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Standard 1.D
Professional and Pedagogical Knowledge and Skills for Teacher Candidates.

Initial Level | Advanced Level

   Target:  Teacher candidates reflect a thorough understanding of professional and pedagogical knowledge and skills delineated in professional, state, and institutional standards.  They develop meaningful learning experiences to facilitate learning for all students.  They reflect on their practice and make necessary adjustments to enhance student learning.  They know how students learn and how to make ideas accessible to them.  They consider school, family, and community contexts in connecting concepts to students' prior experience and applying the ideas to real-world problems.

Initial Level

   Prospective teachers at EMU learn a strong body of professional and pedagogical knowledge.  The details of what is learned legitimately vary by level of student to be taught and, to some degree, by teaching specialty.  Learning experiences have been structured into developmentally-appropriate phases, as described below.  The assessment of these learning experiences is reported in Standard 2.

   As is typical in higher education, the learning experiences, primarily for record keeping purposes and to assign teaching (and assessment) responsibilities, have been organized into "courses." Course titles, course descriptions, and syllabi describe the learning that is expected to take place.

   Elementary.  Click here (then scroll to and click on any of the "approved majors") to see the entire list of course titles that outline the total set of learning experiences required for elementary candidates.  The subset of this list that is labeled "professional studies" includes the body of professional and pedagogical knowledge expected to be learned by elementary candidates.  Links to course descriptions and to syllabi lead to detailed descriptions of learning experiences.  The body of professional and pedagogical knowledge learning experiences is clustered into several "phases" to insure appropriate sequencing of learning experiences. 

   The Pre-admission phase is intended to provide sufficient learning on topics related to "the learner and the community" such as to assure success in later learning experiences.  In terms of record keeping, this phase consists of three courses (a total of eight semester credit hours) that may be taken prior to formal admission to the initial teacher preparation program.  The courses in this phase are:

   Participation in the remaining phases of the initial teacher preparation program requires formal admission to and retention in the initial teacher preparation program.

   Phase I learning experiences include topics on "technology, diversity and teaching environments."  These topics are organized into four courses (a total of 11 semester credit hours.)  For scheduling purposes, elementary candidates may take Phase I and Phase II courses  concurrently.  The courses in Phase I include:

   Phase II learning experiences, organized into three courses (a total of seven semester credit hours), include topics on  "curriculum and assessment."  These courses are:  

   When fully implemented, prerequisite controls will prohibit a candidate from moving to Phase III until Phases I and II have been completed.

   Phase III learning experiences are organized into three (or four) courses (a total of seven [to ten] semester credit hours) related to "methods and technology." These courses may be taken concurrently with Phase IV courses.  The Phase III courses are:

   Phase IV learning experiences address topics in "literacy, culture, and the arts."  These experiences are organized into the following four courses (a total of 10 semester credit hours.)

   The learning experiences of Phase V, Student Teaching, are discussed under Standard 3.

   The learning experiences included in the "professional studies" component of our program for elementary candidates include, but are not limited to, the learning experiences expected under the standards of the Association for Childhood Education International.  Click here (then scroll to "elementary education") for EMU's response to those standards.

   The learning experiences in the portion of our program for elementary candidates that addresses professional and pedagogical knowledge and skills are aligned with the Michigan Department of Education standards for elementary teachers as reflected in Michigan Administrative Rules  390-1121 through 390-1126 and with the objectives for the Elementary Test of the Michigan Tests for Teacher Certification.  In addition, the Entry Level Standards for Michigan Teachers call for attention to pedagogical content knowledge, in particular Entry Level Standard 3 (knowledge of content and pedagogy) and Entry Level Standard 7 (technology).   See Exhibit CF-26  for a chart that shows how the learning experiences of our courses are aligned with both national INTASC and state Entry-Level standards.

   The previously described body of professional and pedagogical knowledge and skills contributes to the accomplishment of EMU's "Outcomes and Benchmarks".  The program for elementary candidates has been reviewed by the Basic Programs Committee (see extant minutes) and by the College of Education Council (see minutes) for compliance with institutional expectations.

   These courses address meaningful learning experiences (EMU's "Outcomes and Benchmarks" items A-C, F-I, and S, in particular); reflective practice (EMU's "Outcomes and Benchmarks" items L-M in particular); and context (EMU's "Outcomes and Benchmarks" items C, L, N, and U in particular.)

   The assessment of the elementary candidate's knowledge of and skills in professional and pedagogical knowledge and skills is accomplished in several ways that are described in detail in Standard 2.  These include, but are not limited to, performance assessments during the course of the program, assessments in student teaching, and performance on the Elementary Test of the Michigan Tests for Teacher Certification.

