Common course objectives

for EAF 228, 231, 235

(Approved by Foundations faculty, September 19, 2001)

With ISBE’s decision to base certification approval on NCATE accreditation, teacher education programs at Illinois State need common objectives across sections of EAF undergraduate foundations courses, in order to clarify their contribution to teacher preparation.  Having reviewed the objectives expressed in current course syllabi, the following list of objectives expresses what occurs throughout our courses and across sections within them, and thus are shared expectation for all teacher candidates in programs that require a foundations course.

Please understand that instructors are not limited to only these objectives, though the faculty have agreed to them as a common baseline.  Individual course syllabi likely will stipulate objectives beyond this list, appropriate to particular focus of that section of a foundations course.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will:

1.       Apply the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of one or more of the foundations disciplines, such as history, sociology, philosophy, and/or anthropology, to understand contemporary issues and paradigms in education;

[Disciplinary base:  Realizing the Democratic Ideal (RDI) 1]

2.      Analyze school policies and practices in relation to the economic, political, social, cultural, and/or technological forces that shape them and in turn are shaped by them;

[School & society:  RDI 4; Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC) 10]

3.      Examine contemporary educational reforms and policies regarding, for instance, curriculum, instruction, assessment, the organization and funding of public schooling, equity, and the profession of teaching;

[School & society:  RDI 4; INTASC 10]

4.      Examine categories, such as race, class, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, language, religion, and physical and mental abilities and disabilities, as social relations of power that impact school experiences and individual and collective identities in a democratic society;

[Diversity among learners:  RDI 3; INTASC 3, INTASC 9, INTASC 10]

5.      Evaluate challenges of educating a diverse population and policies and practices for serving them effectively and ethically in a democratic society;

[Diversity among learners:  RDI 3, RDI 4; INTASC 3, INTASC 10]

6.      Engage effectively with others, including asynchronously, in a critical discussion of ideas and practices relevant to education;

[Professional skills:  RDI 5, RDI 6; INTASC 6, INTASC 9, INTASC 10]

7.      Practice the skill of critical reflection as the basis for reflective and ethical teaching; and,

[Critical thinking:  RDI 6; INTASC 9]

8.      Read, understand, and critique original, high quality research and scholarly work as appropriate to the foundations focus in the course.

[Scholarly pursuit:  RDI 1]