Philosophy

Our departmental philosophy begins with the fundamental belief that all students can learn. We realize, however, that students learn in different ways and at different rates. Therefore, teachers must not only be knowledgeable about the content they teach, but must also know and be committed to making decisions that involve the use a variety of instructional strategies and approaches appropriate to the diverse learning needs of students.

Based on the Benedictine values of concern for community; respect for all persons; and balancing mind, body, and spirit (de Wall, 1984), a second guiding principle of our philosophy is the belief that students learn best in a safe, humane, and welcoming classroom community where their basic needs are met, where they are participants in the classroom decision-making process, and where they can achieve their full potential (not just cognitively, but emotionally, socially, aesthetically, physically, and spiritually as well). This most effectively occurs in a setting where all students are welcomed by a caring, competent teacher who recognizes and values student diversity and various cultural realities.

In regard to learning and instruction, we believe that students typically learn best through holistic, collaborative, and constructivist pedagogies. However, we acknowledge that other more traditional approaches, such as direct instruction and expository teaching, may sometimes be effective ways to teach some content and some learners.

A fourth aspect of our philosophy centers on what we believe to be the characteristics of effective teachers. From our perspective, exemplary teachers embrace the Benedictine values of commitment to service, concern for community, and respect for all persons (deWaal, 1984) and are, therefore, not only knowledgeable and caring, but have a passion for teaching and improving the lives or their students. This is apparent not only in their enthusiasm for the subject they teach, but also in their commitment to the principle that all decisions and subsequent actions must be in best interest of their students. Finally, it is our steadfast belief that effective teachers are active decision-makers who have the courage and self-confidence to take charge of their own classroom rather than operating as technicians who merely implement a prescribed curriculum and decisions made by others.

The final component of our philosophy describes our beliefs regarding the conditions that must be present in a teacher education program to foster the development of exemplary teachers. In our view, such a program must include a strong liberal arts foundation that provides a core of general knowledge and enhances basic skills; strong foundational and pedagogical components; exposure to the latest instructional technologies and trends; a rich variety of clinical experiences distributed throughout the program; and most importantly, a faculty committed to modeling effective decision-making that involves the use of instructional techniques, values, and interpersonal behaviors they wish to develop in their students.