Mona Elkadri teaches hospitality and tourism with the Greater Essex County District School Board (photo: Jeanette Dufour-Amaral)
By Kate Hargreaves
Angela Langlais’s path to becoming a technological education teacher was a journey in more ways than one.
A 2024 graduate of the University of Windsor's Bachelor of Education in Technological Studies Program (BEd Tech), Langlais is now a hairstyling and aesthetics teacher with the Keewatin-Patricia School Board at Dryden High School.
Driving over 17 hours each way to and from Windsor for her month-long in-person summer courses, Langlais credits the flexibility and collaborative nature of the BEd Tech program as critical to her success in transition from industry into the teaching profession.
“I come from a small, rural and geographically isolated community in Northwestern Ontario,” she explains. “Relocating to Windsor represented a substantial transition. The contrast in climate, culture and overall environment was considerable.”
Because the BEd Tech program combines in-person summer courses with remote offerings during the school year, Langlais was able to balance the benefits of both types of instruction, albeit with significant travel.
“As an Indigenous (Métis) individual from a northern region, the opportunity to live and study in a more urban and diverse setting broadened my perspective and enriched both my personal and professional growth,” Langlais says.
The unique and flexible structure of the BEd/Diploma program in Technological Studies is part of its appeal.
Small cohorts of around 40 students from across the province spend July of their first summer term and August of their second on-campus at the University of Windsor in practical face-to-face courses.
During fall and winter terms, courses are delivered online, and students can return to their home school boards to complete their minimum 400 hours of practice teaching between September and May.
The BEd Tech program was first introduced at the University of Windsor in 2006 and then re-designed and re-launched as a four-term program in 2018.
Since then, in only 14 months of continuous full-time study, students can complete the program and be eligible for certification with the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT).
Langlais was hired by her school board before even beginning the program, conditional on enrolling and completing her certification.
“I recognize how uncommon this experience is,” she says. “Typically, new teachers begin their careers by accepting long-term occasional positions and often spend time working in several temporary roles before being offered a permanent contract.”
Rather than facing that uncertainty, Langlais was able to achieve job security in her teaching career from the start, a critical factor as she transitioned from the hairstyling industry into education.
Given a severe need for technological education teachers in many school boards, the opportunity to teach full-time during or soon after completion of the BEd Tech program is an experience shared by other recent graduates.
Mike Banks had worked for 30 years in tool and mold before he started teaching at Catholic Central High School in Windsor.
The newly constructed school needed a manufacturing technology teacher, and Banks was able to start teaching full-time on a letter of permission before enrolling in the BEd Tech program.
“I signed up for the BEd that year for the upcoming summer,” he explains. “Honestly, it went by so fast working and completing the program at the same time. It feels like a blur.”
Mike Banks had a 30-year career in tool and mold before he became a manufacturing technology teacher (photo courtesy of Mike Banks)
While balancing school and full-time teaching is certainly a challenge, for teacher candidates in technological education, their industry and life experience is a major asset; amongst the cohorts of predominantly mature students, teaching is often a second or sometimes third career.
Current student Mitchell Taveirne worked as a construction and maintenance electrician before entering the program in summer 2025.
Now teaching construction technology with the Greater Essex County District School Board (GECDSB), he was able to start teaching before he began the program and will complete his studies in Summer 2026.
Mitchell Taveirne teaches construction technology at Sandwich Secondary School (photo: Oliver Swainson)
UWindsor Faculty of Education’s Coordinator of Technological Studies, Tim Tiegs, emphasizes the importance of life experience in tech teacher candidates.
“It is very important to remember where these teacher candidates come from before they apply to our tech studies program,” Tiegs says.
“This allows our children to be taught by people who have done for a living what they are teaching.”
Tiegs also speaks to the sacrifices that the teacher candidates make by leaving their respective industries in favour of education.
“They have all reached the top of their career paths, and they are all well respected by peers and customers,” he explains. “They have decided to give all this up and begin again and pursue a new career as a high school teacher."
Transportation technology teacher Joel Officer graduated from the BEd Tech program in 2024 but had also secured a full-time permanent teaching role before he received his degree.
Officer, a mechanic by trade, is the former owner of an auto shop in Mount Forest, Ont.
After being alerted by a friend that a local high school in Hanover, Ont. was seeking an auto shop teacher, he took on the role, which quickly switched from a two-week temporary placement to a permanent job.
Seeing the potential in this new teaching career, he enrolled in UWindsor’s program.
Today, Officer teaches transportation technology at the Grade 11 and 12 level at John Diefenbaker Senior School in Hanover, part of the Bluewater District School Board.
From hairstyling to welding and auto shop, the technological education BEd is flexible not only in its remote study opportunities but in the diverse fields it encompasses.
Candidates can qualify in one of 10 broad-based areas with a variety of trades and professions under each umbrella.
Computer programmers and hardware and software developers as well as those in robotics might choose computer technology whereas nurses, paramedics, massage therapists and dental assistants would qualify in the healthcare technology stream.
