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Wesley College Teacher Education Unit
Conceptual Framework
Revised 4 February 2011
INTRODUCTION
The goal of the Teacher Education Unit of Wesley College is to prepare
teacher candidates to function as knowledgeable, self-directed, caring, and
confident professionals who are able to participate as change agents for
educational reform throughout their career. A change agent, as we define it, is a
professional who can change the meaning of experience for their students, empowering
them to become self-directed learners; and one who can contribute to the promotion of
professional learning commUnities that reflect authentic constructivist practice.
The following beliefs about teaching and learning guide the planning,
implementation, and assessment of learning in the Unit. These beliefs provide a
theoretical foundation for how the Unit defines, and then promotes authentic
constructivist practice:
1. Learning to teach is a process grounded in social constructivist
theories and therefore is recursive, holistic, based in extensive and
diverse clinical and field experiences, and best facilitated in
collaborative learning environments that promote knowledge
construction through inquiry
2. Those who teach must acquire and continuously develop three kinds
of knowledge: knowledge of the disciplines, knowledge of themselves
and others as learners, and knowledge of themselves as teachers.
3. Those who teach must acquire and continuously develop four
scholarly proficiencies: Critical thinking, reflection, technological
literacy, and communication through multiple texts. We believe these
proficiencies are skills that can be taught, and are ones which enable
teacher candidates to continue learning in their professional life.
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4. Those who teach must acquire and continuously develop the
personal qualities of persistence, tolerance of ambiguity, professional
ethics, and self-directed learning. These qualities, we believe,
pre-dispose teacher candidates toward continual professional growth aligned
with the constructivist paradigm.
STRUCTURE OF THE TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAMS
Common Program Elements
Based on its goals and beliefs, each of the teacher education programs at Wesley
College has created, and continuously monitor a purposefully linked sequence
of courses that intentionally promote observable and measurable growth of knowledge,
scholarly competencies, and professional qualities in their teacher candidates. The
Teacher Education Unit provides common experiences for candidates in all programs,
and monitors their preparedness through the use of common assessments and a
governance structure that enables programs to routinely collect, analyze and
summarize candidate data for the purposes of program and Unit evaluation.
Courses within the Unit are structured to intentionally model three elements of authentic
constructivist practice: Collaboration, Connecting Learning to Experience, and Common
Multi-dimensional Criterion-referenced Assessments:
1- Collaboration. Learning environments model collaboration and knowledge
construction through the process of inquiry.
2- Connecting Learning to Experience. Classroom learning is integrated with
diverse field and clinical experiences throughout the programs, not just in the
last year.
3- Multi-dimensional Criterion-referenced Assessment. The Unit’s Performancebased learning outcomes are focused on measurement of the elements in
the Teacher Education Core (Figure A). These elements translate our
constructivist beliefs into observable and measurable variables; and are
measured on the Unit’s common criterion-referenced assessments
throughout a candidate’s program (as described in the Unit Assessment
System Manual).
Collaborative Learning Environments
According to social constructivist theory, knowledge is constructed through
shared meaning. Education faculty collaborate with each other in team teaching
situations, and with candidates in the classroom. Candidates collaborate with
their peers through classroom discussions and small group projects and with
practicing teachers in a variety of field experiences.
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The goal is to mediate and monitor re-construction and elaboration of candidates’
personal beliefs and philosophies of what it means to teach and learn as they
collaboratively construct meaning from experiences about themselves as learners,
about others as learners, and ultimately about themselves as teachers. The role of the
instructor is to provide criteria by which collaboratively constructed knowledge
claims of candidates can be evaluated.
Early program courses provide a variety of opportUnities for candidates to share
their interpretation of content (short lectures, professional readings, and learning
tasks) and clinical and field experiences (classroom discussions, modeling of
journaling for critical thinking and reflection). This collaborative approach serves a
dual purpose since candidates are asked to evaluate the learning experience for
themselves and to discuss how it applies to student learning.
