Educational Support

You can make a difference in a child’s life as a competent, caring educational support professional. Our program will prepare you to play a vital role in the classroom supporting students with special needs.

Our updated two-year Educational Support diploma program prepares you to work in a school setting as part of the educational team supporting children with special needs. You will help children with learning disabilities, intellectual disabilities, sensory or physical disabilities and behavioural challenges.

Technology plays a key role in today’s modern classroom or institutional setting, and this program will enhance your knowledge of digital literacy and the assistive technologies you will use in your future career. You’ll graduate fully prepared to help students using iPads and current apps, including SMART Boards and other assistive technologies, such as voice-to-text software.

You will benefit from our faculty members’ recent and extensive experience in the field. In the second and third semesters, the roles of teacher and educational assistant will be explored and more clearly defined. You’ll learn how to:

• manage behaviour
• modify educational programming
• support exceptional children
• assist with curriculum planning

Much of this training is experiential, taking place in various educational settings in the community.

During third semester, you will spend three days a week in class at the College and two days a week in a classroom in an area school. The final part of the program is an intensive, semester-long, practical learning experience in an educational setting or agency. During this placement experience, you’ll work with students with a range of exceptionalities including autism, physical disabilities, cognitive disabilities, visual impairments, and learning disabilities. You can complete your placement in the location of your choice, whether that’s in your home town, in the Kawartha region or a larger city in Ontario.

If you have already completed an Ontario College Diploma or a university degree, you may be eligible for the accelerated Educational Support – Advanced Standing program. You can graduate in just ten months.

Career Opportunities

The main employer of educational support professionals is the school system, but there are also opportunities in other institutional settings offering education as part of the programming. Some of our graduates find employment as a result of their semester-four placement and may even be offered a job prior to graduation.