Sydney Budinski was a freelance photographer before beginning the program in communications technology, which also welcomes graphic designers and experts in audio/visual equipment.
Budinski brings their creative industry experience to their work with the Windsor Essex Catholic District School Board as a communications technology teacher.
“Immediately after graduating, I had a full-time, year-long term position teaching my subject area at Catholic Central,” they explain. “After that, I was hired permanently at Cardinal Carter.”
Sydney Budinski teaches communications studies at Cardinal Carter High School (photo courtesy of Sydney Budinski)
For those in trades such as carpentry, electrical, woodworking, construction and HVAC, qualification in construction technology is an option whereas green industries encompasses agriculture, greenhouse operations, floristry, forestry and landscaping.
Those working in architectural or mechanical drafting or engineering qualify in technological design, while for those in welding, fabrication, tool and die or machining, manufacturing technology would be a strong fit.
Transportation technology is open to auto body service technicians, vehicle service technicians, heavy duty/truck technicians and those certified in motorcycle and small engine service.
Mona Elkadri, who also graduated the BEd Tech program in 2024, is a hospitality and tourism teacher with the GECDSB.
Her pathway into the teaching profession began with her involvement in family businesses.
“I grew up in the food industry, literally being raised in my family’s growing bakery and later our restaurant,” she says.
“After years in these businesses, I sought a career change driven by a deep passion for inclusive learning and fostering student potential.”
Specifically looking for a role working with students of all abilities and needs, Elkadri became an education assistant in a GECDSB hospitality program.
"Witnessing the incredible impact of technology education teachers, who seamlessly combined practical skills with mentorship, convinced me to pursue my teaching credentials,” she says. “It was the perfect opportunity to unite my extensive culinary background with my passion for supporting diverse learners.”
Mona Elkadri teaches hospitality in the Greater Essex Country District School Board (photo: Jeanette Dufour-Amaral)
For her part, Langlais entered the hairstyling and aesthetics stream in the BEd Tech program after almost a decade of owning her own salon as a stylist.
She was first exposed to hairstyling as a high school student in a co-op placement and went on to obtain her provincial license. She rented a chair in a salon before becoming a sole proprietor, but when an instructor position in hairstyling and aesthetics opened up at her local high school, she applied.
“I had always admired my own high school cosmetology instructor and had often thought that teaching the trade would be an ideal career,” she says.
Two days after the interview, she was offered the job with the next step of seeking out a BEd program that was suitable for her needs.
“I learned about the UWindsor BEd Technological Studies program and recognized it as an excellent fit for my goals,” she says.
Angela Langlais teaches colour theory to hairstyling and aesthetics students (photo courtesy of Angela Langlais)
While their fields may vary widely, teachers who entered the profession through the BEd Tech program have one thing in common: their appreciation for the collaborative and supportive environment throughout their learning experience.
“One of the best parts of my experience has been the opportunity to collaborate on projects with incredible classmates and connect with peers from across Ontario,” says Taveirne.
Langlais echoes this, noting that “the most valuable and memorable part of the program was the strong sense of community and support within the cohort and faculty.”
“From the beginning, I felt welcomed, encouraged and understood, something that is especially meaningful for second-career teachers transitioning from industry into education,” she says.
Langlais also found the collaboration across fields inspiring.
“Working with teachers from diverse trades gave me new perspectives, ideas and approaches that I could apply directly to my classroom,” says Langlais.
Officer too cites the connections he made as the most important takeaway from his experience.
“Those relationships with peers and faculty are truly lifelong and invaluable to your growth as an educator,” he says.
The cohort model of the program, with students studying with same small group throughout their 14 months of learning, helps build lifelong connections at the same time as teaching skills.
“Connecting with other new educators and having a shared pool of individuals to collaborate and grow with was invaluable to my personal growth as a person and as an educator, some of whom have become lifelong friends with whom I will always appreciate and cherish,” says Budinski.
Outside of these connections, Elkadri also emphasizes the program's focus on bridging theory with real-world professional practice.
“We consistently learned from a diverse range of industry and educational experts, which was instrumental in helping each of us define and shape our individual teaching philosophies,” she says.
“The program particularly highlighted the critical importance of fostering diverse and inclusive teaching environments, effective organizational practices, and the necessity of consistent self-reflection for long-term success as an educator.”
While the teachers acknowledge the heavy workloads and balance needed to complete the program, especially at the same time as teaching, they also cite the results as life-changing.
"It is incredibly rewarding to use my years of industry experience to help students connect their learning directly to career paths in the community,” says Elkadri.
Regardless of where they started their paths into teaching, BEd tech alumni are glad they took that first step into a new career.
As Officer says, “my journey into teaching started unexpectedly, but it’s been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made."
“My advice to anyone starting this journey—enjoy the ride.”
For more information on the BEd/Diploma in Technological Studies, including how to apply, visit the Faculty of Education website.
The application deadline to begin the program in July 2026 is Feb. 2, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. (EST).