Education Department Learning Goals
At the completion of their programs of study, our Education majors will….
UNDERSTAND…
- Their own history, identity, and position within US society and that of others, and related impact on teaching and learning.
- Human variability, and the value of strength-based perspectives in work with children, families, communities.
- The critical role of the teacher in enacting a humanizing pedagogy that is anchored in the needs, identities, and lived experiences of students, families, and broader community.
- The history, complexity, and power of institutional settings such as schools, and the ethical responsibility of a teacher in working for justice.
- The big ideas of disciplinary content and tools for inquiry, research, and curriculum design and implementation across content areas relevant to P-12 teaching.
- The architecture of the ‘self’ (Sealy-Ruiz), the imperative of critical self-reflection for personal/professional growth.
KNOW…
- History of US, including history of public schooling, teaching, related laws, legislation, policy, etc.
- History/role of race, class, gender, sexual identity, ability/disability status in US society and schooling
- All MA Curriculum Frameworks PK-12, or bandwidth +/-2 of licensure range
- UDL framework and technology tools to support teaching and learning
- Strategies for assessment, differentiation, accommodation/modification for mono and multilingual children with/wo disabilities
- Child/adolescent development and variability across domains from multicultural and global perspectives
- Developmental progression of language/literacy and numeracy learning and interventions to support
- Positive and responsive strategies for guiding and supporting children’s behavior both proactively and reactively
- Strategies for supporting English language learner instruction across disciplines
- Special Education laws, terminology, processes
- Vocabulary of the Profession: vocabulary relevant to content areas taught in P-12 settings, culturally responsive/sustaining pedagogy, antiracist pedagogy, translanguage, code meshing, community cultural wealth/funds of knowledge, relevant education/special education/SEI terminology/acronyms (e.g. IEP, IFSP, IDEA, UDL, MTSS, WIDA, etc.), etc.
DO…
- Incorporate responsive language and productive questioning protocols in conversations with children and adults around disciplinary content and complex ideas and topics including racism, sexism, and homophobia, etc.
- Facilitate classroom circles, role play/enact conversations and practices with peers/children that build content-area understanding and socio-emotional skills such as empathy
- Teach large/small group and 1:1 lessons across disciplinary domains that are well-structured, culturally sustaining, and standards-based
- Design and implement authentic and culturally sustaining assessments and analyze assessment data to inform teaching
- Implement responsive and restorative practices/interventions in the classroom and in work with families
- Collaborate with peers, students, colleagues and families to problem solve around student needs and relevant barriers to learning related to academic, social-emotional, community issues
- Critically evaluate curriculum for content demands/quality, bias/racism, and relevance/potential for use in classroom
- Develop well-structured units and lessons grounded in big ideas, reflective of students needs and experiences, and anchored in deep subject matter knowledge
- Construct learning and language objectives that align with lesson content, state standards, and student needs
- Examine lessons/units and adapt as needed (e.g., differentiation,,modifications/ accommodations to address needs of mono and multi linguistic students with and without identified disabilities)
- Engage in critical literacy practices and facilitate classroom discussions that support depth of knowledge and understanding