Methods courses are set up to promote active construction of content pedagogical
knowledge. Initial licensure and advanced preparation degree candidates are
provided with continual feedback from college instructors, peers, and teachers in a
variety of inquiry-based activities.
Instructors observe and journal with candidates,
modeling one of the Unit’s core beliefs about the power of collaborative learning – that
to teach is to continually assess. Candidates collaborate with peers to practice
presentations or “debrief” a lesson to model the critical role of shared meaning in
knowledge construction., while instructors provide the evaluative feedback of the
“knowledgeable other”.
During their methods practicums and student teaching, initial licensure
candidates are expected to set up and run their own collaborative classroom
environments, using their learning experiences as a model; while advanced
preparation degree candidates are expected to adopt a teacher as researcher
disposition, and conduct original classroom research centered around the
impact of their instruction on student learning., and their emerging competency
at building collaborative commUnities of learners and sharing valid criteria based
knowledge that students can grasp.
Clinical and Field Experiences
Under the constructivist paradigm, all learning is based in experience. Clinical
and field experiences provide the link between theories and principles of course
work and the reality of classroom practice. Clinical and field experiences build capacity
for reflective practice.
Most methods courses in the Unit’s programs include one or more clinical or field
experience. The total field experience in the program is purposefully designed to
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encompass a variety of settings with diverse student populations to facilitate candidates’
knowledge construction of the range of student abilities and needs, as well as their
tolerance for ambiguity in the classroom setting.
Teacher candidates in the graduate level initial licensure program must complete 5 – 15
hours of field work related to each of the core theory and methods courses that
precede their student teaching.
Advanced preparation candidates, who are all certified, practicing teachers, use their
classrooms as their clinical setting. M.Ed. courses build and assess the advanced
candidate’s capacity for using classroom-based data for instructional decision-making.
The Unit’s candidates are required to engage in reflective activities designed to elicit
their critical and evaluative responses to their field and clinical experiences.
Candidates are introduced to the field noting process early in their coursework,
and are expected to extend and refine descriptions and notations throughout their
programs of study.
Field observations become an increasingly important data source for reflective
activities, and constitute the basis for documents submitted for faculty assessment of
candidate growth on the Unit’s reflection rubrics. The reflection rubrics have
benchmarks that assess candidates’ ability to create rich, objective records of their field
and clinical experiences, analyze this data, and use the analyses as a basis for
instructional decision making.
Performance Based Outcomes
All course syllabi have performance- based outcomes that reflect the Unit’s Learner
Outcomes. Outcomes in early courses are knowledge- based, and reflect the “self as
learner” emphasis while later methods courses have competency-based outcomes, and
reflect a transition to “self as teacher”, as described in the conceptual framework below.
Unit faculty collaboratively developed common rubrics to measure candidates’ growth in
the professional and pedagogical competencies the conceptual framework defines.
Rubrics are used within the structure of courses and at program specific performance
gates (described in the Unit’s Assessment System Manual). Rubrics undergo periodic
review and revision based on input from field-based partners and program faculty who
use them.
Assessment is embedded in courses and assessable products give instructors an
Holistic picture of candidate growth in knowledge, scholarly competencies, and
professional qualities. The use of rubrics throughout the courses of study ensure that a
longitudinal profile is built to inform programs about the qualifications of their candidates
at multiple points in the program. The Unit’s Assessment System Manual describes
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when in a candidate’s program of study the Unit’s common rubrics are used. The Unit’s
syllabi communicate to candidates the links between course products, the common
rubrics, and the conceptual framework.
Rubric scores are collected in the Unit’s electronic database, Tk20. Score reports are
generated in accordance with the schedule published in the Unit’s Assessment System
Manual, and used at the Unit and program levels for data-based decision making.
THE UNIT’S KNOWLEDGE, SKILL AND DISPOSITION CORE
Figure A shows the Teacher Education Core with its three nested components.
There is a three- part knowledge core in the center, partitioned into content
knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and pedagogical content knowledge.
