The overarching mission of the School of Education is to change the culture of urban education for all stakeholders through high-impact instruction and experiential and transformative educational opportunities. We fulfill this mission by preparing change agents for classrooms, schools, and communities, who Educate to Liberate!
Statement of Purpose/Goals
The purpose of the MEC School of Education is to develop the skills and abilities of people who are willing to accept the responsibilities and challenges of scholarship and leadership as part of an integral network of inclusive and interdisciplinary learning communities: students, parents, teachers, principals, professors, clinicians, service providers, and researchers to transform the field of urban education into systems that work for all. What begins here will change national and international communities, as we prepare personnel to:
- shape lives for the benefit of society through the core values of learning, discovery, leadership, individual opportunity, and social responsibility;
- use emerging, 21st century culturally responsive pedagogies and technology;
- engage with learners in inclusive multicultural and multilingual societies;
- participate in formal and informal service learning and internships in local, regional, and international communities;
- interact with internationally recognized and highly qualified professionals in shared programs of interest;
- provide transdisciplinary interventions, resources, and support services for learners and families;
- conduct collaborative, interdisciplinary action and clinical research; and,
- disseminate knowledge of cutting-edge research, best practices, and data-driven outcomes.
As an education major, you have a choice among three nationally accredited, professional, career-oriented baccalaureate degree programs. You also have an option to pursue a transitional pre-professional associate’s degree program that provides you with the credentials to work in schools as a paraprofessional or teaching assistant, while continuing your studies in one of the professional Bachelor’s degree programs that may interest you. Please explore these options under our two academic departments: 1) Department of Developmental and Special Education, and 2) Department of Multicultural Early Childhood and Elementary Education.
Throughout this journey, you will engage with a cadre of distinguished faculty who are also experts in many academic disciplines: mathematics, science, technology, literacy, psychology, special education, social sciences, the arts, foreign languages, among others, to provide you with an interdisciplinary, culturally responsive and inclusive curriculum suited for our early childhood and elementary education programs. Our faculty provide classroom instruction, facilitates local, regional, and global experiential learning, mentoring, and advisement for you. In addition, we provide extensive support through targeted instruction and skill-building workshops to aid the mastery of challenging subjects. The School of Education provides free New York State Licensure Examinations test preparation workshops to assist teacher candidates in obtaining certification.
A major attraction to the School of Education is our grant-funded opportunities that are available exclusively for School of Education students, providing tuition assistance, stipends, enrichment, professional development workshops, and funding for supplementary materials.
The College’s Ella Baker Charles Romain Child Development Center provides both pre-school and afterschool programs for student parents. The Ella Baker Charles Romain Development Center is a National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) program, with the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.