The School of Education, Instruction and Supervision
The School of Education, Instruction and Supervision’s vision, mission, and shared beliefs are consistent with Tougaloo College’s institutional mission.
Vision
The School of Education’s faculty and staff envision a teaching and learning environment committed to providing future teachers with an education that develops reflective, effective, active, and decisive scholars and practitioners who use theory, scholarly research, and best practices in their work with children and youth. Faculty and students come together to foster a community of teaching and learning that promotes inquiry, leadership, and advocacy for P-12 children, families, and communities.
Mission
The mission of the School of Education, Instruction and Supervision at Tougaloo College is to prepare and support caring, reflective pre-service teachers as life-long learners and to succeed as professional educators in the teaching community. The School of Education through teaching, scholarly research, and service is dedicated to preparing future teachers with the knowledge base, dispositions, and skills necessary to become successful and effective educators in a complex, rapidly changing global society.
The School of Education, Instruction and Supervision Philosophy
The School of Education’s conceptual framework guides the professional education unit’s philosophy in achieving its mission for the School and its Initial Teacher Education and Graduate Programs. The unit’s conceptual framework is based on the assumption that candidates must have proficient knowledge, skills, and dispositions in order to be effective, highly-qualified R.E.A.D. educators. Therefore, a conceptual framework was developed through collaborative efforts among students, faculty, administration, teacher education advisory council members, the professional education community, and community partners. The conceptual framework also addresses assessment, diversity, clinical field-based experiences, and best practices as modeled by our faculty qualifications. In addition, our conceptual framework is knowledge-based, articulated, shared, coherent, and committed to professionalism, diversity, technology, and teaching professional standards. The vision of Tougaloo College is reflected in each component of its conceptual framework. The main goal is to prepare the R.E.A.D. (reflective, effective, active, decisive) educators for the classrooms of Mississippi and the global community.
Tougaloo College’s Initial Teacher Education and Graduate Programs prepare students who are self- directed learners and self-reliant individuals capable of working effectively with all students, meeting challenges and issues in our private and public schools.
In keeping with the unit’s philosophy and theme of its conceptual framework, the unit’s four characteristics of a “READ Educator” guide the unit’s programs and promote a culture of excellence in the education profession. From this philosophy and theme, the School of Education’s professional education programs are based on the College’s mission, the R.E.A.D. educator model, and research-based theories and practices. The School of Education advocates a broad background in the basic disciplines (humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences) of human knowledge and the study of traditional educational practices as well as, those practices which foster innovative and scholarly research-based approaches which are necessary for educators to be reflective, effective, active, and decisive. In addition, the R.E.A.D. conceptual model is the professional-based knowledge of the School’s teacher preparation programs. The knowledge bases are centered on a reflective, effective, active, and decisive self (the pre-service teacher), subject matter content knowledge, and clinical field-based experiences. In addition to preparing pre-service teachers for working in schools with diverse populations, an ever-changing cultural and global society requires that today’s teachers be caring and nurturing in a reflective, active, effective, and decisive manner.
The School of Education, Supervision, and Instruction at Tougaloo College offers individuals a choice of three master’s degree programs: (a) the Master of Arts in Child Development; (b) the Master of Arts in Teaching in Elementary Education (grades 4-6); and (c) the Master of Arts in Secondary Education (grades 7-12). These graduate courses focus on different areas of child development, assessment and learning, with a focus on research and theory, as well as theory and practice in these areas. This section of the catalog describes the specific requirements for each of the master’s degrees offered by the School of Education.
Accrediting Agencies
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC)
1866 Southern Lane
Decatur, GA 30033
(404) 679-4500
www.sacscoc.org
Mississippi Department of Education (MDE)
Division of Education Preparation
PO Box 771
Jackson, MS 39201
601-359-3631
http://mdek12.org/OTL/OEP/OEP
