Professional Education Program
(PEP)
Conceptual
Framework
4.1 Vision and
Mission
I
am proud to say that as a community and as an institution, Stony Brook's
students,
faculty, and staff truly embody the words "All Together Now." We have
been
all together in our generosity, our concern for others, and most notably, in
our diversity.
(Stony Brook President Shirley Strum Kenny, September, 2001)
The State University at Stony Brook was originally established in 1957 as a college for the preparation of secondary school teachers of mathematics and science. In the forty-five years since its founding, the University has grown tremendously, and it is now recognized as one of the nation's important centers of learning and scholarship¡ªcarrying out the mandate given by the State Board of Regents in 1960 to become a university that would "stand with the finest in the country." In this period, the faculty has grown from about 175 to its current level of 1,682, and its student body has grown from about 1,000 to over 20,000.
The Carnegie Foundation has identified Stony Brook as one of the nation's 70 leading research institutions; The Rise of American Research Universities (Graham and Diamond, 1997) placed Stony Brook right after the University of California at Berkeley as one of the best public institutions of higher learning in the United States. Funding for Stony Brook's research programs has grown faster than at almost any other university, making it the major research campus in SUNY, which is itself the largest public university system in the country. As a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU) since May 2001, Stony Brook has reached the top echelon of American Universities in just forty-five years.
Stony Brook University is situated in Suffolk County on eastern Long Island; it is the only SUNY University Center on Long Island and in the New York City metropolitan area. The University, which is the largest single-site employer on Long Island with more than 12,500 employees, is an integral part of the Long Island community. The recent inauguration of the Stony Brook University Manhattan site has further strengthened the University¡¯s presence and partnership endeavors in New York City.
Stony Brook University reflects the diversity of its surrounding community. Suffolk County has experienced a dramatic growth in its linguistically and culturally diverse population and has become a microcosm of the growing diversity across the country. It has the largest Hispanic population in the state, outside of New York City, and its Asian population has more than tripled in the past two decades. The University, which draws many of its students from the surrounding area, serves a highly diverse student body. Stony Brook's student population represents 140 countries. Nearly one third (32.2%) of its undergraduate population of students come from homes where languages other than English are spoken. Of its full-time graduate students, nearly half are native speakers of other languages.
Within its context of dramatic growth, Stony Brook has consistently offered
excellent instructional programs in a broad spectrum of academic subjects, and
it has also secured considerable outside funding to integrate research into
undergraduate teaching/learning programs. Internationally renowned faculty
members teach courses from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in more than
100 undergraduate and graduate degree programs.
The mission that has guided the University during this period of growth is to:
After years of building the University to its present level of diversified acclaim, Stony Brook is re-committing increased funding and resources to its original mission of teacher preparation. Stony Brook University¡¯s paradigm for teacher education and educational administration diverges from those prevalent in other institutions. Its uniqueness and strength are inherent in its university-wide, distributed model that places the six Teacher Education programs and the two Educational Administration programs in their respective academic departments at the University. This departmentally-based model ensures academic rigor in the discipline, the integration of pedagogical theory and practice, and close contact to faculty and research opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students, as proposed in the Boyer Commission Report on recommended enhancements in undergraduate programs located at Carnegie Category I Research Universities (Boyer, 1998). Education faculty appointments within their respective academic departments in the College of Arts and Sciences provide fertile academic environments for research and scholarship. Faculty and teacher candidates engage in a range of department-based experiences that include research-based learning, scholarly investigations, broad use of technology and multimedia, and professional development activities with both colleagues and peers.
Education faculty are also members of The Professional Education Program (PEP), which was established to coordinate the Stony Brook teacher education and educational administration programs and to promote academic, professional, scholarly and intellectual excellence in the preparation of P-12 professionals.
