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Early Childhood, Elementary, and Literacy Education
Mission Statement
Our mission is to prepare professionals who possess the knowledge, skills, and
dispositions to transform early childhood, elementary, and life-long literacy education in the
service of social justice and democratic ideals. As a department, we strive collectively to
ensure that our students understand that:
- Learning and teaching are social processes with political implications.
- Teaching/learning is a life-long process.
- Educators, to be effective, must affectively engage their students.
- Educators are cultural and political workers who accept an active role in democracy and the promotion of social justice locally, nationally and globally.
- Critical education is a process that works to change "what is" while simultaneously preparing people to participate in "what is yet to be."
- Respect for the value and educability of every person is a fundamental principle of teaching/learning.
Goals and Objectives
What we want our students to know and be able to do:
- Understand, analyze, and apply various principles and global perspectives of child development to enhance the care and well being of all children.
- Implement culturally responsive teaching and learning practices, assessments, and dispositions.
- Identify bias (racism, sexism, homophobia, etc.) and intolerance in teaching practices, materials, websites, etc. and insure an anti-bias teaching and learning environment.
- Demonstrate sensitivity and sensibility toward the cultural, social, and political context of families and communities, particularly those in inner cities, and reflect the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to work collaboratively with diverse communities.
- Implement a well-articulated constructivist philosophy of teaching and learning as demonstrated by cohesive and integrated curricular approaches, student-centered instructional strategies, varied assessment and observation strategies, critical thinking strategies, technology, building classroom community, classroom management, and classroom environment (physical design).
- Demonstrate knowledge, skills, and dispositions toward inclusionary practices - accommodating to the needs and abilities of individual students and families (differentiated learning, special education strategies, etc.).
- Use strategies of collaboration and advocacy to promote collegiality within the profession and to act on the moral dimensions of teaching and the demands of social justice in order to improve the lives of children and families.
- Provide shared leadership within schools, agencies, and institutions that serve children and families based on knowledge of social systems and how systems work in a given community. Respect cultural competence.
- Build communities of learners based on high quality affective relationships that enable effective learning: knowing children and families well, appreciating strengths and differences, acknowledging and building on rich social interactions among children, etc.
- Use technology as a tool for teaching, learning, and communicating: curriculum, professional development, collaboration across school, university, and community.
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Program Characteristics
A common clear vision of good teaching (Agenda for
Education in a Democracy) that is apparent in all
course work and clinical experiences.
Well-defined standards of practice and performance that are used to
guide and evaluate course work and clinical work.
A curriculum grounded in substantial knowledge of child development,
learning theory, cognition, motivation, and subject matter pedagogy,
taught in the context of practice.
Extended clinical experiences (at least 30 weeks) that are carefully
chosen to support the ideas and practices presented in simultaneous
and closely woven course work.
Strong relationships, common knowledge, and shared beliefs among
school and university faculty.
Extensive use of case study methods, teacher research, performance
assessments, and portfolio evaluation to ensure that learning is
applied to real problems of practice (Darling-Hammond, 2000, Critique
of Teacher Education, Journal of Teacher Education, AACTE).
Develop the ability of each teacher educator and candidate to see
beyond his or her own perspective, to put oneself in the shoes of the
learner and to understand the meaning of experiences in terms of
learning. This capacity to understand another is not innate; it is
developed through study, reflection, guided experience, and inquiry
(Darling-Hammond, 2000, Needs of teacher education candidates, Journal
of Teacher Education, AACTE).
Make social justice ubiquitous in teacher education. A concern for
social justice means looking critically at why and how schools are
unjust to some students. When social justice is a major lens with
which to view the education of all students of all backgrouds, then
diversity gains a place of prominence in the teacher education
curriculum (Nieto, 2000, Addressing diversity in teacher education
programs, Journal of Teacher Education, AACTE).
Portrait of a Literacy Educator
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Literacy faculty of the Department of Early Childhood Elementary and Literacy Education are committed to the development of literacy educators who:
I. Continue to inquire into the nature of teaching and learning and reflect upon
professional practice.
- Know philosophies and theories of literacy instruction.
- Possess knowledge of reading process, language development, and learning.
- Demonstrate knowledge of selection process as it pertains to literacy resources and
materials.
- Demonstrate knowledge of assessment principles and techniques.
- Demonstrate knowledge of appropriate instructional strategies.
- Are effective communicators who share information about reading with colleagues,
parents, and the community.
- Are technologically literate and know how technology facilitates learning and
enhances literacy.
II. Possess the skills and dispositions necessary to create literacy environments, which
stimulate critical thinking and inquiry.
- Can organize and plan effective literacy programs for classroom, school, and district levels.
- Instill enthusiasm in others, for the delights and rewards of literacy development.
- Possess the interpersonal skills and dispositions to work cooperatively and collaboratively with colleagues.
III. Understand the principles of democracy and the roles of literacy and critical thinking
within a democracy.
- Possess the literacy and critical thinking abilities associated with the concept of an
educated person.
- Plan instruction to promote critical reflection about the ideas, values, and practices
of citizenship based upon democratic principles.
IV. Understand and are committed to the professional and ethical responsibilities of those
who work in educational settings with diverse populations.
- Believe in the educability of all children regardless of race, class, gender, religion,
ethnicity, sexual orientation, and special needs.
- Seek to ensure equitable learning opportunities for every student.
- Provide a nurturing and caring environment for all students.
V. Model respect and empathy for individual differences and an appreciation of the basic
worth of each individual.
- Plan instruction and select materials with sensitivity to issues of race, class, gender,
religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and special needs.
- Work to foster an appreciation of diversity among students, colleagues, and parents.
VI. Are committed to renewal and best practice in the schools.
- Lead, implement, and/or support change in literacy, teaching and learning.
- Possess passion and commitment to lifelong learning and literacy development.
- Build and participate in communities of inquiry related to literacy development.
[Adapted from the Montclair State University Portrait of a Teacher and Standards for Reading Professionals. (1992). IRA & NCTE.]
11/07/03
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