Approved by Faculty Senate.

Department: Education Date of Revision: Spring 2002

 Course Title: The Professional Educator Course Number: ED 459

Number of Credits: 3 Frequency of Offering: Semester

Prerequisite(s): EDUC 303/304/305, Grading: Grade only

EDUC310/311/312, MATH 100 or higher,

ENG 111, CMST 191

University Studies: Writing flag (3hrs) Course applies to: All licensure

areas

1. Catalog Description

This course is designed to familiarize teacher education majors and others associated with the education profession with the historical and philosophical foundations of public education, school organizational patterns, legal responsibilities, professional organizations, and related educational issues including special/inclusive education.

2. Statement of the Major Focus and Objectives of the Course

This course presents the knowledge base necessary to effectively understand and perform as a professional at the preprimary, elementary, middle and secondary levels. Students are given the opportunity to acquire knowledge, skills, and professionalism necessary for effective performance as a regular and/or special educator in schools. The knowledge, skills, and professionalism relate to the Effective Educator Program Model.

A. Students will develop the following competencies as outlined in the Minnesota Standards of Effective Practice for Beginning Teachers:

Standard 9 – Reflection and Professional Development

Standard 10 – Collaborative Ethics and Relationships

B. Students in Education 459 will

1. Examine the teaching profession from a number of perspectives including the role of the teacher as a public employee, teacher preparation, entry positions, responsibility for obtaining and maintaining licensure, the influence of teacher professional behavior on students’ growth and learning, as well as supply and demand of teachers (knowledge);
2. Experience professional development by applying critical thinking, engaging in self-directed learning, communicating effectively in group collaboration, and making relevant value judgments based on sound professional ethics in the school and community environment in (professionalism);
3. Develop an awareness of school organizational patterns (knowledge);
4. Understand school law and legal responsibilities related to regular and special education students’ rights (knowledge);
5. Expand understanding of global issues that influence the educational setting (knowledge);
6. Understand the necessity to advocate for and meet the needs of diverse learners while promoting a culture free, gender fair curriculum (knowledge);
7. Collaborate on a presentation to the group on a timely educational issue (skills);
8. Be introduced to professional organizations and societies and the roles they play in regular and special education (knowledge);
9. Develop an awareness of and evaluate educational issues by consulting research on teaching and current professional literature (professionalism);
10. Interact with individual professionals, organizations, community agencies, and institutions concerned with supporting, advancing, and improving appropriate professional practices and the quality of education (professionalism);
11. Use professional literature, colleagues, other school /community resources, and technology appropriate to developing and demonstrating continuing professional education as it relates to the relationship of teachers and learners (knowledge and skills);
12. Know fundamental elements of the historical and philosophical foundations as well as the political and legal dimensions of education as they apply to regular and special educators (knowledge).
13. Assess and reflect upon professional growth in order to direct continuing professional education (professionalism).
14. Understands the standards of conduct in the Code of Ethics for Minnesota Teachers (8710.8000) and the Minnesota Graduation Standards, mandatory reporting laws and regulations.
15. Understand how to establish relationships with parents/guardians and school/community professionals regarding the education and well being of students.

This course allows students to meet the following University Studies Writing Flag requirements:

A. Practice the processes & procedures for creating & completing successful writing in their fields.

B. Understand the main features & uses of writing in their fields.

C. Adapt their writing to the general expectations of readers in their fields.

E. Learn the conventions of evidence, format, usage, and documentation in their fields.

Flag requirements A, B, C and E are met through the process of portfolio development. The Professional Portfolio developed by students in EDUC 459 contains their philosophy of education, an autobiography, and a statement of professionalism.

The philosophy of education paper is the student’s articulation of the nature of teaching, the nature of learning, the nature of teaching/learning transaction, and focus of the curriculum. The assignment is a reflective analysis of the underpinnings of the writer’s approach to development and delivery of the curriculum in a school setting. The prewriting experiences for this assignment include a lecture, an inventory of educational philosophy, class discussion, and a question/answer session. The initial writing is discussed during an individual conference with the instructor. The course professor reviews and provides editing suggestions. Subsequent revisions are prepared based upon the conference as well as student reflection and further editing. The target audiences are the classroom cooperating teacher who will supervise the writer during the student teaching experience and potential employers who review the writer’s portfolio.

The autobiography assignment is a first person account of how the writer became interested in and is pursuing teaching as a career. The assignment includes those influences, courses, and experiences that the student has identified as shaping his/her career aspiration to teach in the school setting. The target audience for the writing is the classroom cooperating teacher who will supervise the writer during the student teaching experience. Prewriting experiences include a lecture presentation, discussion, and question/answer period. The initial writing is discussed during an individual conference with the professor. The course professor reviews the autobiography assignment and provides editing suggestions. Subsequent revisions are prepared based on the conference as well as student reflection and further editing.