PEP¡¯s purpose is to bring together the diverse educational units on our campus, each one a part of an academic department, and form them into a coherent unit, with coherent principles, goals, outcomes and assessments. PEP promotes cross-disciplinary discourse and curriculum development, and it brings faculty and teacher candidates together for joint exploration of shared concerns, goals and visions. PEP provides a forum for faculty to broaden the diverse disciplinary and pedagogical perspectives of their programs, and it provides opportunities for cross-fertilization of pedagogic ideas, ideals and practices for faculty and their teacher candidates.
The PEP paradigm for teacher education and educational administration provides a framework that promotes professional excellence and growth for faculty and teacher candidates, fosters diverse disciplinary perspectives and learning communities, and cultivates lifelong inquiry and learning, leadership, and professional service. Each teacher preparation program brings forth its own unique disciplinary perspectives and approaches into PEP for joint research and investigation of shared concerns for teacher candidates and alumni. Our paradigm strengthens the integration of disciplinary content and pedagogy within and across departments. It enhances appreciation of diverse academic perspectives and it strengthens collaborative partnerships. This is the context that drives our Conceptual Framework, and our vision and goals in building a united, yet inherently diverse, professional community that includes faculty, teacher candidates, alumni, educational personnel and P-12 students in partnering schools. PEP provides a unifying vision and philosophy, and fosters a cohesive approach for research-based curriculum design, assessment systems, and unified programs for fieldwork and clinical practice.
The underlying theme of PEP's Conceptual Framework and vision is our desire to become a global leader in the professional development of educators by creating diverse learning environments that underscore the symbiosis of research, teaching, life-long learning, community service, and leadership. PEP¡¯s vision is rooted in three major themes. These three themes are deeply embedded within our practices and provide the principles that outline our structure. They provide the bases for our pedagogical research; they guide our reflective practices; and they support our partnerships, both within the university and within the broader community. Our three themes are: Professional Excellence and Growth; Community and Diversity; Leadership and Service.
PEP's vision has emerged from collaboration across disciplines through a meeting of minds, diverse academic perspectives, and cumulative professional expertise and experience. It encapsulates the diverse perspectives that forge our professional community and delineates our shared vision and goals that drive our practices at Stony Brook University. Our vision incorporates the knowledge and experience of our colleagues in P-12 schools, our alumni, and our teacher candidates across disciplines.
To realize our vision, we have identified a number of concrete mission objectives.
Our mission is aligned with Stony Brook University's mission. It is also aligned with the State University of New York¡¯s mission and vision for teacher education, with New York State standards for educators and programs, and with national, and professional standards (see Appendix A).
4.1.1 Crafting
and Aligning our Conceptual Framework
It is reasonable to expect
teachers to be responsible stewards of the schools in which they teach. They and they alone are in a position
to make sure that programs and structures do not atrophy¡ªthat they evolve over
time as a result of reflection, dialogue, actions, and continuing evaluation of
actions. Teachers are to schools as gardeners are to gardens¡ªtenders not only
of the plants but of the soil in which they grow.
(Goodlad, 1990, p. 44).
Our Conceptual Framework reflects Stony Brook¡¯s diverse disciplinary and pedagogical perspectives. It represents joint exploration of shared concerns, goals, and visions. The document was crafted and evolved through cross-disciplinary discourse and communication among Stony Brook faculty and stakeholders, including teacher candidates, alumni, P-12 administrators and teachers. These meetings generated numerous discussions that also included our steering committees, task forces, PEP Advisory Board, faculty meetings, cooperating teachers and teacher candidates. Ideas, input, and the cumulative experiences of all involved have been integrated and are interwoven within this document. This Conceptual Framework has been developed to guide our instruction and curricular reforms, and it will continue to evolve as we move towards the realization of our mission.
