American University – School of Education, Teaching, and Health
Conceptual Framework
Mission, Core Values, and Attention to NCATE Expectations
Mission Statement
The School of Education, Teaching & Health (SETH) is committed to advancing theory and professional practice through its programs and the scholarly activities of its faculty. The faculty recognizes the significance of education in contemporary life, the potential of education for each individual, and their responsibility to teach individuals so that they are prepared for the twenty-first century. SETH is committed to contributing to societal improvement, and social change through creative and innovative teaching, rigorous research, and professional service. Graduates of SETH have the potential to act as agents contributing to social change and improvement through work as health professionals, teachers, researchers, educational leaders, and administrators.
SETH’s students and alumni work in the community to advocate for the needs of diverse individuals and groups, both domestically and internationally. Beyond this, SETH also prepares candidates to contribute to building a health conscious society in diverse environments and for diverse populations. SETH’s mission is to equip its graduates to meet the needs of those with whom they work, to nurture the strengths and talents of those they serve, and to provide leadership in public policy arenas.
SETH’s programs are anchored in a knowledge-based, research-based, and values-informed conceptual framework. The framework was developed and adopted by the faculty through two years of deliberation. The mission of SETH represents the ways in which its conceptual framework plays out in the school’s day to day life.
Conceptual Framework
The conceptual framework is a theoretical structure that represents the shared vision used by the unit in preparing students to work effectively in schools, professional and community organizations and other professional settings. It provides a frame for the unit’s programs and courses and shapes the faculty’s teaching, scholarship and service. The conceptual framework is based on current research on teaching and learning.

SETH’s conceptual framework is represented by two concentric rings that share a common center. The outermost ring has the words community, excellence, diversity and equity. These four interrelated elements represent the professional commitments valued by SETH faculty. The inner ring has three words on it; knowledge, practice and beliefs. These are the three systems through which the faculty’s professional commitments play out. At the center of the model is the word reflection. This signifies that ongoing reflection is a highly regarded practice that is central to carrying out the work of SETH. The conceptual framework as a whole informs and shapes SETH’s teaching, research and service
The Core Value and Process Element of the Professional Education Unit:
Reflection
Reflection is at the core of the professional education and health promotion programs in SETH. Reflection is integral to the goal of equitable education that attends to diversity, community, and excellence. Through this continuing reflection on knowledge, practice, and beliefs, the School feels strongly that its vision of appropriate education for all candidates can be realized. Reflection helps the individual untangle the web of deeply entrenched personal beliefs about functioning in a democratic society
(Dewey, 1916). Therefore, prospective future professionals in SETH are expected to see their work as social practice grounded in values, established knowledge, research, and professional responsibilities (Darling-
Hammond, 2013). Because reflective practice requires thinking about and, more important, acting on those aspects of practice that frustrate and confuse, candidates are encouraged to experiment with tentative solutions to problems of practice and to examine the outcomes and implications of those trials. These necessary conditions for the development of reflective practice require curricula, instruction, and materials that help individuals develop ideas and ideals about the role of the organization in shaping society.
Professional Commitments of the Professional Education Unit: Beliefs, Knowledge, and Practice
Beliefs

The faculty of the School of Education, Teaching & Health seek to ensure that course and field work in all programs impel prospective professionals in teaching, education, and health promotion to examine their beliefs, attitudes, predispositions, and behaviors about the subject matter and the individual, in productive and positive ways. Thus, the programs encourage aspiring professionals to explore, reflect, and act on their beliefs, attitudes, dispositions, and values, and to increase their awareness of policy and practice interventions, which can advance the welfare of the individual.
Knowledge
Effective teachers recognize the interplay between strong subject matter knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and curricular knowledge.
Given the EPP’s philosophy and dedication to evidenced-based approaches, SETH recognizes that educators must have the skills needed to integrate all three forms of knowledge. Thus, the goals for prospective teachers cover knowledge in the areas of subject matter, pedagogical content, and curriculum.
Practice
The courses and faculty of SETH emphasizes the importance of grounding teaching practice in sound theory. Theories that inform practice are grounded in a commitment to social justice; and recognition that all knowledge is socially and culturally constructed (Apple, 2002; Kincheloe,
1991; Pearson, 1993; Steffe & Gale, 1995; Vygotsky, 1986). Through their beliefs about practice, SETH faculty and staff hope to inspire professionals to construct curricular practices that provide equitable support for all learners through consideration of the relationships among the individual, the context, and knowledge systems. In so doing, the SETH faculty aim to foster graduates ability to create classroom crossroads where worlds can come together and open up new environments (Anderson, 2014), understand the linkages between knowledge and power (Vasquez, 2014), and recreate forms of consciousness (Vassallo, 2013).
The Organizing Principles of the Professional Education Unit
SETH faculty are committed to four interrelated principles - equity, community, diversity, excellence – that shape their curricular, instructional, research, and professional service activities and the means by which they assess candidate development. The democratic ideals of these four organizing principles indicate fundamental convictions and commitments.
Those ideals and principles organize and direct teacher education programs in the School. They do so by compelling broad relationships among general education studies and between them and the teaching of field content, professional and pedagogical studies, field experiences, practica, student teaching, and internships. They also inform the outcomes of the teacher education programs and the assessment and evaluation of those programs.