Figure A. The Teacher Education Core
Surrounding the knowledge core are four core skills, known as scholarly
proficiencies. They are critical thinking, communication through multiple texts,
reflection, and technological literacy.
Surrounding the skills core are the four professional qualities of persistence,
professional/work ethic, self -directed learning, and tolerance of ambiguity. The
core is actualized through individual courses in the program which are
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structured and sequenced in a manner that promotes candidates’ growth
simultaneously in the three core areas.
Knowledge Core and Indicators for Knowledge Growth
Wesley College’s teacher education programs are structured to provide teacher
candidates and teachers in advanced preparation programs with three kinds of
knowledge: Content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and content pedagogical
knowledge.
Content Knowledge
Content knowledge is defined by the Unit as knowledge of the major theories,
principles, concepts, and epistemological processes of the disciplines. It is this
knowledge that must be deeply understood and serve as criteria for the
planning, delivery, and assessment of learning during instruction. It is this
knowledge that constitutes a critical cornerstone of pedagogical content
knowledge, as if often overlooked in the preparation of teachers. We
purposefully focus on the building of content knowledge in the education
courses of the Unit.
Undergraduate and graduate teacher candidates and candidates in the
advanced preparation programs are expected to demonstrate their knowledge in
the content by constructing valid representations of declarative knowledge
(after Shulman’s 1987 definition) . Depending upon the program, this can take
the form of concept maps, content summaries, or learning objectives for lessons
and Units.
Assessment and evaluation of degree candidates’ ability to represent valid
knowledge in a manner accessible to students and as a foundation for lesson
planning is ongoing.
In methods courses undergraduate teacher candidates are expected to use their
content knowledge and their ability to find supporting resources to construct a
framework from which to interpret national and state content standards, write
content summaries, and identify content-based resources.
Advanced preparation and graduate initial licensure degree candidates are
expected to engage in these same activities in order to re-construct and evaluate
the depth, breadth, and validity of their content knowledge., and create a
knowledge base that can be communicated to K-12 students.
A common planning rubric is used throughout a candidates’ coursework to
monitor growth in depth, breadth, and validity of content knowledge and their
ability to re-construct it for purposes of instructional planning.
Pedagogical Knowledge
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Pedagogical knowledge is defined by the Unit as knowledge of current and past
learning theories and child and adolescent development theories.
Teacher candidates and teachers in advanced preparation programs are
continually assessed for their ability to construct an increasingly elaborate
knowledge base of pedagogy, and to use this knowledge to plan and enact
instruction, assess student learning, and as criteria by which to evaluate
teaching.
Core areas of pedagogical knowledge - diversity, assessment, curriculum and
content standards, technological literacy, and teaching as research constitute
threads within the Unit’s pedagogy courses.
Indicators on program and Unit planning and delivery rubrics assess candidates
in all programs for their ability to utilize this knowledge in instruction, in
accordance with the schedule in the Unit Assessment System Manual. Key
course products assessed on the rubrics are specified in the course syllabi.
Pedagogical Content Knowledge
Pedagogical content knowledge is defined by the Unit as knowledge of learner
appropriate strategies that promote student use of authentic inquiry to
construct valid knowledge of the essential theories, principles and concepts
within each knowledge discipline. Assessment of candidates’ pedagogical
content knowledge in initial and advanced preparation programs is performancebased. Candidates with well -developed pedagogical content knowledge
demonstrate their ability to plan, deliver and assess learning. Specific indicators
on the Unit’s common planning, delivery, assessment, and reflection rubrics
assess the ability of all degree
candidates to:
-become progressively more competent in the use of effective language;
-incorporate assessment into a lesson through dialogue and high level
questions ;
-be flexible and to maximize the use of “teaching moments”;
-be able to adapt a teaching model to the demands of content and the
needs of learners;
-demonstrate routine and appropriate use of visuals, data, graphic
organizers and technology to plan instruction, engage students in
learning, and for assessment;
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-write and enact performance-based outcomes, and demonstrate how
they use them to evaluate student learning;
The Unit believes that research skills are a critical competency for growth in
pedagogical content knowledge. It is engagement in practical, classroom-based
research that enables candidates to improve their practice and grow as learners
throughout their professional lives. Candidates in initial and advanced
preparation programs should be able to demonstrate research skills when they:
-synthesize a variety of appropriate resources into effective pedagogical
plans routinely and effectively use reflection to improve practice.
