Mission
The Teacher Education program commits to:
- Preparing highly qualified professionals;
- Creating and sharing new knowledge in our profession; and
- Developing outreach opportunities with stakeholders in the field.
We assess excellence through:
- Meeting or exceeding standards of accrediting agencies;
- Fostering the development of highly sought and valued graduates; and
- Disseminating scholarly and creative activity.
We assure this by:
- Sharing and modeling effective teaching practices, knowledge, skills, and dispositions;
- Developing transformational leaders and lifelong learners; and
- Advocating for all stakeholders.
Vision
Our shared vision for the Teacher Education program includes four overarching themes:
Responsiveness
- Deliver innovative and continuously improving undergraduate and graduate programs.
- Facilitate communication with candidates, community, and faculty stakeholders to align our coursework to current and future needs in the field.
- Develop social networks with our graduates to promote relationships, provide lifelong learning opportunities, and invite their contributions to the department’s growth and development.
Collaboration
- Advocate for all stakeholders to create and sustain the most promising practices.
- Develop strong relationships amongst all stakeholders.
- Develop partnerships in teaching, research and service.
Innovation
- Use emerging technologies purposefully to insure rich teaching and learning.
- Develop and sustain authentic and relevant learning experiences for learners and faculty: inquiry based, guided discovery, student centered, etc.
- Explore, create, investigate and disseminate scholarly activities.
Commitment
- Encourage and support the scholarly study of teaching and learning.
- Advocate with a progressive and assertive voice on educational issues at state and regional levels.
- Demonstrate, practice and sustain inclusive learning communities.
- Model social justice by incorporating multicultural awareness and multicultural skills.
- Empower all stakeholders to advocate for self and others in a respectful, open and direct way.
Values and Beliefs
We value ethical behaviors and practices that are:
- Responsive: We respond to the strengths, needs and interests of the individual learners and the broad context in which learning occurs.
- Collaborative: We utilize shared leadership with all stakeholders to develop learning experiences, engage candidates and monitor progress.
- Innovative: Our decisions and practices are both creative and grounded in research.
- Committed: We invest the time and energy needed to plan inclusive, responsive, content rich and engaging activities for all learners.
The following beliefs guide our practices:
- Development in Context: Learning is responsive to the developmental characteristics of the learner in a social and cultural context.
- Constructivism: Learning expands upon previous cognitive understanding through authentic experiences.
- Inquiry: Learning capitalizes on the innate curiosity of learners as they find answers to their questions about the world.
- Social Justice: Our department is uniquely suited to advocate for increased democracy and equity for all.