Community evokes a group of people with shared interests and convictions, as well as diverse perspectives, collaborating respectfully to produce mutually agreed upon ends. The SETH faculty believe that excellence among aspiring teachers is enhanced through the experience of building community by developing relationships with a broader network of caring education professionals, that includes, faculty and school based professionals in a variety of teaching and learning experiences. The work of community building helps bring coherence to pre-service professional experiences, while fostering an appreciation of cooperation, encouraging civic discourse, enhancing understanding, appreciating diversity in all its forms, and promoting broad values, such as kindness, fairness, responsibility, and the virtues of recognition, non-oppression (Howe, 1997) and empathy.
Diversity , is most commonly organized using difference as a basis for what makes things diverse. However, Janks (2010) suggests that difference tends to be organized based on relations of power. As such, a model of diversity that does not take into consideration notions of power, access, and redesign could lead just as easily to social domination as to social change.
Diversity a reality of American life, enhances democratic living. Thinking about democracy “as a way of life" (Dewey, 1916) reveals a paradox: there is no way of life common to all. Americans choose to live in diverse ways.
Yet, as Arnstine (1995) observes, “It is easy to forget that only a particular kind of social order can protect and guarantee this individuality.” Only mutual respect, equality before the law, equality of opportunity, and participation in governance can preserve the social order that is our “way of life." A society governed by democratic ideals is necessary to a healthy and vibrant diversity, just as diversity is necessary to a healthy and vibrant democracy. The SETH faculty seek to embrace diversity in our courses, field experiences for candidates, and in the way we operate with each other in all unit business. It is the kind of diversity described here that nourishes the
SETH community.
Excellence is an attribute that SETH faculty believe all teachers should demonstrate. This attribute would include in-depth comprehension of the forms of knowledge embedded in established disciplines; command of content central to one's teaching; knowledge of disciplines that provide the foundation for professional practice; an understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of inquiry; appreciation of diversity and multiple ways of seeing, knowing, and being in the world; understanding of the limits and possibilities of schools as agents of cultural transmission and opportunity; and a commitment to life-long learning and a caring professionalism. In combination, these are defining characteristic of participation in a professional teacher’s community.
Equity in educational opportunity and understanding and demonstrating the meaning and implications of educational equity are essential constructs imparted by SETH faculty to their aspiring teachers. The SETH faculty associate this with democratic ideals and conclude that such fairness is a

necessary condition for educational excellence, for social and economic opportunity, and for helping to make democracy a way of life (Bastian, et al., 1986; Worden, 2014). Limits to opportunity embedded in teacher education, schooling, and teaching, as well as in textbooks and other instructional materials relative to socioeconomic class, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and special need populations, must be exposed and overcome. Ultimately, faculty seek to impart to candidates the conviction that schooling without equity is contrary to democratic values.(Friere, 1972; Sadker, 1994; Smith, 1992; Tesconi, 1995; Vassallo, 2013).
Making the Conceptual Framework Operational in Teacher Education:
Candidates’ understandings of the core value of Reflection and the organizing principle of Community, Diversity, Equity and Excellence are assessed and evaluated through the use of the 10 INTASC standards and the standards set forth by particular Specialized Professional Associations for certain programs such as the NAEYC standards to which the early childhood programs are aligned. In combination, these standards are used to organize the coursework, practica, and assessments in the School of Education,
Teaching, and Health. Within the specific presentation of the standards at
AU, candidates are able to show the development of the conceptual framework in their beliefs, knowledge and practice.
Development and Evolution of the Conceptual Framework
The main tenets of the conceptual framework were first developed in late
1990s. However SETH views the manuscript as dynamic, particularly with regard to our merger with the Health and Fitness programs and with the addition of an early childhood program. The merger with Health and Fitness expanded the breadth of the School’s work to include all citizens (not just children) as its ultimate client group and attend to the total person, including the health and welfare of each person. Regardless, SETH remains committed to the main elements of the original conceptual framework and retains a sense of pride in working with developing communities and diverse individuals.
The document as a whole, reflects the School’s core commitments to community, diversity, equity and excellence, and includes connections to current interests in Action Research and Critical Literacy. All of the full-time faculty members in the School have participated in the development of the conceptual framework in one way or another, either by reflecting on the tenets in their courses, or by adding to or revising the document over the years.