- demonstrate their ability to engage in and communicate, meaningful
action research.
Assessment of candidates’ pedagogical content knowledge within the Unit is
done throughout all programs’ courses by means of the programs’ reflection
rubrics which have common benchmarks, and by means of research rubrics with
common benchmarks.
The Unit Assessment System Manual specifies the schedule in each program of
study where candidates’ pedagogical content knowledge is assessed. All course
syllabi specify the key assessments where the programs’ planning, delivery,
assessment of student learning, reflection and research rubrics are used.
Scholarly Proficiencies and Their Indicators
There are four scholarly proficiencies that we believe professionally ready teacher
candidates, capable of becoming change agents ,as defined above, should possess.
We believe that these proficiencies can be learned, and should be taught. These
scholarly proficiencies are Critical Thinking, Reflection, Technological Literacy, and
Communication through Multiple Texts.
Critical thinking
The Unit defines critical thinking as the ability to analyze features and
relationships; the ability to synthesize entities, elements, and ideas; and the
ability to evaluate, assess and make judgments based upon evidence. Critical
thinking is assessed at the course level by means of course products and
rubrics, and at the Unit level by means of the Reflection Rubric, which has
common benchmarks, but differs by indicator from program to program and
course to course.
Reflection
The Unit defines reflection as critical thinking focused on the self, toward the
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goal of professional growth.
The ability to reflect on one’s practice and that of others is essential, we believe,
to professional growth in teaching, given the occupational hazard of professional
isolation found in many current settings. We view reflective activity as a critical
component for continued personal construction of knowledge both within and
outside formal educational settings, and a critical competency necessary to
develop into a change agent, as defined above. A reflective professional
expresses ideas supported by facts and observations, generates questions from
observations and data, and makes connections between theory and practice.
Reflection is assessed on the Unit’s Reflection Rubric, which has common
benchmarks across the programs.
Technological Literacy
The Unit defines technological Literacy as the ability to appropriately utilize
technology for instruction that will maximize student access to relevant and
meaningful information, diagnose learning problems, promote meaningful
practice for skill building, and promote higher level thinking. Candidates are
expected to demonstrate their technological literacy by constructing and
utilizing a variety of hardware and software in instructional settings.
Technological literacy is assessed in courses on several indicators of the
common rubrics.
Communication through Multiple Texts
The Unit defines communication through multiple texts as the ability to
communicate meaning through a variety of media, including the read, spoken,
and written word, graphic representation, movement, and the arts. Course
products and indicators on the programs’ Planning and Delivery Rubrics
assess this competency.
Assessment of scholarly competencies is done throughout the Unit’s programs of study,
in accordance with the schedule published in the Unit’s Assessment System Manual.
Key products that assess specific scholarly competencies using the programs’ or Unit’s
rubrics are designated on course syllabi.
Professional Qualities and Their Indicators
Throughout the teacher candidate’s coursework, a candidate is assessed and
evaluated for growth in the professional dispositions we believe to be essential for a
professionally ready teacher capable of acting as an agent for change in the profession.
These qualities are persistence, tolerance of ambiguity, work ethic, and self-directed
learning.
We define persistence as working through obstacles to achieve an end and not
being defeated by failure.
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We define tolerance of ambiguity as suspending judgment until information is
gathered, being open to new learning experiences and approaches, arguing from
multiple points of view, and accepting uncertainty.
We define work ethic as being on time, well prepared, consistently engaged, able
To prioritize professional responsibilities, and respectful of others’ time.
We define a self-directed learner as one who is being dependable, reliant, and
consistent in performance of work related tasks, responsible for assignments, a
synthetic thinker who can connect theory to practice and uses self-evaluation to
develop professional goals.
