Mission and Vision

Our division motto - REAL: Reflective Educators for All Learners – describes the essence of our program. We believe that our students, faculty and k-12 community see our Education Department as a thoughtful, caring, educators who believe all students can learn. We place our teacher candidates in a variety of clinical experiences to expose them to diverse student populations, special needs classrooms, and various methods of teaching. We believe this provides a quality program that prepares distinctive quality educators as a result of their preparation, teaching experience and assessment.

Our Mission Statement, developed over the years, details our approach to achieving these goals.

The Conceptual Framework is a collaborative effort by BSC faculty, students and the P-12 community; consistent with our Mission Statement; and continuously evaluated and refined. It provides direction for programs, courses, teaching, candidate performance, scholarship, service, and unit accountability.

The BSC education program is accredited by the National Council Accreditation in Teacher Education (NCATE) and the Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE). Details of the NCATE Unit standards came be found here.

Invitational Education has long been an important part of the knowledge base for the BSC education program philosophy.

Reflective teaching and learning is the lynch pin of our program. To find out more about reflective theory refer to the Required Reading list or click here.

Mission and Philosophy of the Teacher Education Program

Revised June 2004

The vision of the BSC Education Department to produce Reflective Educators for All Learners.

The Mission of the BSC Education Department is to provide a distinctive quality program that prepares educators as a result of their preparation, teaching experience and assessment.

The Mission will be achieved by meeting the following goals:

1. The BSC Education Department will develop and provide an ongoing quality professional preparation program:
   
   
   1. Prepare candidates who:
      
      
      1. Have strong backgrounds in professional education and subject matter content.
      2. Are prepared to function effectively in a variety of diverse settings.
      3. Are prepared to function effectively with students with special needs.
      4. Have the knowledge needed to do scholarly works.
      5. Have a strong background in technology.
         
         
   2. Integrate Alabama State Department of Education (ASDE) and National Commission for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) standards into professional preparation courses.
      
      
      1. Review/revise the unit’s conceptual framework.
      2. Develop appropriate candidate outcome-based assessments consistent with NCATE and ASDE standards.
         
         
2. The BSC Education Department will develop and provide an ongoing quality professional teaching experience program:
   
   
   1. Provide candidates with the experiences needed to:
      
      
      1. Utilize professional education and subject matter content in their teaching.
      2. Function effectively in a variety of diverse settings.
      3. Function effectively with students with special needs.
      4. Use technology appropriately and effectively in educational settings.
      5. Implement teaching activities and complete scholarly works.
         
         
3. The BSC Education Department will develop and provide an ongoing quality professional assessment program:
   
   
   1. Provide candidates with opportunities to assess themselves, their students, and other professional educators.
      
      
      1. Assess the knowledge and performance of candidates.
      2. Obtain and use input about programs from the Teacher Education Committee.
         
         
4. The BSC Education Department will provide and promote faculty development activities:
   
   
   1. Encourage faculty development activities.
   2. Encourage faculty self-assessment.
      
      
5. The BSC Education Department will conduct appropriate public relations activities:
   
   
   1. Distribute annual Department newsletter to alumni.
   2. Complete brochure about Department programs.
   3. Explore appropriate internal and external public relations activities.
      
      
6. The BSC Education Department will obtain needed resources including:
   
   
   1. Funds to support faculty development activities.
   2. State-of-the-art technology equipment in classrooms and faculty offices.
   3. Upgraded furnishings in classrooms and faculty offices as needed.
   4. Funds to support cooperative activities with P-12 schools, community agencies, businesses, and other BSC units.
   5. Funds to support public relations activities.
   6. Testing, teaching, and demonstration materials to support the professional preparation program.
   7. Needed materials to promote assessment.
   8. A sufficient number of well qualified faculty and staff for specific programs.