a professor in mathematics education in the University. I’ve been here
since 2002 it about 11 and half years. So I think probably the thing that I get most
from teaching is really that teaching energizes me. It’s extremely tiring but it also is
energizing. I find that as a teacher I probably learn as much from my students as they would
learn from me and it’s really through the kind of dialogue that we have in class.
>>>Lorna McLean: I think one of the really important qualities that I’ve seen Chris
demonstrate over her time at the faculty is the way in which she enhances knowledge mobilization
through research and practice. And I’ve seen evidence of this in the way that she
works with her colleagues as a leader in teacher education and with the graduates’ students.
>>>Jennifer Elisabeth Hall: She still always makes time for you. And when you are in a
meeting with her, you are the important thing; it’s not out of focus, even though she probably
might have 20 other things to do that day you always feel that you are valued to her
and her focus is on you. So I find that especially given how busy she is, I find that very impressive.
>>>Sharon Cook: She is a prodigious worker, she has been able to shoulder a work load
that would choke a horse or lesser beings and get through it and I think part of that
is her ability to work cooperatively that she is able to engage others to work effectively
to a common cause. >>>Jennifer Elisabeth Hall: She does it all
well, she does it with a smile on her face, she does it you know in supporting others,
and I think that really sets her apart. >>>Lorna McLean: One of the ways she enhances
knowledge mobilization in the faculty is around the issue of the math camp which she was one
of the founding members of. And the research indicated that teacher ed’s students require
additional assistance with math so along with her colleagues she started this math camp
which continues until this day that is held the week before teacher’s education for
students to sign up who need to develop additional skills in math.
>>>Christine: For me teaching is probably all about inquiring, so it is always about
trying to find out more, trying to understand more, so I see that as setting up opportunities
for my students’ within a classroom that they can engage with ideas, have discussion
about ideas and move their thinking forward. So for me it’s also about understanding
their thinking and seeing each of the students as a unique individual to see what it is they
actually bring to the table and to connect with those ideas and help them to make other
connections to the kind of ideas that they already have.
I think that maybe you know, being able to celebrate excellence in teaching is a way
for us to open up the dialogue about teaching, and for us to create forms for talking about
teaching, because I think many of us are excellent in teaching and I think by sharing ideas and
having those kind of dialogues it will just move us forward even more.
>>>Sharon Cook: She won this award for her qualities of being an extraordinary teacher,
someone who gives service to the faculty far beyond, and the University broadly, far beyond
what is expected and for her leadership which has helped to envision what education is going
to look like in the twenty-first century, what teacher education is going to look like
as well. She has the ability to put that into practice, and that deserves an award, that
deserves many awards.