ELEMENTARY EDUCATION MAJOR

• Licensing Sequences
• Standards and Objectives
• Assessments and Transitions
• Portfolio and Resources for Learning
• Degree Plans
• Title II Compliance Report

MISSION
It is the mission of the School of Education to prepare reflective practitioners for effective schools with an emphasis on leadership at the classroom, school, district, and system levels.

VISION
The School of Education envisions that candidates for licensing as initial educators should be reflective practitioners committed to student learning and continuing professional development in a dynamic world. Students should bring to their positions an informed view of the world, a solid grounding in content for teaching, a grasp of the principles and conditions of establishing a positive learning environment, a functional understanding of the diverse backgrounds and learning styles which children and youth represent, an appreciation of the value of parental involvement in student learning, sensitivity to the need for positive community relations, a specialized expertise for their level and area of preparation, and are assessed under professional quality standards for initial educators.

PURPOSE AND BELIEFS
Influenced by the concept of a professional educator as a reflective practitioner, the School of Education has as a central purpose the preparation of teachers who have a solid general education, who develop an awareness and functional understanding of the methods and content of inquiry in recognized fields of the arts and sciences, who acquire effective professional knowledge and skills, who receive professionally appropriate experience for teaching children and youth, who value a commitment to service, and who are assessed against professional standards.

In such a context, the central purpose of the teacher education program is based on four core beliefs:

• belief in the intellectual personal uniqueness and value of every human person;
• belief in the efficacy of education as a force in promoting the dignity, freedom, and responsibility of each person, and understanding of the basic unity and equality of all human persons;
• belief in the liberating dimension of education through reflective action and critical analysis; and
• belief in the potential of Christian humanism as a dynamic reality in nurturing qualities of respect, care, genuineness, and understanding.