Welcome to the inaugural issue of the George Fox University School of Education eNewsletter. We are pleased that you have chosen to join us as we share news and coming events from the Undergraduate Teacher Education, Master of Arts in Teaching, Educational Foundations and Leadership departments, and the Graduate Department of Counseling.
As always, this is a busy year for us. Many of you know that last spring we received national recognition from the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). What this means is that we have worked hard to create and support excellent preparation and professional development programs for teachers, administrators, school counselors, and school psychologists. It would be wonderful if we could sit back and let the programs tick along. However, an important process for maintaining excellence is constant cycle of evaluation of what we are doing and looking for ways to improve our practice.
The mission of the School of Education is based on a Christ-centered worldview that supports and develops professionals who think critically, transform practice, and promote justice. The three paragraphs that follow are excerpted from the self-study report presented to NCATE.
Think Critically
Initial and advanced program candidates in the SOE should have the ability to think critically about subject area knowledge and knowledge that informs their practice. Think critically includes but is not limited to the following examples: Candidates seek multiple perspectives, imagine possibilities, formulate wise decisions, anticipate paradigm shifts, love learning, and make inferences based on evidence.
Transform Practice
Initial and advanced program candidates in the SOE should have the ability to reflectively use a variety of research tools, cognitive strategies, and professional practices to take the lead in reforming their institutions. Transform practice includes the following components: Candidates use technology, research, subject knowledge, and effective oral and written communication to enhance student and client learning; analyze, debrief, and abstract from their own experiences for the purpose of transforming practice; and, take the lead in reforming practice at their institutions.
Promote Justice
Initial and advanced program candidates in the SOE should have the ability to advocate for the needs of all students and clients in a caring manner by actively promoting justice. Promote justice includes the following components: Candidates act to ensure that all students and clients have the opportunity to learn; advocate for the needs of all students and clients by promoting justice; and, widen students’ and clients’ understandings by teaching about and modeling ethics and what it means to "love one’s neighbor."
In numerous venues through the fall we have reviewed these components of our conceptual framework. We invite you to join us in this reflective practice and share with us how your experience at George Fox prepared you to think critically, transform your practice, and promote justice as teachers, administrators, school counselors and psychologists, and in whatever places God has chosen to lead you to live and work. You may email your thoughts directly to me at lsamek@georgefox.edu.
Linda Samek
Dean of the School of Education
lsamek@georgefox.edu