The professionalism assignment is a written synthesis of the student’s concept of professionalism in the field of education, which is a component of WSU’s Effective Educator Program for Teacher Education. The target audiences are the classroom cooperating teacher who will supervise the writer during the student teaching experience and potential employers who review the writer’s portfolio. The prewriting experiences for this assignment include a lecture, a speaker whose focus if professionalism, review of the Effective Educator Program outcomes especially with regard to the professionalism component, and reading from the course textbook. The initial writing is discussed during an individual conference with the professor. The course professor reviews the autobiography assignment and provides editing suggestions. Subsequent revisions are prepared based on the conference as well as student reflection and further editing.

All assignments are to meet accepted standards of usage applicable to education in general with modifications made, as needed, for standards specific to a student’s field. The most common manuals of style used are APA and MLA.

D. Make use of the technologies commonly used for research in their fields

In the development of the professional portfolio assignments students are

expected to use commonly cited education journals (ex: Phi Delta Kappan), education databases (such as ERIC and Wilson), and Internet sites (see references below) to expand their knowledge of education related literature.

4. Course Outline of the Major Topics and Subtopics

I. Course Overview

A. Purpose

B. Scope and sequence

C. Outcomes and assessments

II. The Teaching Profession (Winona State University Education Department and the Placement Office, Sadker and Sadker, U.S. Department of Education, Association Supervision and Curriculum Development, Phi Delta Kappa)

A. Teacher preparation

1. The Winona State University Effective Educator Program

B. The teaching profession

C. Professional organizations and societies (teacher unions, Association for Curriculum and Supervision Development, Phi Delta Kappa, Council for Exceptional Children, etc)

D. Ongoing assessment for continuing professional education and lifelong learning

III. Foundations of Education

A. History of American education (Franklin, Jefferson, Mann, Webster, McGuffey, Dewey, Froebel, Montessori, Bethune)

B. Philosophy of American education (Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Bagley, Dewey, Adler, Hutchins, Neill, Watson, Skinner)

C. Political dimensions (Sadker and Sadker)

D. Legal dimensions (Tinker v. Des Moines, Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeir, Ingraham v. Wright; U.S. Constitutional Amendments; Minnesota State Statutes ADA/IDEA/Sec. 504 [purpose, target groups, major principles) privacy/confidentiality

IV. Current issues in education (selected contemporary educational journals)

A. Teacher issues

B. Student issues

C. Curriculum issues including global and multicultural education

D. School/society issues

E. School, community, home relationships

F. Relationships with parents/guardians

G. Using community resources

5. Basic Instructional Plans And Teaching Methods Utilized

Lecture and guest lectures by professionals in the field, small group work, class discussion, assigned readings on effective schools and teaching with student reports to the class assignments - preparing a multicultural/gender-fair lesson plan, teaching the class about timely educational issue, preparing test items based upon assigned readings.

6. Course Assignments/Requirements

Examination(s), cooperative group report, test items, attendance, field experience, demonstrate a completed electronic portfolio.

 

7. Methods of Evaluation

Course evaluation is based on individual performance on writing a lesson plan, small group performance on the presentation of a lesson on a timely education issue, individual preparation of examination items, and final examination. The total raw score of individual and small group assignments and the final examination determines assignment of a grade of A through F. Students have the opportunity to take the final examination until a mastery level of 80% is achieved.

8.Textbook(s) or Alternatives

Teachers, Schools, and Society (5th edition) (2000) by Sadker and Sadker, McGraw-Hill Publishers.

Videotapes:

AIDS and the Family, Patricia Tolmie, WSU Education Department

Schools That Work, National Public Television

School Improvement Through Staff Development, Association for Supervision, and Curriculum Development

Voice of Intervention, Minnesota Department of Human Services, 1999

 

Journals:

Educational Leadership

Education Week

Exceptional Child

Phi Delta Kappan

Teaching Exceptional Children

Selected journals in content areas

Speakers:

Public school teachers and administrators in the Winona State University service area

Community Education

Winona County Human Services – Child Protection

Winona State University student teachers

Winona State University International Student Organization

Selected documents:

Minnesota Code of Ethics for Teachers

Minnesota Standards for Effective Practice for Beginning Teachers

Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium Standards

National Board for Professional Teaching Standards

Current selected documents generated from ERIC using PALS and other retrieval systems

Websites:

Title: American Federation of Teachers

URL: www.aft.org

Title: Education Week on the Web

URL: www.edweek.org

Title: EDLaw

URL: www.access.digex.net/~edlawinc/

Title: EdWeb: Exploring Technology and School Reform

URL: www.edweb.cnidr.org:90

Title: Eisenhower National Clearinghouse

URL: www.enc.org

Title: Educational Resources Information Center

URL: www.eric.syr.edu

Title: The Law and Special Education

URL: www.ed.sc.edu/spedlaw/lawpage.htm

Title: Library of Congress (legislative information)

URL: www.loc.gov and www.thomas.loc.gov

Title: Mid-continent Regional Educational Laboratory

URL: www.mcrel.org

Title: National Education Association

URL: www.nea.org

Title: National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities

URL: www.aed.org/nichy/

Title: National School Boards Association

URL: www.nsba.org

Title: US Department of Education

URL: www.ed.gov

Title: Minnesota Department of Children, Families, and Learning

URL: www.cfl.state.mn.us