Dianne Bloor began her career as a Registered Nurse in critical care at the Ottawa Civic Hospital. The hands-on experience she gained there made her appreciate experiential learning, which to this day is something she values.

“I really believe it helps people link the theory to the practice – to have meaningful learning experiences,” she explains.

Although she enjoyed nursing, it was the thought of working days rather than shift work that got her interested in teaching. The rest is history.

“It was like the teaching bug bit me,” she says. “It continues to sustain me,  and has throughout my professional life. I love watching people learn.”It’s this proactive attitude that brought Dianne to where she is today.

Not only has she been with the College since 1973, she helped develop the Eastern Region Teacher Development Program in 1986 and recently won an Algonquin College Lifetime Achievement Award. She also won the Laurent Isabelle Award which recognizes excellence in teaching as well as an award on behalf of the College recognizing her contribution to institutional success.

As part of the Eastern Region College Committee, Dianne and other committee members were awarded the Association of Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology of Ontario (ACAATO) Collaborative Educators Award in February 2006. This annual award recognizes excellence in college leadership, innovation and partnership.  

Getting involved with the College’s International Education Centre gave Dianne the opportunity to travel abroad after apartheid was dismantled in South Africa and train teachers in schools with very few, if any, resources.

While every one of her four trips to South Africa was a learning experience, one trip stands out in her mind specifically.

“There was one teacher, working in an impoverished township school, who had what he called his Coke can lesson. He would go out and get empty Coke cans from wherever he could scrounge them.  He used them as beakers and used them to teach students how to read chemical symbols. This taught me good teaching is just connecting two minds. It’s where two people explore problems together. It doesn’t mean you need all the technology and all the resources because he was very successful with those students.”

Although Dianne plans to retire in the next few years, she sees herself building on experiences at the College. She says if given the opportunity to travel again it would be something she’d certainly take it into consideration.

Until then though she says her main job is to do whatever she can to help teachers be successful with their students in their courses.

“I have one of the best jobs. It’s really amazing because I get to do what I love, which is teaching,” she says. “Algonquin’s a wonderful place to work. I can’t think of a question you couldn’t have answered if you looked hard enough here at the College. There are so many people with such different expertise and I’m really thankful. They make me feel proud to be part of the Algonquin Community.”