Teacher Education and Teacher Development

Here’s how your 60 semester hours will be distributed:

6 semester hours

Proseminars designed to introduce students to the central questions in teacher education and teacher development.

12 semester hours

Core courses intended to cultivate specialized knowledge and skills regarding the design and implementation of programs of pre-service teacher preparation, induction of novice teachers, and the ongoing professional development of in-service teachers.

18 semester hours

Electives intended to give students options in deepening their understanding of specific areas in teacher education.

12 semester hours

Research courses that give participants the tools needed by critical consumers and producers of research.

12 semester hours

Dissertation research in which students demonstrate their ability to apply specialized knowledge in the field and research knowledge and skills to empirically investigate an important problem in teacher education.

• Please review the core assumptions that inform the doctoral program in Teacher Education and Teacher Development (TETD), which are listed below. Collectively, these assumptions define the program's vision regarding the goals of public education in a democracy, the functions of schools in a democratic society, the roles of teachers and teacher educators, and conceptions of teaching and learning to teach. From the list, select one assumption that has special meaning to you and respond to the following questions: Why is this assumption meaningful to you? How is it reflected in your own practice as an educator? (Give examples). (Maximum 900 words or three pages, double-spaced and typewritten.)Core Assumptions that Inform the TETD Doctoral Program:
• In a democratic society, the central goal of public education is to prepare all students with equal care to take on the full responsibilities of citizenship in a competent manner and to maximize their educational opportunities and life chances.
• Although schools often function to maintain the advantage of the socially powerful, they can potentially serve as sites of social transformation. Altering the inequities that are deeply ingrained in the fabric of schools demands a cadre of teachers who are adept at identifying inequalities in their own schools and classrooms, skilled in reconstructing the school and classroom culture to make it inclusive of all children, and committed to serving as change agents. This requires ongoing reflection and critical examination of common educational practices.
• Teachers are moral actors. Every classroom decision they make has consequences for their students. They have the obligation to provide all students, not just some, with equal access to knowledge.
• Teacher educators, like teachers, are also moral actors who must play a central role in transforming the educational system to make it equitable and just. They are responsible for preparing future and practicing teachers with the dispositions, knowledge and skills needed to interrupt inequitable policies and practices in schools and classrooms in order to help all students - not just some - achieve high levels of learning and maximize their life chances.
• Learning does not entail the mere acquisition of new information. Rather, it is an active process by which learners infuse new ideas with meaning. In this interpretive process, learners draw on their prior knowledge and beliefs as they strive to make sense of new input.
• Because students' strengths and needs vary widely and are constantly changing, teaching does not lend itself to the application of a prescription for effective instruction. The use of a de-contextualized teaching formula assumes that children are so much alike that they will respond similarly and predictably to a common treatment. To be responsive to a diverse student population, teachers must make myriad decisions daily as they strive to tailor instruction to the students in their classes. This tailoring requires high levels of professional judgment and the ability to defend decisions on both pedagogical and ethical grounds.

• What draws you to the TETD program? How would getting a PhD in Teacher Education and Teacher Development advance your professional goals? (Maximum 600 words or two pages, double-spaced and typewritten.)

• Building on the most current research, the TETD curriculum is designed to provide program participants with the knowledge, skills and orientations needed to prepare the next generation of successful teachers, design and implement cutting edge induction programs for novice teachers, and offer substantive professional development opportunities for all practicing teachers. Issues of equity and excellence in education are a theme throughout the curriculum. In light of this overview of the curriculum, what two questions might you explore as part of your coursework in the TETD program? Why do you consider these questions important? (Maximum 600 words or 2 pages, double-spaced and typewritten.)