Education Department

PROGRAMS LEADING TO TEACHER CERTIFICATION

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Acting Department Head & Director of Teacher Education: Reilly

Professors: Templeton, Reilly, Elksnin, Williams, Ouzts

Associate Professors: Brown, Siskind

Assistant Professors: Hewett, Murray, K. Brown, Chandler, Cooper, Marshall-Bradley, Morley-Ball, Woelfel

The purpose of the Department of Education's undergraduate programs is to serve the people of the Lowcountry, the state of South Carolina, the Southeast, and the nation by providing high quality programs in the preparation of secondary teachers in history, social studies, English, mathematics, comprehensive science, biology, and a K-12 program in physical education. While approximately 50 percent of the undergraduate student body is from the state of South Carolina, students from across the United States are involved in education programs at The Citadel. Reciprocal arrangements with other states and the accreditation of the National Council for the Accrediting of Teacher Education facilitate certification in all fifty states.

The philosophy of the Department of Education at The Citadel is based on five fundamental propositions. These propositions serve to orient the mission of the department, guide the value system of the faculty, shape the curricula, and provide its faculty a sense of purpose and meaning in teaching, scholarly and professional endeavors. These propositions are:

1. The faculty is committed to the education of all individuals to the fullest extent possible. With the implementation of appropriate assessment and teaching strategies, all students, though having unique learning styles and experiences, are capable of learning.

2. It is the instructor's responsibility, with the aid of the appropriate resources and support, to establish a (mutually) respectful environment where effective learning occurs for all students.

3. Education is a systematic effort to facilitate the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values necessary for the student to function in a diverse society.

4. The faculty of the department of Education is committed to the highest professional standards and to a situation in which these standards are modeled to students in all teaching, research, and service endeavors.

5. The faculty is committed to an open interchange of ideas wherein the perspectives of all are valued.

The first two of the Department's philosophical beliefs are worthy of special note. The first states that all students are capable of learning and the faculty has committed to educating each learner to his or her fullest potential. The second is equally important. The faculty has asserted it is the instructor's responsibility to assure that a learning environment is established that will allow the optimal learning for each learner to occur.

The mission of the department is based on its philosophy. It is composed of seven goal statements and associated performance indicators.

Department Conceptual Base

The Department has adopted as its conceptual base, Learner-Centered Education. This conceptual base serves to orient all programs of the Department towards maximizing the learning of an individually and culturally diverse student population.

The conceptual framework for developing Learner Centered professionals in the Department of Education at The Citadel is well grounded in research, the values and current thinking of our profession, and best practices related to teaching, learning, and schooling, as well as other domains of knowledge related to the development of teachers. This framework is the foundation of our thematic program, which philosophically supports the development of a knowledgeable, ethical, reflective leader in the profession of education, one who is not only effective but also excellent. The conceptual framework is designed to explicate the purpose and goals of the programs and describe how the program is organized to reach the desired outcomes.

At the same time it is acknowledged that teachers must be knowledgeable about learners and the learning process, it is also acknowledged that there are other attributes equally and highly desired in professional teachers. These include ethical, effective, reflective teachers who are prepared to assume leadership roles in the profession and community.

Definition of Learner-Centered Education:

Learner-Centered education is defined by McCombs and Whisler (1997, p.9) as the perspective that couples a focus on individual learners (their heredity, experiences, perspectives, backgrounds, talents, interests, capacities, and needs) with a focus on learning (the best available knowledge about learning and how it occurs and about teaching practices that are most effective in promoting the highest levels of motivation, learning, and achievement for all learners). This dual focus, then, informs and drives educational decision-making.

Learner-centered education in this perspective embodies the learner and learning in the programs, policies and teaching that support effective learning for all students. Teachers are responsible for having classrooms that promote effective learning for all as well as being familiar with the instructional techniques that promote effective learning for all. The following five premises support these assertions.

1. Learners have distinctive perspectives or frames of reference, contributed by their history, the environment, their interests and goals, their beliefs, their ways of thinking and the like. These must be attended to and respected if learners are to become more actively involved in the learning process and ultimately become independent thinkers.

2. Learners have unique differences, including emotional states of mind, learning rates, learning styles, stages of development, abilities, talents, feelings of efficacy, and other needs. These must be taken into account if all learners are to learn more effectively and efficiently.

3. Learning is a process that occurs best when what is being learned is relevant and meaningful to the learner and when the learner is actively engaged in creating his or her own knowledge and understanding by connecting what is being learned with prior knowledge and experience.

4. Learning occurs best in an environment that contains positive interpersonal relationships and interactions and one in which the learner feels appreciated, acknowledged, respected, and validated.

5. Learning is seen as a fundamentally natural process; learners are viewed as naturally curious and basically interested in learning about and mastering their world.

A learner-centered conceptual base, as described above, serves as an integrative framework for scholarly activity, curriculum development and revision, teaching, and professional endeavors. Obviously, there is much more supporting learner-centered emphasis than provided above. Cognitive theory, including meta-cognition, motivational and affective factors, development and social attributes, and individual differences, to name just a few of the critical variables are all involved. These variables must be understood in terms of assisting diverse student populations to learn more effectively. The diversity of the student body is increasing and while many research questions await findings concerning learning differences among diverse learners, it is clear the teacher must adapt instructional techniques to their needs.

Director of Teacher Education

The Director of Teacher Education is the college official charged with the responsibility for the development, implementation, administration, and monitoring of all teacher education activities at The Citadel. The director assures that all Citadel programs meet the standards and criteria set forth by:

1. The South Carolina General Assembly

2. The South Carolina Department of Education

3. The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education

Teacher education at The Citadel is dedicated to the development of teachers for the public schools of the state and nation. Teacher education programs prepare students to teach in secondary schools (grades 7-12) with teaching fields of social studies, history, mathematics, comprehensive science, biology, and English. In addition, a program for K-12 certification is available in physical education (see Physical Education section for additional information).