School of Liberal Arts and Education
Mission, Philosophy and Vision

Education Department's Motto "Educate To Liberate" was created by the Education
Club and functions as a means of stimulating discourse on the purpose of education.  

The Department of Education Mission is "to prepare change agents for classrooms, schools and communities who educate to liberate." We prepare students to become teachers at the early childhood, childhood, and middle childhood levels. It accepts the special obligations that are attached to educating teachers who will work and live within a multicultural community and who will strive to promote the best education for all children.

Mission:

  • The mission of the Education Department is to prepare candidates who:

Understand:

  • Liberal arts and sciences concepts, content, and methods of inquiry
  • Self and others
  • Professional field

Practice:

  • Critical thinking and questioning
  • Effective oracy, literacy and numeracy
  • Collaboration

Demonstrate:

  • Caring and commitment
  • Critical reflection
  • Creativity

Vision:

The Education Department envisions successful educators who teach in diverse classrooms and schools in urban communities. 

Successful educators will be:

  1. Knowledge
  2. Personal and Global Consciousness
  3. Analytical Ability
  4. Creativity
  5. Professionalism
  6. Effective Communication
  7. Collaboration
  8. Commitment and Caring

Click here for a full description of the Department's standards.

The philosophy guiding the Education Department grows out of the history and mission of the College.  Two underlying beliefs shape this philosophy:  (1) education has the power to transform positively the lives of individuals, and (2) education is the right of all individuals in the pursuit of self-actualization.  In keeping with these two fundamental principles, the Education Department is guided by a six point philosophy statement that holds that:

  •  First, candidates will develop a deep understanding of themselves to interact more fully with the array of nationalities and cultures they will encounter daily in their classrooms in order to contribute to transforming the national agenda for the education of children, especially those of African descent
  • Secondly, in keeping with the basic tenets of John Dewey’s philosophy of democracy in education, educational settings are contexts that reflect equitable and reciprocal interactions among participants. 
  • Third, in order to create a society where social justice prevails, teachers will become change agents committed to transforming themselves, schools and communities.  Critical awareness and critical pedagogy, as defined by Carter G. Woodson and Paulo Freire, serve as the cornerstones of this transformation.
  • Fourth, candidates will be  “culturally literate.”  Culture is a complex set of relationships that expresses a peoples’ ideas, beliefs and knowledge.  The representation of these cultural beliefs in art, literature and philosophy is fluid and ever changing as cultures come into interaction with changing historical times and with other cultures.
  • Fifth, the process of gaining knowledge is complex and interactive and includes candidates learning how to learn and how to create productive learning environments. 
  • Sixth, the Teacher Education unit enacts a teacher/scholar model of professional studies. Traditionally teachers and scholars have had different primary goals. Scholars have been defined as individuals who create new knowledge in the disciplines, while teachers have been defined as individuals who help students acquire new knowledge in the subject areas.