Mission and Values

Our program goals and philosophy

Program Goals

Degree candidates will acquire:

1. A foundation in the knowledge, values, and teaching practices for quality inclusive schools.
2. A foundation of knowledge in child development, learner characteristics, and theories of learning and teaching.
3. Skills in critical thinking, problem solving and methods of inquiry.
4. Skills that will help them foster collaboration among teachers, professionals, family, and community.

Program Philosophy

The Education Program Options (Childhood, Adolescence, etc.) are based on a common set of courses designed to obtain the Program Goals and reflect the philosophy of the Program. The first philosophic belief is that "students with diverse backgrounds, capabilities and support requirements should participate in general education settings as full members of the learning community. Necessary services and instructional assistance for students and teachers are provided within the classroom. The general classroom teacher, in collaboration with support professionals, assumes responsibility and accountability for designing meaningful learning experiences that maximize learner strengths and assure success of all children in achieving curricular learning goals that meet the New York State Learning Standards" (Dorow, DaBoll-Lavoie, Fisch, Hill, Mager, Black, Dubetz, & Miller, 2000). Education courses, fieldwork experiences and student teaching prepare our graduates to teach students with diverse needs in rural, suburban, and inner city schools.

The second philosophic belief is that to be effective, teachers must be firmly grounded in theory. All education students are required to complete courses that provide a foundation in child development, literacy development, learning theory, and theories of teaching. "Theories of learning provide explanations about the underlying mechanisms involved in the learning process. . . . [T]heories allow us to summarize the results of many research studies and integrate numerous principles of learning. . . . [and] theories can ultimately help us to design learning environments that facilitate human learning to the greatest possible degree" (Ormrod, 1999, p. 4-5). Teachers who are thoroughly grounded in both theory and pedagogy will be better equipped to make decisions, design lessons, and manage student behavior in complex and diverse classroom contexts. As Sousa (2001) contends, "it is possible that more children are being referred for special education evaluation not because they have true learning difficulties but because an inflexible (though well-meaning) school environment has not adapted to their changing brains" (p. 18). "Teacher knowledge and skill level significantly affect student achievement (Darling-Hammond, 1997; Brophy, 1986). Because teachers regularly use their knowledge base when designing and assessing learning activities, student learning is limited by what the teacher knows (Goldhaber & Brewer, 1996)." (Danielson, 2002, p. 24.)

The third belief is based on a constructivist philosophy. “Most cognitive theorists now portray learning more as constructing knowledge from the information one receives rather than directly receiving that information from the outside world (e.g., see Collins & Green, 1992; De Corte, Green & Verschaffel, 1996; Driver, 1995; Hiebert & Raphael, 1996; Leinhardt, 1994; Marshall, 1992; Mayer, 1996; Prawat, 1993, Spivey, 1997; Stanovich & Cunningham, 1991)” (Ormrod, 1999, p. 171). As summarized by Dalgarno (2001):

There are three broad principles that together define the constructivist view of learning. The fundamental principal, attributed to Kant and later adopted by Dewey, is that each person forms their own representation of knowledge, building on their individual experiences, and consequently that there is no single “correct” representation of knowledge (Von Glaserfeld, 1984). The second principal, normally attributed to Piaget, is that people learn through active exploration, and that learning occurs when the learner’s exploration uncovers an inconsistency between their current knowledge representation and their experience (McInerney and McInerney, 1994; Slavin, 1994). The third principal, normally attributed to Vygotsky, is that learning occurs within a social context, and that interaction between learners and their peers is a necessary part of the learning process (Vygotsky, 1978). (p. 184).

Skills in critical thinking, problem solving and methods of inquiry are threaded throughout the teaching methods courses. Graduate students also learn quantitative and qualitative research methods.

The Education faculty put these principles into practice in a variety of ways. Individual knowledge construction is encouraged and supported through the use of small group cooperative projects, scaffolded instruction, large and small group facilitated discussions, experiential activities and assignments, hands-on learning, reflective journaling, and interpretive questioning. Students are challenged to construct their own knowledge when they develop extensive lesson and unit plans, integrate theory, knowledge, and pedagogy in research papers and presentations, and engage in seminar-style class discussions.