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CONCEPTUAL
FRAMEWORK
University
of Wisconsin-Whitewater
College
of Education
Conceptual
Framework: The Teacher is a Reflective Facilitator
Commitment
to Teacher Preparation
We
affirm the essential role of education in
assisting citizens to attain their inalienable rights of life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as reflected in the
principles of our nation's founding documents. We affirm the
democratic processes by which individuals and society are
empowered. We share an abiding commitment to the ongoing
development of democratic purposes, policies, and intents
as they serve to benefit all.
We
affirm the role of educators as active contributors to the
development of an informed citizenry that is committed to
these principles. As educators we dedicate ourselves to developing
and exemplifying a sense of civic responsibility and social
justice, of interpersonal respect, a regard for scholarship,
and the use of evidence in determining matters of public policy.
We
affirm the responsibility of educators to speak and act on
behalf of children and youth and the responsibility of educators
in furthering public understanding of the educational needs
of children and youth.
To
these ends, the College of Education commits itself to the
preparation of teachers who will further these beliefs and
empower their students to carry them out. To do this, prospective
teachers must possess a combination of knowledge, understanding,
skills, and dispositions that will allow them to help create
an informed populace committed to participation in our democracy.
The
College of Education commitment is further elaborated in the
following premises.
PREMISES
Preface:
We believe
that effective teachers must be well-educated. They should
be skilled in the practices of teaching and possess an array
of interpersonal and technical skills. They should be committed
to educating all students, have confidence in their power
to make a difference in children's lives, be open to innovation
and change and be able to work effectively with diversity
in colleagues, students, and contexts. In addition to knowing
about children, subject matter, educational theory, and strategies
for teaching, teachers should be dedicated to the development
of youth, espouse a dynamic conception of literacy, and possess
a mind and disposition open to new ideas and the challenge
of ideologies.
Knowledge
Prospective
teachers need a sound knowledge base from which to construct
their professional lives. This knowledge base includes a strong
foundation in the disciplines they will teach. It includes
an understanding of how humans learn, develop, and construct
meaning. The knowledge base includes knowing how to use an
array of methods and technologies to carry out instruction
effectively and to evaluate student learning and instructional
effectiveness.
The
knowledge base also includes the historical and philosophical
bases of education and an understanding of the complex social
and cultural contexts of schools. Prospective teachers must
be able to utilize theory in addressing educational problems
and re-evaluating accepted practice, policy, and procedures.
Commitment
To
become a teacher is to affect forever the lives of the young.
It is a paramount that those entrusted with this responsibility
be imbued with caring and commitment to youth, individually
and collectively, that will sustain a demanding, and often
frustrating, career. In the face of circumstances beyond school,
the teacher should not relinquish belief in either his or
her ability to make a difference or in the potential of each
student to learn and to succeed.
Literacy
Teaching
is a commitment to the future and requires consideration of
the quality of literacy that will sustain society. Literacy
is normally defined for schools as a repertoire of prescribed
knowledge and skills. A more dynamic conception of literacy
is implicit in the demand for adults who can reason effectively,
who continue to learn, and who will address problems utilizing
the democratic process. Thus, in addition to a prescribed
repertoire of knowledge and skills, teachers need the ability
to evaluate traditional ways of doing, to select from them,
or to conceive new ways. They should be able to produce an
unlimited number of plans and then to pursue those plans that
will support quest and adaptation to changing conditions.
This concept of literacy depends on the capacity to question
and to evaluate effectively, to think critically and creatively,
and to confront problems with imagination and with ardor.
Decision
Making
Decision
making is both individual and collective; we are bound as
a society to solve problems and make decisions collectively.
Teachers, however, are continually required to make individual
decisions; and as the complexity of the context increases,
reliance on the teacher's judgment becomes greater. Reflection
and critical analysis should be benchmarks for decision making,
and the bases for decisions should rest on egalitarian and
emancipatory orientations to schooling and on a professional
code of ethics.
Innovation
In
every dimension of professional preparation, there are both
discrete, factual knowledge and dynamic, fluid intellectual
abilities that must be addressed. However, there are no fixed
plans, algorithmic solutions, or prescribed practices for
the day-to-day work of teachers. Rather teachers need the
confidence and capacity to develop new ideas and new agendas,
being sensitive to changing conditions, responding to diversity
in student aptitude and interest, and being flexible in carrying
out their responsibilities.
Change
A
teacher is a transcendent being, a catalyst for change, whose
task is to create the possibility that tomorrow will be peopled
by principled individuals who will embrace the dialectic of
life and in the changing circumstances that assuredly will
occur will always subscribe to the principles of equality,
justice and freedom for all. Teachers should be imbued with
confidence in their role as change agents and in their ability
to help shape society and to determine the future.
Self-Reflection
and Self-Assessment
Critical
self-reflection and self-assessment are essential to becoming
a teacher. Self-reflection, self-assessment, and reflection
about practice should be the measure of performance in the
teacher education program. Of critical importance for self-reflection
and self-assessment is an understanding of the professional
code of ethics and a commitment to the democratic process
by which individuals are empowered.
Advocacy
Educators
should be proactive in advocating for students and families
and for those conditions which are most likely to ensure equality
and justice for all students. Moreover, teachers should be
committed to knowing the changing issues that affect students
and schooling and be confident in providing an articulate
and informed voice on behalf of students and schooling.
Collaboration
Collaborative
relations with parents, families, school boards, administrators,
and colleagues presage success in working with young people.
Families and the community should be full partners in the
educational process of the young.
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