MISSION STATEMENT

The mission of the Franks School of Education at Tri-State University is to provide an educational atmosphere in which each teacher candidate is challenged to become the best educator he or she can be. Faculty members of the School are committed to helping each future educator achieve his or her potential as a knowledgeable, reflective educator who is committed to and able to provide for the growth of all learners.

FIELD EXPERIENCES

All Majors
EDU 111 Freshman Practicum
EDU 211 Sophomore Practicum
EDU 301 Introduction to Teaching Practicum
EDU 311 Junior Practicum
EDU 312 Exceptional Children in the Schools
EDU 470 Student Teaching

Elementary Education Majors
EDU 222 Educational Psychology/Elementary
EDU 441 Teaching of Reading Practicum
EDU 452 Art for the Elementary Teacher
EDU 454 Methods of Teaching MA/SCI
EDU 464 Methods of Teaching SS/LA

All-Grade and Secondary Majors
EDU 333 Reading in the Content Area
EDU 432 Practicum in Teaching—Secondary

Middle Level
EDU 472 Practicum in Teaching—Middle

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

All education programs at Tri-State University are built upon three major concepts that are deemed necessary for effective and productive teachers: the knowledge about and application of content (knowledge), communication (skills), and caring (dispositions). These three concepts are grounded in sound educational research and practice. Each is dependent upon the others, and together they define the school’s concepts of a knowledgeable, reflective educator.

When graduates enter classrooms as professionals, it is expected that they will be knowledgeable about the content needed to function as practicing educators. To be an effective teacher, there must be understanding of the many roles teachers assume—the various methods of classroom management, the developmental and cultural differences of students, and the strategies that best help all students learn. Professional educators must also have content-specific knowledge to adequately teach the subjects they are expected to teach.

But knowing the content is not enough.

Knowledgeable educators must be able to communicate with students. Being an effective communicator includes understanding and applying instructional and assessment strategies to help all students learn. It includes the use of interpersonal communication skills that encourage open and safe classroom environments for students.

But knowing the content and being an effective communicator are not enough.

Professional educators must care about students and the learning environment enough to use knowledge about content and communication skills for the good of all students. They must be willing to incorporate classroom management strategies and appropriate teaching methods to protect the instructional day, thus providing students with the best environments possible in which to learn. Teachers only become knowledgeable educators when they are willing to look at each student as an individual and to search for ways to encourage the best effort of each.

Content knowledge without communication skills and caring is not enough. Communication skills by themselves are not enough. Caring alone is not enough. It is only through a combination of the three that one can become a truly effective educator.

The Franks School of Education has carefully developed a series of opportunities and experiences based on these components. These opportunities and experiences are designed to enable the future educator to gain the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to become the best educator he or she can be, based on best practice and reflection.