Attention to the NCATE Expectations of a Conceptual Framework
Shared Vision
The SETH faculty hold the conceptual framework and mission statement as a shared vision for all its programs. The commitments to the organizing principles can be found across coursework in syllabi, assignments, and assessment rubrics, as well as through the collaborative partnerships SETH has within the university and with the District of Columbia Public School.
Coherence
SETH faculty work to connect candidate experiences (in courses and during field experiences) with the conceptual framework, first in terms of program goals and outcomes, and second, in terms of the unit’s key assessments of candidate performance.
The chart labeled Goals and Outcomes of the
Professional Commitments outlines the specific goals and outcomes related to reflection (the core value in the unit’s conceptual framework) and beliefs, knowledge, and practices (the three professional commitments in the unit’s conceptual framework).
Professional Commitments and Dispositions
SETH faculty share a commitment to candidate’s development of knowledge, beliefs, and practices that support the organizing principles of the teacher education programs. Graduates of teacher education programs are committed to reflective practices that support the local community, demand excellence and equity, and celebrate the diversity of today’s classroom. The beliefs outlined in the Goals and Outcomes chart are the dispositions the faculty are dedicated to developing in all teacher education candidates.
Commitment to Diversity
For SETH faculty, diversity is a core tenet of all teacher education programs.
The SETH faculty seek to embrace diversity in all our courses, field experiences for candidates, and in the way we operate with each other in all unit business. Candidates do not only learn about diversity , while in SETH they live a model of diversity that takes into consideration notions of power, access, and re-design as one way to contribute to social change towards building a more equitable community.
Diversity is one of the four organizing principles identified in the unit’s conceptual framework. Specifically, candidates develop the following practices:
 Examine policies, practices, and discourses, that advantage

some individuals and groups while disadvantaging others.
 Examine policies, practices, and discourses that limit individuals’ opportunities and groups’ full participation in schooling and in society;
 Practice reflective habits of mind which promote democratic classrooms; and
 Understand that a democratic, and equitable society is a necessary condition for supporting diversity.
Commitment to Technology
SETH faculty believe that candidates should have opportunities to develop specific technical skills in their courses. The use of technology is viewed as one of the tools that teachers rely on when developing appropriate materials and building a repertoire of teaching practices. Candidates develop technical skills through the School’s use of our Blackboard system and through their use of technology in many methods courses including EDU
519 Uses of Technology in Education. The most apparent commitment to technology can be seen in the electronic portfolio and assessment management system. We feel that the use of an electronic, developmental portfolio gives candidates the opportunity to learn a way to organize and articulate their thinking as teachers.
Candidate Proficiencies Aligned to Professional and State Standards
The District of Columbia’s State Education Agency has adopted the INTASC standards as the state standards for professional education programs.
NCATE and INTASC standards outline the elements that all teachers should know and be able to do. These are meant to result in positive outcomes for students when they are articulated into specific knowledge, skills and beliefs.
Teacher candidates are given multiple opportunities to reflect on each of these knowledge, skills, and beliefs. Each of the assessments and rubrics we use in our teacher education programs, explicitly indicate how candidates should enact each of the standards.

Reflection
Table B.1.
Goals and Outcomes of the Professional Commitments
Practice Knowledge Beliefs
Participate in ongoing conversations with self and others about our practice.
Interact with problems, experiment with solutions, and examine outcomes and implications of teaching practice.
Think critically about developing a vision of one’s role in shaping society.
Examine the past to develop more effective present and future processes and outcomes.
Understand how to inspire the development of critical reflection skills in others.
Develop understanding of teaching as social practice grounded in values, established knowledge, myth, research, and professional customs.
Participate in the construction of knowledge.
Understand the relationship between knowledge and power.
Understand the importance of grounding teaching practice in sound theory.
Construct curricular practices that provide equitable support for all learners.
Develop supportive strategies, considering diverse experiences of the individual.
Analyze how knowledge can work to conceal or distort social, political, and economic status quo.
Engage in conversation and reflection about the impact of membership in differing discourse communities.
Observe and converse with professionals and participate in professional development events.
Develop materials and technology appropriate to needs and interests of diverse individuals.
Obtain broad knowledge in liberal arts, sciences, and humanities.
Recognize that all knowledge is socially and culturally constructed.
Understand how the interpretation of knowledge is informed by beliefs.
Obtain in-depth knowledge in one's specific teaching area.
Recognize the interplay between subject matter knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and curricular knowledge.
Develop a coherent philosophy based on current research.
Examine theories of learning, human behavior, health, literacies, technologies, and organizations.
Apply theories to educational settings.
Develop the tools to plan, implement, and assess progress toward goals, for formative and summative purposes, including the use of technology.
Demonstrate understanding of beliefs and what shapes those beliefs.
Understand the difference between beliefs and knowledge and how beliefs help shape the interpretation of knowledge .
Examine own belief systems and underlying theoretical orientations to make visible assumptions, biases , and misconceptions.
Apply attitudes, expectations, and processes to promote productive engagement in society.
Understand how to listen and respond positively and respectfully to diverse attitudes, values, and cultural patterns exhibited and articulated by students.
Demonstrate the importance of conveying positive expectations for all individuals.