EPP Guiding Principles

EPP Guiding Principles
Adopted February 17, 2016

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Guiding Principles (GP) of the Educator Preparation Provider

Missouri State University

The Educator Preparation Provider (EPP) at Missouri State University is made up of all faculty, staff, and administrators who: (1) teach one or more EPP courses, (2) advise or supervise professional educational students, or (3) administer professional education departments/schools or colleges. Members of the Educator Preparation Provider come from many departments and all colleges across the campus.

Our partners include those in schools and community agencies in which our candidates observe and practice their developing skills under professional supervision and mentoring, from admission through their first three years of professional practice. With the contributions of faculty who teach liberal arts and general education courses, we are convinced that at Missouri State, education is everyone’s business.

At Missouri State University, we believe that education is essential across all levels of society. Our mission and purpose are to develop the specialized competencies, skills, and dispositions to facilitate, promote, and enhance, with compassion and fairness, the learning and development of all persons. We are dedicated to our role within the larger community and seek to create and support the necessary movement toward equity, diversity, justice, and inclusion. This includes recognizing and dismantling biased structures and practices at all levels (PK-16). Concepts, theories, and methods related to social justice and the integration of ethical practices for solving social inequities is a key foundation of our programs. All programs honor in practice Missouri State’s public affairs mission that promotes ethical leadership, cultural humility, and community engagement.

The Missouri State professional education community believes that effective professional education programs are based on shared beliefs and values about schools, learning, and education that guide program development and instruction in knowledge, skills, and professionalism. The various content and specialty areas interpret and apply these guiding principles in accordance with their unique, specialized professional knowledge bases and standards. These guiding principles include foundations, content expertise, pedagogy, holism, experience, assessment/reflection, dispositions, research/inquiry, and collaboration/leadership that are common to all professional education programs. The underlying assumption of these guiding principles is that all members of the professional education community incorporate and demonstrate the principles of equity, diversity, justice, and inclusion throughout their programs.

Knowledge (GP 1)

1a. Foundations: knowledge of the historical, cultural, political, technological and community contexts of education and the development of the professional and foundational issues and arguments underlying its practices, as well as an understanding of the importance of integrated learning across disciplines. Diversity Proficiency 1)

1b Content Expertise: strong knowledge of subject matter discipline content and understanding the important ideas in the subject area domain and the influences that knowledge has on pedagogical orientations, teaching decisions, and teaching acts. (Diversity Proficiency 3)

1c. Pedagogy: knowledge of human development, motivation, and the theories of learning and assessment, as well as the understanding of the skills, techniques, and strategies that enhance learning for all students including those from diverse cultural, racial, and economic backgrounds, varying abilities, and historically underrepresented groups. (Diversity Proficiency 1-6)

CAEP Standards 1, 3, 4

Skills (GP 2)

2a. Holism: affirm diversity and understanding of the “whole child” within the classroom, school, educational system, family, community and cultural context; awareness of challenges and requirements of a democratic society; and knowledge and sensitivity to issues such as equity and human diversity.(Diversity Proficiency 1-6)

2b. Experience: apply theory to practice, understand how pedagogical theories impact teaching practices that serve as a foundation for the development and expansion of existing and emerging theories, and continually renew skills and knowledge within one’s discipline. (Diversity Proficiency 3)

2c. Assessment/Reflection: conduct valid and reliable assessment to improve student learning, engage in self-appraisal, and use feedback from students, supervisors, mentors, and peers to improve practice and employ skills crucial to reflective decision-making and systematic inquiry.(Diversity Proficiency 5-6)

CAEP Standard 2

Professionalism (GP 3)

3a. Dispositions: awareness of self as a professional educator passionate about teaching, intellectually curious, and demonstrating intellectual, social, and ethical attributes that contribute to the learning and development of all learners in all professional settings. (Diversity Proficiency 1-6)

3b. Research/Inquiry: use of current research, systematic inquiry approaches, and technology in pursuit of best educative practices, lifelong learning, and professional development in order to help all learners succeed. (Diversity Proficiency 3, 5)

3c. Collaboration/Leadership: the ability and skills to initiate and maintain empowering relationships with colleagues, school personnel, parents, family members, and the community and are prepared to assume leadership roles. (Diversity Proficiency 2)

CAEP Standard 2, 4, 5

The guiding principles found in this document have been derived, in part, from documents that guide our shared vision for the EPPU and the assessment of our candidates. These include: 1) our original Conceptual Framework document which delineates our vision, our mission, our beliefs, and our general learning outcomes, and 2) our current Diversity Proficiencies which have been developed and approved by the EPP Council based on recommendations from both the EPP Diversity and Provost Assessment committee. The original Conceptual Framework and General Learning Outcomes are archived in the EPPC websites.

The EPP functions as the body of more than 40 undergraduate and graduate professional education programs across campus that, through a representative governance process, proposes, discusses and establishes education program curriculum and related implementation policies and procedures of interest to the unit and in compliance with all DESE and CAEP mandates (Standards 1-5) impacting professional education programs at Missouri State University.