Undergraduate Curriculum

The undergraduate teacher education curriculum at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke is designed to prepare capable and caring professionals to serve in the schools of North Carolina and other regions of the nation.  Essential knowledge, skills, and dispositions are integrated into a curriculum comprised of a general education component, a specialty area component, a professional studies component, and a content pedagogy component.  The General Education component includes study of the fine arts, literature, history, philosophy/religion, the social sciences, the natural sciences, mathematics, and physical education.  The Professional Studies component includes study of the historical, social, and philosophical foundations of education; human growth and development; learning theories; effective instructional practices; exceptional children; teaching communication skills; and the use of instructional technology.  It is designed to provide the preservice teacher with knowledge of the philosophical and theoretical belief systems informing competing theories of educational purpose and practice and to guide his/her construction of a defensible model of teaching and learning. The Specialty Area component is designed to provide prospective teachers with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions specific to the academic discipline in which licensure is sought. The Content Pedagogy component is designed to help the preservice teacher learn how to teach the academic discipline(s) as school subject matter.  Field experiences, culminating in a semester student teaching experience, allow prospective teachers to explore the dynamic interrelationships among theory, practice, and reflection. The conceptual framework for the teacher education program and the goals/objectives of each program area are published in documents provided to undergraduate and graduate teacher education students.

Requirement for Some Teacher Education Majors:  Academic Concentration

The University of North Carolina at Pembroke offers the following programs leading to an "A" level teaching license, an "M' level teaching license, or Add-On licensure in the State of North Carolina. All teacher licenses are issued by the NC State Department of Public Instruction.  All licensure areas listed below, excluding add-on licensure areas, are teacher education major areas. 

Accreditation

The University of North Carolina at Pembroke is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).  The Teacher Education Program has been accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) since 1969 and the North Carolina State Board of Education since 1964.  The most recent on-site visits occurred in November 2002.  Full approval was granted by both agencies.  The next on-site visits are scheduled for the fall of 2007.

 Faculty Appointment, Teaching Load, and Evaluation

 Faculty assigned responsibilities in the Teacher Education Program hold appointments in one of the academic departments of the University as described in The University of North Carolina at Pembroke Faculty Handbook.  Individual departments, in conjunction with the Office of Academic Affairs, are responsible for the selection and appointment of faculty.  Teaching loads are assigned by respective department chairs in line with University policy.  Evaluation of all faculty follows the model detailed in the Faculty Handbook.  Faculty with teacher education responsibilities are evaluated as members of the departments in which they hold appointments.

Special Resources and Facilities

The McCrimmon Curriculum Laboratory:  The Teacher Education resource center, located on the first floor of the Education Center, is a facility for undergraduate and graduate students in the Teacher Education Program. The facility provides a comfortable work area for students to study and complete work activities.

programs.  The collection is updated annually as faculty request resources to support their class(es).

The Education Technology Center (ETC):  The ETC is a student-based computer lab housed in the Education Center that is specifically designed for teacher education preparation. Hardware, software, and training are available to provide preservice teachers with opportunities to demonstrate mastery of the National Education Technology Standards for teachers (NETS-T) developed by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).

The ETC consists of 25 networked, Pentium IV Compaq machines with 256 MB RAM, 40 GB harddrives, all with DVD ROMs and CDRWs.  Teacher candidates have access to 14 color inkjet printers and two networked laser printers.  Additional peripheral hardware includes two flatbed Scanjet 5370C scanners, one PhotoSmart S20 photo/film scanner, one flatbed Scanjet 5P.  Laptop computers, LCD projectors, and digital cameras are available for student/faculty check out on a limited basis. A station designed to demonstrate assistive technology for special needs children includes an Intellikeys keyboard, two switches, a 19” monitor and appropriate software to demonstrate these capabilities. One computer is designated for use by students who need information read to them via Kurzweil software.    Twenty PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) are available for use in math and science classrooms.  Each PDA is loaded with science and math software and can be accessed by appropriate probeware. 

Each candidate machine has access to the Internet, email and MS Office 2000 suite through the UNCP network.  Unique to the ETC, each machine has access to Inspiration, Kidspiration, SASinSchool, Grade Quick, and Kid Pix Deluxe.  Other curriculum-related software titles are available in the ETC on the student machines. Additionally, over 100 software and laser disk titles are available for student use/review.  The Education Technology Center assists students preparing to take the Praxis I Series by registering students for PLATO, an internet-based computer program.