International Teaching Assistant Cultural and Communication (ITACC) Certificate (non-credit)

International Teaching Assistants (ITAs) have unique cultural and communication needs when first learning how to teach in the Canadian classroom. This certificate acknowledges that graduate students have taken proactive steps to improve their abilities to communicate clearly with students, either verbally or through written feedback.

To obtain the ITACC certificate (non-credit), a graduate student will complete three steps:

  1. attend four workshops from the Centre for Academic Communication (CAC);
  2. attend four workshops from LTSI; and
  3. submit a three-page reflective essay.


Workshops must be completed between September and April. Register for a workshop now (look for ITACC Certificate workshops after you log in), and don't forget to sign in when you attend. See the schedule for workshop dates.

CAC workshops focus on the language aspects of teaching in the Canadian classroom, such as:

  • Walk the walk and talk the talk: Confident communication with the CAC
  • Effective PowerPoint: Strategies for teaching
  • Pronunciation clinic
  • Challenges of listening comprehension in the classroom

LTSI workshops focus on the cultural aspects of teaching in the Canadian classroom, such as:

  • Cross-cultural academic communication
  • The self-reflective TA: Building cultural competence
  • Interpersonal relationships: It is all about people
  • Active learning: What does that actually mean?

Reflective essay

Once you have attended 8 workshops, please write a three-page reflective essay in 12 pt. Times New Roman font, double spaced. Your essay must answer the following:

  1. Critically reflect on your experience of all the workshops you attended (not describing the workshop contents) and describe at least three significant strategies you have learned to create inclusive classrooms with specific examples.
  2. How do you see your cultural identity affect your teaching and learning? Please provide specific examples.
  3. After attending those workshops, how much has your confidence changed when teaching/marking in English compared to when you first began? What have you done to improve your communication in Canadian academic culture?
  4. Tell us how your ideas about teaching have changed after taking these workshops?
  5. From what you learned, what did you use immediately or will use in the future in your role as an academic professional? Why did you use or will use these ideas?

Application and deadline

Email your essay to the LTSI Administrative Assistant no later than April 30.

After your attendance is confirmed at the workshops, your submission will be assessed and you will be issued the ITACC Certificate (non-credit) by email.