This Conceptual Framework is grounded in current research in pedagogy and in the disciplines. It is aligned with Stony Brook¡¯s institutional mission, State University of New York¡¯s A New Vision in Teacher Education, New York State learning standards and Code of Ethics. It is aligned with national standards for teacher education programs that include the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), the National Educators Association (NEA) Code of Ethics, and the standards of professional associations that drive our six teacher education programs and two educational administration programs across disciplines. These are: National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), National Policy Board for Educational Administration (NPBEA), and Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). Our benchmarks for teacher candidate proficiencies have been aligned with the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC) standards and our vision for their future as practicing teachers has been aligned with the National Board for Professional Teacher Standards (NBPTS). Finally, our benchmarks for faculty have been aligned with the Association for Teacher Educators (ATE) standards (see Appendices A, B and C).
4.1.2 Coherence and Implementation of the
Conceptual Framework
The Conceptual Framework provides the shared vision for our operations in all aspects of the teacher education program. It provides direction, focus, and coherence for all our activities. It articulates our commitments and goals, and our expectations from the faculty, teacher candidates, and programs. Table 1 illustrates the ways in which the design and implementation of the Conceptual Framework are aligned with NCATE's indicators. These underscore the shared vision among diverse programs and disciplines, the coherence among the Conceptual Framework, curriculum, instruction, and assessment, the professional commitments and dispositions, commitment to diversity and to technology, and alignment with the institutional mission and with state and national standards.
Aligning the Conceptual
Framework Design and Implementation with NCATE Indicators
|
NCATE Indicators |
Conceptual Framework |
Implementation |
|
Shared Vision |
Shared vision, mission, and
goals across programs. Aligned with Institutional
mission, with current research, state
and national standards. Partnerships with schools. |
PEP - Unifies education
programs across disciplines. Fieldwork and clinical
practice partnerships. Assessment System. |
|
Coherence |
Shared philosophy for
curriculum, instruction, field
experiences, clinical practice, and assessment
across disciplines. Coherence among the
Conceptual Framework, curriculum,
instruction, and assessment. |
Courses aligned to standards
and developmentally linked.
Faculty collaboration within and
across disciplines. The learning
labs. Common core courses for all programs. Coordinated
fieldwork and clinical practice. |
|
Professional Commitments and & Dispositions |
Shared themes: Professional Excellence and
Growth. Community and Diversity. Leadership and Service. Shared Pathways: Research, Reflection, and Partnership. Alignments with State,
National, and Professional Standards
and Codes of Ethics. |
Programs based in research within and across
disciplines. Strong fieldwork components that include students from diverse backgrounds and special needs. Alignments with state, national and professional standards. Career placement. Community outreach. |
|
Commitment to Diversity |
Central theme: Community and
Diversity Fieldwork and clinical
practice in diverse contexts. Integration of diversity into curriculum and instruction, and assessment system. |
Partnership with diverse
schools on Long Island and NYC. Camps for students of
diversity of backgrounds and needs. Learning labs. |
|
Commitment to Technology |
Technology integrated across curriculum, instruction,
field experiences, clinical
practice, and assessment across
disciplines. |
Blackboard use in courses. PEP lab, on-line learning communities; PEP website - a forum for learning
communities. PowerPoint presentations and electronic portfolios. |
|
Candidate Proficiencies
Aligned With Professional and State Standards |
Assessment system is aligned
with institutional, state, and
professional standards. |
Diverse assessment
instruments aligned with standards. Standards-based curriculum
and lesson development. |
4.2 Philosophy,
Purposes and Goals
SUNY¡¯s prominence and long tradition of educating teachers
for the state¡¯s elementary and secondary schools imposes a special
responsibility to assure that we, as a system and as individual institutions,
are fulfilling the promise of excellence.
(SUNY
Provost Peter Salins, 2001)
Our philosophy stems from our realization that the vision educators instill in their students emanates from their own educational experiences, and that this occurs at all levels. We believe that education is a continuing and ongoing process for everyone, and that educators must continue their own growth and education throughout their lives. We view education as a continuing process.
PEP¡¯s purpose is to ensure that Stony Brook University does an excellent job in all of its programs of preparing teacher candidates for their careers.
