Educator Preparation Program

Academic Program

Mission Statement

The mission of the Educator Preparation Program at Union University is to prepare highly effective educators within an environment of sensitivity, reflection, and faith.

Description of the statement: Effective educators demonstrate knowledge in their respective fields; sensitivity to students' diverse learning needs; reflection in scholarship and inquiry; motivation of their students becoming life-long learners; and a careful examination of their worldview and integration of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).

Candidate Outcomes

1. Knowledge of Learners. Candidates as teacher-practitioners design and implement instruction in consideration of the typical cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and physical development of children and adolescents and responsive to individual needs.
2. Diverse Learners. Candidates as teacher-relaters respect diverse cultures and the wide range of individual abilities by establishing inclusive learning environments that maintain high expectations for all.
3. Learning Environments. Candidates as teacher-relaters create respectful, collaborative, and engaging learning environments that communicate the Christ-modeled worth and potential of each individual.
4. Content Knowledge. Candidates as teacher-scholars demonstrate academic competence in the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of their discipline(s) and design instruction that makes content accessible and meaningful to facilitate content mastery.
5. Content to Critical Thinking. Candidates as teacher-practitioners engage learners in critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving by integrating concepts of the discipline(s) from different viewpoints relevant to local and global issues.
6. Assessment, Reflection, Response. Candidates as teacher-practitioners use multiple assessment strategies to evaluate learning in the classroom and to empower the learner to reflect and improve.
7. Planning. Candidates as teacher-scholars and practitioners use content, pedagogical, and cultural knowledge to plan instruction that is rigorous, personal, and differentiated to the learner by providing for students a clear linkage between critical content, meaningful assessment, and purposeful, engaging instructional approaches.
8. Instructional Strategies. Candidates as teacher-practitioners demonstrate knowledge and use of a variety of effective teaching methods that promote deep understanding of content, its connections to other disciplines, and its meaningful application to their modern world.
9. Professional Learning and Ethical Practice. Candidates as teacher-practitioners are immersed in professional learning, demonstrate their ability to reflect on practice and choices, and are responsive to input from mentors, faculty, and cooperating teachers to adapt instruction for improved learner outcomes.
10. Leadership and Collaboration. Candidates as teacher-relaters demonstrate leadership by assuming responsibilities for instruction and learning in the classroom, collaborating with all stakeholders to ensure learner growth, and showing evidence of the potential for and interest in future leadership roles beyond the classroom.