Conceptual Framework
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.
In alignment with our institutional mission, the School of Education emphasizes a Transformative Model that focuses on the integration of faith, learning, and living based on a Christ-centered worldview. We believe that this theoretical learning perspective provides a conceptual framework from which we can achieve the goal of our programs: to support and develop professionals who think critically, transform practice, and promote justice.
Think Critically
The School of Education has adopted the following belief about this component: 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
The School of Education has adopted the following belief about this component: 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
The School of Education has adopted the following belief about this component: 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; they advocate for the needs of all students and clients by promoting justice; and they widen students’ and clients’ understandings by teaching about and modeling ethics and what it means to “love one’s neighbor.”
Christ-centered worldview is a philosophical view that informs our thinking about the source of knowledge. It is based on the belief that all truth is God’s truth. Peterson (2001) explains that “the Christian view, however, insists that the universe and everything it contains are creaturely realities, brought into being by a sovereign and loving God, dependent completely on his will for their source and sustenance.” Furthermore, Peterson (2001) states that, “This Christological concept signifies that the very heart of reality is personal, rational, and knowable and that all other knowledge takes on proper perspective through relationship to Christ.”