On April 27th, 120 local teachers joined Workforce WindsorEssex for the Educator Tour day of ten businesses around the region. The purpose of the interactive PD Day was to link educators and industry, informing them on future career opportunities in our community and creating a conversation between the two.
The Educator Tour was open to all teachers from Conseil scolaire catholique Providence. The tours visited a diverse range of industries, including healthcare, manufacturing, food production, and more.
Workforce WindsorEssex strongly believes in the importance of connecting industry to education. We want to provide resources and opportunities so that educators can continue to increase their understanding of our local labour market so that they can share accurate information with their students. Educators are teaching, training and inspiring our future workforce, and we want them to be as equipped as possible in those important roles.
We also want industry to further develop their understanding of local education and training, and have access to opportunities to host experiential learning opportunities for educators and students.
Workforce WindsorEssex surveyed the educators before the trip and 77% of survey respondents had not toured a local business or company before, with or without their students.
Only 16% of educators had a strong connection to industry and 70% felt as though they did not have a strong understanding of our local labour market.
Teachers from all subject areas have the opportunity to be a key source of career information for students. Educators have the exciting job of connecting workplace practices to the curriculum that they are teaching, while inspiring students to further their skill sets and interests as they consider future career ambitions. Educators may share this information in a formal classroom setting, or informally as part of a band rehearsal, on a sports field, during a robotics competition or on a field trip.
The participating businesses of the day were Cavalier Tool & Manufacturing LTD, City of Windsor, Hackforge, Highline Mushrooms, EPICentre, Anchor Danly, Community Living Windsor, Green Shield Canada, Village of Aspen Lake, and VON Immigrant Health Clinic
A lunchtime session included a WFWE presentation and the opportunity for educators to share about what they had been learning throughout the tours and how it could in turn impact their teaching.
After the tour, 99% of survey respondents indicated that the day of tours was a valuable experience. And that they have a better understanding of employer expectations. 100% of survey respondents indicated that they learned something new about our local labour market on the tours.
Workforce WindsorEssex would like to thank the Conseil scolaire catholique Providence as well as all participating employers. If your business or organization would like to participate in an upcoming day like this, please contact info@workforcewindsoressex.com.
