GTE Mission and Beliefs

Owned by Julie Siegfried
Last updated: Jun 27, 2019
2 min read

What Mission and Beliefs Guide the Graduate Education Department?

 The mission of the EMU graduate teacher education program is to increase professional knowledge and competence among current practitioners by developing leadership, becoming agents of change who advocate for children and youth, promoting caring learning environments, and teaching boldly in a changing world through an ethic of care and critical reflection.

The teacher education program envisions preparing informed lifelong leaders and learners who value the dignity of all persons and are ready and willing to share a pilgrimage of openness and continuous growth as they invite others to join them. These reflective educators will offer healing and hope in a diverse world.


The mission and vision are based on the following beliefs:

  • We believe in the integration of Anabaptist principles within the profession of teaching emphasizing community, caring relationships, service to others, peacebuilding and conflict transformation, and stewardship of resources.
  • We believe that candidates are best prepared through a rigorous program that seeks connections across disciplines and cultures.
  • We believe in a reflective teaching model that cultivates inquiry in teaching, promotes an ethic of care, and ensures learning for each learner.
  • We believe in the integration of theory and critical reflective practice through purposeful and systematic teacher practitioner experiences in university classrooms and action research embedded in field experiences within P-12 settings.
  • We believe that candidates have the power to serve as collaborative change agents with an ethical obligation to meet the needs of each learner.
  • We believe that it is important for all candidates to respect and value cultural diversity, and to relate to students and communities in culturally appropriate ways.
  • We believe that faculty nurture, model, and enact the qualities expected of candidates through engagement with the departmental learning community and broader professional contexts.

 

                                                                                                                 Approved by COTE February 5, 2013