Teacher Education Mission Statement

Believing that the quality of education directly influences the quality of life both for those served and for those serving, the UNC Pembroke Teacher Education Program has as its mission to develop and nurture competent and caring communities of public school professionals who dedicate themselves to the education and welfare of all students, and whose understanding of the dynamic interrelationship among theory, practice and reflection compels them to actively influence positive changes with sensitivity and integrity.  The UNCP Teacher Education Program shares the University’s commitment to academic excellence, cultural diversity, and lifelong learning within a balanced program of teaching, research, and service.

Teacher Education Program Vision Statement

By holding ourselves to high standards of professional excellence and professional integrity, by caring for the personal and professional well-being of the teacher candidates in our undergraduate community and the career professionals in our graduate community, we will make sound judgments about the design and delivery of professional development programs in an environment of mutual trust and common commitment to public school children and their families, as we strive to

4    continuously improve our programs and the ways we assess the quality of our programs;

4    expand and deepen the professional development opportunities (on and off campus) available to our teacher candidates;

4    develop varied, rich resources for our programs, including state of the art instructional technology resources;

4    collaborate more purposefully with arts & sciences faculty;

4    strengthen our partnerships with the public schools;

4    help the public schools in our service region develop their programs and resources;

4    meet the teacher shortage crisis with aggressive recruitment measures;

4    seek ways to respond to worthy Statewide initiatives such as "Closing the Minority Achievement Gap" and supporting low-performing schools in our service region.

Teacher Education Program Diversity Position Statement

diversity of ideas, learning styles, racial and ethnic differences, and gender issues of difference and who possess the knowledge, skills and dispositions necessary to promote living and learning in a global society.  To this accomplishment the Teacher Education Program will seek to:

• recruit students from among diverse backgrounds, cultures and races;

• recruit faculty from among diverse populations who possess a knowledge base for teaching diverse populations;

• develop, teach, and assess a curriculum that embraces learning and teaching for diverse populations; and,

• provide (field) experiences and clinical settings which enable students to test, adapt, and adopt paradigms of learning for diverse populations.

Teacher Education Program Standards

Beliefs about what a teacher should know and be able to do frame the curriculum for the teacher education program and the basis for judgments about the teacher candidate's ability to perform the work of a teacher. The areas selected for summative evaluation are aligned with the structure and content of the teacher candidate's program of study. All curricular components--courses, field experience, the internship, the integrated curricular threads, and affiliation with the professional community--are addressed in a set of six performance standards.  The standards define the specific levels of proficiency used to mark the end of the first phase of professional development for prospective teachers.

Standard 1

The teacher candidate commands essential knowledge and understandings of the academic discipline(s) from which school subject matter is derived and integrates that knowledge into personally meaningful frameworks.

Standard II

The teacher candidate has acquired a professional knowledge base about public schooling in a democratic society, learners, language, learning, and learning environments and integrates that knowledge into personally meaningful frameworks. 

Standard III

The teacher candidate commands essential knowledge and understandings about curriculum, instruction, and evaluation in the subject matter area(s) and integrates that knowledge into personally meaningful frameworks.

Standard IV

The teacher candidate commands essential knowledge and understandings of instructional technology and integrates that knowledge into personally meaningful frameworks.

Standard V

The teacher candidate has a clearly defined sense of professional identity (roles, responsibilities, ethics, and dispositions), professional purpose, and affiliation with the professional community.

Standard VI

The teacher candidate uses content, pedagogical, and professional knowledge, skills, and dispositions to design, implement, and evaluate meaningful learning experiences for all students in a clinical setting.

Each standard is presented with a summary of corresponding knowledge, dispositions, and abilities (performance indicators).  The knowledge, dispositions, and abilities for each standard are derived directly from the teacher education program conceptual framework.  The Teacher Education Program Standards are published in The UNCP Teacher Education Program:  Teacher Candidate Handbook, and purchased by the teacher candidates at the beginning of their program of study, reviewed and connected to courses as the teacher candidates progress through the program, and understood through guided reflection in a progressive portfolio process called CARE.  The complete standards document, The UNCP Teacher Education Program Candidate Standards, is included in Appendix A-1.   A graphic overview of the Teacher Education Conceptual Framework is presented in Figure 1. 

At the graduate level, programs are structured around five UNCP Teacher Education Master’s Candidate Standards.

Standard I

The professional educator commands advanced knowledge and understandings in the specialty area and uses that knowledge to strengthen practice and to develop a more complex conceptual framework for school subject matter through critical self-reflection.

Standard II

The professional educator commands advanced knowledge and understandings of educational theory and research and uses that knowledge to strengthen practice and to develop a more complex conceptual framework for teaching and learning through critical self-reflection.

Standards III

The professional educator commands advanced knowledge and understandings of content pedagogy and uses that knowledge to strengthen practice and to develop a more complex conceptual framework for teaching and learning through critical self-reflection.

Standard IV

The professional educator uses advanced knowledge and understandings of content, educational foundations, and content pedagogy to improve the learning and well-being of diverse students.

Standard V

The professional educator uses advanced knowledge, understanding, and years of practical experience to provide leadership in various professional communities.

 

Teacher Education Program Framing Concepts and Purposes

The framing concepts and purposes of the Teacher Education Program are described fully in Appendix A-2.

SCHOOL COUNSELING PROGRAM

School Counseling Mission Statement

The mission of the school counseling program is to produce competent professional counselors with the knowledge and skills to work effectively in the public school system.   The program is designed to meet the state and national standards for the profession.   School counseling candidates complete a program of study that includes 27 semester hours of core courses in general counseling practice, 9 semester hours of specialty courses in the field of school counseling, 6 hours of supervised counseling skills development and practice, and 6 semester hours of guided electives.   Students must demonstrate knowledge, skills, and dispositions that are congruent with effective professional counselors in the school system.  Student knowledge, skills, and dispositions are assessed and evaluated through multiple measures, including taped skill demonstrations, portfolio defense, comprehensive examination, and outside evaluators.

School Counseling Program Standards

Standard I

The school counseling candidate commands essential knowledge and understandings of the field of counseling and integrates that knowledge into personally meaningful frameworks.

 Standard II

The school counseling candidate utilizes assessment, research and technology to support and improve counseling practices. 

Standard III

The school counseling candidate possesses the characteristics related to effective counseling practice.

 Standard IV

School counseling candidates demonstrate an ability to create positive environments for all students.

School Counseling Program Goals & Objectives

A full listing of the School Counseling program standards is presented in  Appendix A-3.