program STRANDS
Ferrum College created the Teacher Education program in a time of educational reform and designed
the program to prepare teachers for restructured schools. Graduates should be prepared to work in settings
that emphasize effective teaching , practice shared decision-making, and
assess outcomes in authentic ways. Ferrum's program challenges you to acquire the following habits, skills, and dispositions that we refer to as Strands of the Conceptual Framework and that we believe are important for effective teachers and change agents in today's schools to acquire and to practice. They include the following professional qualities:
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1. |
PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE
BASE which includes understanding and application of theories,
strategies, models, and research in teaching and learning; |
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2. |
DEVELOPMENTAL FRAME OF
REFERENCE for learners as well as for oneself as both a teacher
and a learner; |
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3. |
UNDERSTANDING OF
DIVERSITY including an understanding of global/multicultural
issues, learning styles, and individual differences; |
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4. |
DEVELOPMENT OF
JUDGMENT/PROBLEM SOLVING DISPOSITION including how to acquire and
analyze valuable data, how to evidence reasoning and outcomes, making
data-driven decisions, and the role of intuition in decision
making/and the development of problem solving skills such as problem
analysis and definition, keeping an open mind, developing and
implementing creative strategies and reflecting upon outcomes; |
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5. |
DEVELOPMENT AND
IMPLEMENTATION OF PERSONAL EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY which includes a
disposition toward self-assessment and reflection, the development of
a solid knowledge base both in terms of educational pedagogy and
content areas, identification and continued refinement of a
philosophical stance, the ability to manifest this philosophy in the
classroom, and reflection upon one's practice; |
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6. |
COMMUNICATION
including the ability to articulate both verbally and in written form
one's educational philosophy and one's position on a variety of
issues, and the ability to make an appropriate presentation to the
intended audience; |
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7. |
QUESTIONING as a
learning strategy, a teaching strategy and a life strategy; |
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8. |
MANAGEMENT SKILLS
including the management of resources, people, time/space; |
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9. |
TEAM BUILDING AND
COLLABORATION and |
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10. |
LEADERSHIP which
involves the ability to imagine something, believe in it, do what it
takes to make it happen and invite others into the process. |
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