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Conceptual Framework
College Educational Theme and Core Components
For the past decade the theme of “Educator as Decision Maker” has provided coherence to our programs. Successful professionals in the 21st century must possess decision-making skills that are related to problem solving and critical thinking that will enable them to understand, reflect, and make decisions in practice relative to new research and insights from education and allied fields (Bransford & Stein, 1994). We strongly believe that teaching is a cognitively complex act (Borko & Putman, 1996) and that a key function of educators is decision-making (Sergiovanni & Starratt, 1993). We concur with Fensternacher (1986) that our responsibility in education is to educate teachers and allied professionals to reason soundly about their teaching as well as to perform skillfully. The role of decision-maker is critical and has shaped the model of our programs.
We recognize, however, that our theme of Educator as Decision Maker must be expanded to a larger context to be inclusive, as far as possible, of all programs in the College of Education. In order to meet the challenges of changing demands and conditions, educators and allied professionals will still be required to utilize reflective processes and make decisions in the varied settings in which they work. In an effort to expand our leadership for community well-being and enhance our overall effectiveness, however, we need to continuously examine the purposes for which these decisions are made and with which partners we will be making them.
A logic should dictate a student’s passage through the program. Inherent in all programs is the notion of building blocks, basic knowledge, skills, and dispositions that develop throughout the program. For example, our teacher preparation program has formally conceptualized this passage through four sequential phases: (a) learning about learners, (b) learning about teaching, (c) learning to apply the principles of teaching, and (d) learning to teach. Courses, field experiences, assessment and guidance are planned and our candidates should see them as connected in their objectives, subject matter, and day-to-day applications of theory into practice. The educational programs include a balanced offering of foundations in general education, intensive study in the teaching, administration, counseling, and sports science and wellness content areas, and those professional courses and other learning experiences which attempt to combine theory and practice. Furthermore, all programs in the College of Education reflect the core components of professional practice and scholarship enumerated in the mission statement: Knowledge, Technology, Diversity, and Ethics. These components do not exist as separate entities but instead are incorporated in each program and are integrated in the planning and delivering of instruction and assessing the effectiveness of our programs and unit. An elaboration of these important components follows.
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