School of Education Mission and Learning Goals

AU Staff Updated by AU Staff

Mission and Learning Goals

The School of Education is committed to prepare candidates with practiced, research-based methodology that is character based, integrating the historical evangelical Christian tradition of the college, so they are ready to enter the inclusive classroom. To fulfill these values, the unit is committed to the preparation of professional educators who are capable of working effectively with diverse populations in a constantly changing global community.

Our conceptual framework guides the curriculum, instruction, structure and assessment for the professional education programs in the School of Education. The framework, based on the SALT acronym representing Service, Academics, Leadership, and Teaching, is comprised of a standards-driven, student-centered, assessment-based, collaborative approach.

Teacher candidates are instructed to be “the salt of the earth.” This summarizes the belief that candidates and professional faculty in the School of Education strive to become, by God’s grace, individuals who reflect the properties of salt. They are to season and enrich the lives of others. They are to become the preservative of hope and encouragement to others. They are to become a healing agent serving others who need help overcoming the difficulties of life. Therefore, it becomes the goals of this unit to:

Service

  • Equip candidates with a competency in working with diverse student groups by the use of effective teaching methods.
  • Instill within the candidates sensitivity to individual and cultural diversity as they work within a variety of contexts and communities and understand the benefits of partnering to improve education.
  • Guide candidates to an understanding of the impact of teaching on the greater community and the world.

Academics

  • Enable candidates to articulate and apply appropriate competency-based standards and principles addressing teaching, curriculum, assessment, equity, and technology, and to demonstrate the associated ethical dispositions.
  • Empower candidates to articulate, demonstrate, and value the interconnectedness of academic standards, dispositions related to academics, and the broad philosophical connections, resulting in well-rounded academic preparedness for the teaching profession.
  • Prepare candidates with research-based understandings and skills to create a bridge among educational theory, research, and practice in response to the educational, social and psychological needs of society.

Leadership

  • Develop candidates as transformative leaders as they envision and implement a nurturing, stimulating, inclusive, international environment for students, schools and communities.
  • Prepare candidates to effectively communicate with diverse populations in a variety of media and modes, as they voice ethical dispositions regarding issues of justice, access, and equity while employing a filter of a Christian worldview.
  • Engage candidates in professional growth activity so they may respond to educational needs of diverse learners, schools and communities with insight, vision and collaborative effort.

Teaching

  • Develop candidates who are able to design, implement, and evaluate the appropriateness of instruction and refine practices.
  • Prepare candidates willing to work strategically together with professional partners, colleagues and community to facilitate the implementation of collaborative learning environments in professional education and K-12 settings.
  • Equip candidates with an understanding of effective ways to utilize appropriate assessment-based approaches for the improvement of student learning and educational practice.

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School of Education Licensure Disclosures

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