There are three different streams for teacher education at UVic (condensed post degree secondary, condensed post degree elementary, and 4 year elementary), so my experience may differ from those in another stream. I did the post degree program. I’d say my experience wasn’t really “amazing” nor was it “terrible”. The majority of my courses didn’t really help me in my practicums - there were great theories taught, but very little which applies well or actually works in a practical way to today’s diverse classrooms, especially considering having limited time and resources as teachers. The majority of our course work was group work, which was also quite taxing for many of us. This group environment did mean we built friendships and connections quickly though and were able to support each other. I found it was 50/50 on profs. Some were amazing, others middle of the road, and some were not good. However, I had a fantastic practicum experience, and learned SO much through it. I was fortunate to be paired with kind and supportive mentor teachers and field advisors. I’d say the majority of my colleagues also had mostly favourable experiences on practicum. I was able to get a TTOC job straight out of my final placement! Many others have short term contracts now.
So, if you can handle mostly less than stellar courses with some “box checking” in them and be willing to work really hard during your practica, use the group environment to build friendships and connections, and take full advantage of resources through mentor teachers and advisors, I’d say most people have been successful finding work and said the program was worth doing, especially for its relatively short length.

Hai

the best four years of my life. uvic psych profs are angels on earth 🥰