Christopher Newton Collection, 1955-1998 (non-inclusive)

Christopher Newton was born in England in June of 1936. He received his education at Sir Roger Manwood’s School in Kent, the University of Leeds, Purdue University in Indiana and the University of Illinois where he received his M.A. He founded Theatre Calgary in 1968 and was the artistic director there until 1971. He was appointed as the artistic director of the Vancouver Playhouse where he established the Playhouse Acting School with Powys Thomas. Mr. Newton has also performed and directed at Stratford Festivals and on Broadway. He became the artistic director at Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake in 1979 and remained there for 23 seasons until 2002. Mr. Newton has many television, radio and film credits to his name as well as having written many stage plays. Mr. Newton has received honorary degrees from Brock University (1986), the University of Guelph (1989), Wilfrid Laurier University (1997) and Buffalo State University. He was made an Honorary Fellow at the Royal Conservatory of Music of Toronto (1993) and of Ryerson Polytechnic University (1995). He has won the Governor General’s performing arts award (2000), the Molson Prize and the Thomas DeGaetani Award from the United States Institute for Theatre Technology. In 1996 he was made an Honorary Life Member of the Association for Canadian Theatre Research and in the same year he received the M. Joan Chalmers Award for Artistic Direction. In 1995, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada and he won a Governor General's Performing Arts Award in 2000. Christopher Newton is currently the Artistic Director Emeritus at the Shaw Festival. Sources: http://www.shawfest.com/the-ensemble/christopher-newton/ http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/christopher-newton

Ten years after : a qualitative study of students' experiences in a high school theatre company

This qualitative study explored 4 former students' perceptions of the learning associated with their involvement in a high school theatre program and the contextual factors they linked to their perceived development. The study involved 4 adult participants, 2 male and 2 female, who had participated extensively in a high school theatre company from 1996 to 2001 when they were students in a large Ontario school board. Data were collected from January to August, 2007, when the 4 former students took part in two in-depth, open-ended interviews. The focus of investigation was participant perspectives. Data analysis revealed that the 4 participants' involvement in high school theatre produced both wide-ranging and enduring developmental benefits across personal, social, and cognitive domains. Participants achieved these benefits through interactions among 3 related contexts: (a) rehearsal and performance practices, (b) the world of the play, and (c) characteristics of the high school theatre company.

Exploring Teacher Candidates’ Perception of Practicum Placement Within Concurrent Teacher Education in Two Ontario Universities

In this study, teacher candidates’ perception of their concurrent education program at two Ontario universities were examined, with specific emphasis on how the programs utilized practicum placements, to determine the effectiveness in preparing teacher candidates to teach. This research also strived to uncover the best ways to optimize concurrent teacher education through practicum placements. A questionnaire and interviews were used to uncover teacher candidates’ perceptions at one teacher education program that used full integration of practicum and one that used minimal integration of practicum. The findings revealed that teacher candidates were generally more satisfied with the overall program when there was full integration of practicum. There were statistically significant differences found between the two concurrent programs with regard to practicum time and preparedness and context of the practicum and a highly significant difference found for theory-practice divide. There was also a statistically significant difference (p < .05) observed between the teacher candidates at each university in terms of their beliefs about the need for improvement of their program. Some of the improvements that participants believed could be made to their respective programs included having (a) exceptional mentor teachers and teacher educators, (b) longer placements with a balance of observation and practicum teaching, (c) clear expectations and evaluations of practicum placement, and (d) more distinct connections between theory and practice made within the programs.