FHASS launches Ontario’s first OCT-Accredited AQ course!

The course, which first ran in Summer 2025, blends Creativity, Innovation, and Teacher Leadership.

In 2024, Sheridan College was accredited by the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT) as a provider of Teacher Additional Qualifications (AQs).

AQs are courses that in-service teachers in Ontario take after attaining their Bachelor of Education degrees (B.Ed.), and they continue taking them throughout their careers. These courses are offered in series of three, and when all three are complete, teachers obtain a specialist designation in the AQ subject area. For example, a popular AQ subject is Special Education. Teachers take Special Education 1, Special Education 2, and then Special Education Specialist, consecutively, and are then qualified as a ‘Special Education Specialist’ in their school. On completion of each course, AQs are registered with the OCT and listed on a teacher’s ‘Certificate of Qualification’—a formal teaching CV listing their degrees and AQs.

In addition to opening doors to diverse teaching opportunities in schools, an AQ specialist designation carries a multi-tier pay increase on par with the attainment of a master’s degree. So, teachers, especially early in their career, are highly motivated to take AQs.

FHASS’ initial AQ offering, Teacher Leadership 1 – Creativity and Innovation Focus, ran for the first time in the Summer 2025 term. This is the first in a three-part series. Upon completing all three, teachers earn a ‘Teacher Leadership Specialist’ designation.

Teacher Leadership is separate from the general discipline of Leadership and refers to leadership duties and roles that teachers assume in their schools while actively teaching. These duties and roles are classified into three categories: (1) coordination and management, (2) mentorship and professional development, and (3) participation in school change.

Sheridan already offers courses in Leadership, including FHASS’ Board Undergraduate Certificate course called Creative Leadership and Problem Solving. FHASS also offers courses on creative thinking, creative problem solving, and on innovation, so there was a wealth of curriculum to draw from when designing this AQ. This course, however, is uniquely structured around three interwoven strands: Leadership, Teacher Leadership, and Creativity and Innovation. The synthesis of these topics is unique in Ontario’s AQ panorama.

The course was designed by FHASS professor Dr. Joel Lopata, who remains course lead and the OCT’s designated AQ coordinator at Sheridan, with important contributions from professors Kasey Dunn and Chris Ambedkar. The course was instructed by Brandon Stewart; OCT. Brandon is a veteran high school teacher with a wealth of experience with AQs. In addition to teaching AQs, he has also completed a half dozen as a participant. Brandon was instrumental in successfully navigating the first cohort through the course.

With the inaugural run complete, and a focus on creativity and innovation at the heart of its programming, FHASS is positioned as a meaningful contributor to K-12 teacher education in Ontario.