In very broad outline, we see our three themes and our three pathways as the foundation on which we have built and continue to build our pedagogical structure. Our main goal is to integrate and implement our three themes of professional excellence and growth, community and diversity, and leadership and service, with our three pathways of research, reflection and partnership, and to imbue our teacher candidates with the ideals that these themes and pathways represent.
We believe that educational practice must be informed by research, which is an ongoing process, with ever-changing results and ideas. We believe that Stony Brook, as a research university, should contribute to this development of new ideas and new facts, and should contribute to the storage and dissemination of research results. We believe that educators at every level must be aware of their own selves, their own actions, their own thoughts, and must have the capacity to reflect on their own attitudes. We believe that educators must be aware of the diversity of people, backgrounds and styles of learning, and must take a leadership role in helping each of their students to find his or her own path of learning.
We strive to educate future generations of educators by creating pathways of Research, Reflection and Partnership that will bring our graduates to a vision of themselves as engaged in a lifelong commitment to our three themes of Professional Excellence and Growth, Community and Diversity, and Leadership and Service. Our collective vision of some of the major interconnections among these pathways and themes is given in Table 2.
Our goals of excellence and professional growth, commitment to community and diversity, and of leadership and service are goals for PEP, our faculty, our teacher candidates, and our programs. These goals grow out of our vision and our mission. They are aligned with the standards for excellence for teacher educators (Association of Teacher Educators (ATE)), and with the standards for practicing teachers that focus on the effectiveness, knowledge, skills, dispositions, and commitments of the accomplished teacher (National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS)); see Table 3.
Table 2
Symbiosis of PEP Themes and Pathways for Excellence in Teacher
Education
|
PEP Themes |
Pathways for Excellence |
||
|
|
Research |
Reflection |
Partnership |
|
Professional
Excellence And Growth |
-Classroom-based research to inform teaching practice -Access to library of resources (e.g. books, periodicals, classroom lessons and materials) -Learning Labs -Links to standards |
-Self assessment -Peer roundtables -Faculty debriefings -Blackboard postings -Fieldwork and Clinical Practice assessments -Portfolio assessments -Transcripts and GPA -Testimonials -Awards -Links to Code of Ethics and other standards |
-Professional and personal vision as a lifelong learner -Collaboration within and across disciplines -Memberships and participation in societies and professional associations -Attendance at state, national, and international seminars, workshops, and conferences -Links to standards |
|
Community and
Diversity |
-Collaboration within and across disciplines |
-Journal reflections on field experiences -Peer roundtables -Faculty debriefings -Blackboard postings -Fieldwork and Clinical Practice assessments -Portfolio assessments -Alumni surveys -Principal surveys -Testimonials -Awards |
-Advocacy -Memberships in community organizations -Learning Labs |
|
Leadership and
Service |
-Community forums and task forces -Advisory committees -Awareness and understanding of educational issues -Leadership roles in professional community |
-Annual professional self assessment -Professional growth plan -Testimonials -Awards |
-Life long plan and educational philosophy -Mentoring and coaching -Offices held and contributions made to community organizations, societies, and professional associations |
Table 3
|
Themes & Pathways |
ATE |
NBPTS |
|
Professional Excellence &
Growth Community and Diversity Leadership & Service |
1 - Model professional practices 2 - Inquiry & contribution to scholarly activity 3 - Commitment to life-long professional development 4 - Provide leadership in all aspects of teacher education 6 - Advocate high quality &
diversity 7 - Improve the profession |
1 - Committed to students & learning 2 - Know the subject and how to teach students |
|
Research |
1 - Model professional practices 2 - Inquiry & contribution to scholarly activity |
1 - Committed to students & learning 2 - Know the subject and how to teach students |
|
Reflection |
3 - Reflect on practice 4 - Evaluate programs to educate teachers |
3 - Manage & monitor instruction 4 - Think systematically about practice |
|
Partnership |
5 - Collaborate regularly |