   Secondary/K-12.  Click here (then scroll to and click on any of teaching fields) to see the entire list of course titles that outline the total set of learning experiences required for secondary/K-12 candidates.  The subset of this list that is labeled "professional studies" includes the body of professional and pedagogical knowledge expected to be learned by secondary/K-12 candidates.  Links to course descriptions and to syllabi lead to detailed descriptions of learning experiences.  The body of professional and pedagogical knowledge learning experiences is clustered into several "phases" to insure appropriate sequencing of learning experiences.   

   The Pre-admission phase is intended to provide sufficient learning on topics related to  "the learner and the community" such as to assure success in later learning experiences.  In terms of record keeping, this phase consists of three courses (a total of eight semester credit hours) that may be taken prior to formal admission to the initial teacher preparation program.  The courses in this phase are:

   Participation in the remaining phases of the initial teacher preparation program requires formal admission to and retention in the initial teacher preparation program.

   Phase I learning experiences include topics on "curriculum, assessment, and the social context." These topics are organized into four courses (a total of 10 semester credit hours):

   Phase II learning experiences, organized into four courses (a total of nine semester hours), include topics on "content methods, literacy, and technology."  These are:   

   The learning experiences of Phase III, Student Teaching, are discussed under Standard 3.

   Although the vast majority of secondary/K-12 candidates follow the pattern given above, there are exceptions.  The exceptions occur in business education, marketing education, vocational education, technology and design education, music education, physical education, and art education. Some are quite small differences (e.g., four hours of special methods in art education.)  A number of these programs substitute for CURR 305 and FETE 302 one or more other experiences generally related to curriculum in the specialty.

   Some of the learning experiences included in the "professional studies" component of our program for secondary/K-12 candidates are aligned with the learning experiences expected under the standards of various SPA's (plus NASM) covering the secondary and K-12 teaching fields. See Exhibit G-10, in particular the sections on computer science, the science teaching fields, the social studies teaching fields, and technology education.  Some of the learning experiences are aligned with State standards for particular teaching fields.  See Exhibit G-11.   

   However, this body of learning experiences serves in particular to address the Entry Level Standards for Michigan Teachers, especially Entry Level Standard 3 (knowledge of content and pedagogy) and Entry Level Standard 7 (technology).   See Exhibit CF-26 for a chart that shows how the learning experiences of our courses are aligned with both national INTASC and state Entry-Level standards.

   The previously described body of professional and pedagogical knowledge and skills contributes to the accomplishment of EMU's "Outcomes and Benchmarks".  The programs for secondary and K-12 teaching fields have been reviewed by the Basic Programs Committee (see extant minutes ) and by the College of Education Council (see minutes) for compliance with institutional expectations.

   The content of our required courses addresses meaningful learning experiences (EMU's "Outcomes and Benchmarks" items A-C, F-I, and S, in particular); reflective practice (EMU's "Outcomes and Benchmarks" items L-M in particular); and context (EMU's "Outcomes and Benchmarks" items C, L, N, and U in particular.)

   The assessment of the secondary/K-12 candidate's knowledge of and skills in professional and pedagogical knowledge and skills is accomplished in several ways that are described in detail in Standard 2.  These include, but are not limited to, performance assessments during the course of the program and assessments in student teaching.

   Special Education.  Click here (then scroll to and click on any of the majors, both elementary and secondary) to see the entire list of course titles that outline the total set of learning experiences required for special education candidates.  The subset of this list that is labeled "professional studies" includes the body of professional and pedagogical knowledge expected to be learned by special education candidates.

   It will be noted that, since every person endorsed in special education must also be either an "elementary" teacher or a "secondary" teacher, the "professional studies" requirements for special education teachers are essentially the same as those for either a general education elementary teacher or a general education secondary teacher.  (See discussion above.)  In those instances where there are exceptions, the special education candidate has mastered the learning experiences associated with the exception through course work in special education. 

Advanced Level

   At EMU, the advanced programs for teachers include master's degree programs in early childhood education, elementary education, middle level education, business education, technology education, secondary education, educational media and technology, art education, physical education, music education, common learnings in curriculum (K-12), reading, and special education (cognitively impaired, emotionally impaired, hearing impaired, learning disabilities, physically or otherwise health impaired, and visually impaired.)

   These programs, while they differ appreciably from each other, each contain large quantities of learning experiences related to professional and pedagogical knowledge and skills. To see the entire list of course titles that outline the total set of learning experiences required in each program, click on the program title in the previous paragraph.

   Compliance with standards--SPA's, NASM and CACREP, state, and institutional--for professional and pedagogical knowledge and skills for advanced programs for teachers is the same as has been previously discussed, with the exception that local review has been performed by the Advanced Programs Committee (see extant minutes) instead of by the Basic Programs Committee.  Similarly, the assessment of candidate knowledge and skills in professional and pedagogical knowledge and skills for advanced programs for teachers is the same as has been previously discussed, except that the assessment has been against the local goals for the advanced programs.  For additional information on the assessment mechanisms and outcomes, see Standard 2.

Initial Level | Advanced Level

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