School of Education Mission
The mission of Purdue University Calumet's School of
Education, in collaboration with other professional educators
and agencies, is to prepare and support education professionals
and related specialists who:
• apply the appropriate knowledge, dispositions, and
performances in developing diverse approaches to educational
strategies that are constructive, consistent and reflective
of sound practice;
• are prepared to use current research, knowledge,
and technology to empower the people they serve;
• are sensitive and responsive to the unique needs
of themselves, of others, and of the diverse society in which
they practice;
• are advocates for and models of quality education
and lifelong learning. The School faculty is committed to
providing the human and technological resources to enable
students and themselves to develop as educational professionals
in constructing knowledge, developing practice, and fostering
relationships.
School of
Education Conceptual Framework
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Initial Program Standards
Click to view the Conceptual Framework
integration with program standards
The Department of Teacher Preparation has
adopted the ten standards of Interstate New Teacher Assessment
and Support Consortium (INTASC) to which all teacher candidates
in the program must respond. In addition, each secondary
licensure program has its own set of content standards
based on the special requirements for teaching professionals
in those instructional areas.
The following INTASC standards are assessed in both the
elementary and secondary programs in the Department of
Teacher Preparation:
1. Content - The teacher candidate understands
the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures
of the discipline(s) he or she teaches and can create learning
experiences that make these aspects of subject matter meaningful
for students (Dewey, 1910; 1913)
2. Learning and Human Development - The
teacher candidate understands how children and youth learn
and develop and can provide learning opportunities that
support their intellectual, social and personal development
(Erikson, 1963; 1968) (Piaget, 1954; 1963; 1964; 1965)
(Skinner, 1950, 1953; 1989) (Vygotsky, 1978; 1986; 1987)
.
3. Adapting Instruction - The teacher
candidate understands how learners differ in their approaches
to learning and creates instructional opportunities that
are adapted to learners from diverse cultural backgrounds
and with exceptionalities (Banks, J.A. 1993; 1994; 2006)
(Galimore & Goldberg, 2001) (Palincsar & Brown, 1984)
4. Multiple Strategies - The teacher candidate
understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies
to encourage the students' development of critical thinking,
problem solving, and performance skills (Corno & Snow,
1986; Mayer, 2004) (Evenson, Salisbury-Glennon, & Glenn,
2001)
5. Motivation and Management - The teacher
candidate uses an understanding of individual and group motivation
and behavior to create a learning environment that encourages
positive social interaction, active engagement in learning,
and self-motivation. (Bandura, 1977; 1982; 1986) (Deci, 1975;
Deci & Ryan, 1985) (Dweck, 2002) (Maslow, 1968; 1970)
(McClelland, 1985; 1993).
6. Communications - The teacher candidate
uses knowledge of effective verbal, non-verbal and media
communication techniques to foster active inquiry, collaboration,
and supportive interaction in the classroom. (Cochran-Smith & Lytle,
1993)
7. Planning - The teacher candidate plans
and manages instruction based upon knowledge of subject matter,
students, the community, and curriculum goals. (Cochran-Smith & Lytle,
1993)
8. Assessment - The teacher candidate
understands and uses formal and informal assessment strategies
to evaluate and ensure the continuous intellectual, social,
and physical development of his/her learners.(Whiteford,
Ruscoe, & Fiskel, 2000)(Wiggins & McTighe, 1998)
9. Reflection - The teacher candidate
is a reflective practitioner who continually evaluates the
effects of her/his choices and actions on others (students,
parents, and other professionals in the learning community)
and who actively seeks out opportunities to grow professionally.
(Merseth and Koppich, 2000) (Hogan, Rabinowitz, & Craven,
2003)
10. Community - A teacher candidate communicates
and interacts with parents/guardians, families, school colleagues,
and the community to support the students' learning and well
being (Friere, 1970; 1973) (Ogbu, 1987, 1997) (Ladson-Billings,
2001).
The themes of constructing knowledge, developing
practice, and fostering relationships shaped
the development of departmental standards. These standards,
which can be grouped into three general categories, form
the backbone of the initial teacher preparation program:
1. A major theme of our initial teacher preparation program
is to help our teacher candidates understand the central
concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the discipline(s),
as well as be able to create learning experiences that make
these aspects of subject matter meaningful for students (Standard
1, Content). As part of this understanding, the teacher
candidate will know how children and youth learn and develop
and be able to provide learning opportunities that support
their intellectual, social and personal development (Standard
2, Learning and Human Development). Both teachers and
teacher educators need to be aware of the powerful influence
knowledge, or lack of knowledge, of a subject exerts on teaching.
Finally, the major goal of constructing knowledge is
to encourage the reunion of pedagogy and content, not only
in the theoretical world of research and publishing but also
in the actual practice of teacher education.
2. A second major focus of the initial teacher training program
is to develop effective practice in our teacher candidates.
Studies have shown that effective educational strategies
need to embody an understanding of how learners differ in
their approaches to learning (Standard 3, Adapting Instruction), as
well as know how to use a variety of instructional and assessment
strategies (Standard 4, Multiple Strategies; Standard
7, Planning, Standard 8). An understanding of individual
and group motivation is also essential to our teacher candidates (Standard
5, Motivation and Management), along with the ability
to effectively plan and communicate instruction (Standard
6, Communication). Therefore, the major goal of developing
practice is to promote practices that embody effective
teaching in the classroom.
3. Our graduates must understand the dynamics of educational,
geographic, and school communities, must effectively participate
within these communities, and must foster an environment
that respects all learners. Teachers often work in settings
that differ radically from the communities in which they
themselves have lived and in which students often differ
substantially from one another (Standard 10, Community). With
this in mind, our teacher candidates must reflect on the
effects of her/his choices and actions on students, parents,
and other professionals in the learning community (Standard
9, Reflection). This concept of fostering relationships is
engendered in the notion that teacher candidates should reflect
on how to gain information from the local community and transform
it for pedagogical use.
Regardless of the conception of teaching a beginning teacher
holds, he or she will of necessity start out by operating
on the basis of a radically simplified conception. Real world
problems encountered in teaching are too complex for anyone
to grasp fully as a beginner, so new teachers can at best
work incrementally toward dealing with them. The growth
of expertise in teaching may therefore be conceived of as
a process of life-long learning and continuing reflection
on what it means to be a master teacher.
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