Mission Statement

The Mission of the Department of Educational Theory and Practice is to prepare teachers who evidence the highest ideals of the teaching profession. This mission involves leading prospective teachers to examine the complex ways in which diverse disciplines interrelate and provide the foundations of all education. Study in the Department’s courses is intended to prepare professional educators for insightful, critical examination of the principles and practices that they encounter in their careers.

Offerings in the Department are based on the assumptions that teaching excellence depends upon:

1. celebration of the dignity of all individuals and cultural groups;

2. comprehensive understanding of subject matter;

3. a knowledge of human intellectual, physical, social, emotional, and spiritual development; and

4. thoughtful, informed decisions about pedagogy.