The Unit assesses undergraduate teacher candidates for professional qualities
first as learners, and then as teachers, using different indicators that match the
college classroom and school settings, in accordance with the schedules published in
the Unit Assessment System Manual. The course syllabi designate the key products on
which assessments are used.
The Unit assesses graduate initial licensure MAT teacher candidates for professional
qualities as learners in their core courses, and as teachers in their student teaching in
accordance with the schedules published in the Unit Assessment System Manual. The
course syllabi designate the key products on which these assessments are used.
The Unit assesses advanced candidates’ professional qualities as a condition for
admission to the degree program, and as learners in their required core courses in
accordance with the schedule in the Unit Assessment System Manual. Syllabi designate
the course products on which Unit rubrics are used.
THE UNIT’S LEARNER OUTCOMES
Upon completion of their degree, teachers enrolled in Wesley College’s initial
certification undergraduate and graduate education programs and advanced
preparation programs are expected to:
1. Demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of content, and life-long
learning strategies for independent knowledge construction.
Measured by :
Passing Scores on PRAXIS II content knowledge tests
(Delaware Cut Scores)
Grade point averages set by each program in accordance
with the progression gate schedule in the Unit Assessment
System manual.
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An “acceptable” score on the programs’ Planning Rubrics
used to evaluate content of instructional plans, and other
key assessments in coursework, in accordance with
schedules in the Unit Assessment System Manual.
2. Demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of pedagogy, including self
knowledge and knowledge of how children, youth, and others learn.
Measured by:
Evidence of growth in planning, delivery and assessment, as
evaluated on the programs’ planning, delivery, and
assessment rubrics. in accordance with the schedule in the
Unit Assessment System manual, and through the use of
rubrics on key assessments described in course syllabi.
3. Demonstrate continual growth in Pedagogical content knowledge
through planning, delivering, differentiating, and assessing instruction
in ways that align to social constructivist practice and content
standards.
Measured by:
Assessment of written and enacted curriculum using the
programs’ Lesson Plan and Delivery Rubrics on key
assessments as described in the Unit’s course syllabi and in
the Unit Assessment System Manual
Summative and formative teacher work samples that are
assessed on programs’ Assessment of Student Learning
rubrics, in accordance with the schedule in the Unit
Assessment System manual, and through the use of rubrics
on key assessments described in course syllabi.
4. Demonstrate growth in scholarly competencies, including critical
thinking, reflection, technological literacy, and communication
through multiple texts.
Measured by:
Reflection rubrics used on course and program
products designated as key assessments in the Unit
Assessment System Manual.
Customary and appropriate use of technology for
learning and Teaching in instructional plans and their
implementation as measured on the programs’
Delivery Rubrics.
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5. Demonstrate growth in the dispositions of persistence, tolerance for
ambiguity, work ethic, and self-directed learning as learners first
and then as teachers who consistently demonstrate these
professional qualities in multiple professional contexts and
settings.
Measured by:
The Unit’s Professional Qualities Rubric for assessing
professional dispositions at all program gates, and in student
teaching, in accordance with the schedules in the Unit
Assessment System Manual.
COMMITMENT TO ON-GOING PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT
Because we believe that teacher development is a recursive, holistic process, Unit
faculty are committed to:
Collaborative development of courses within its programs
that utilize the strengths of all faculty and coordinate course
concepts and competencies across the Teacher Education
curriculums.
Ongoing evaluation, adjustment, and alignment of courses
based on feedback from teacher candidates, graduates and
practicing teachers and ongoing analysis of the Unit’s
teacher candidate performance and progression databases.
Continuous development of extensive and diverse field
placements through collaboration and partnership
agreements with local public schools, our on-campus charter
school, and other of the state’s formal and informal
educational entities.
Development of course products that demonstrate
movement of teacher candidates toward professional
readiness as change agents.
Continuous evaluation of our Unit Assessment System for
efficacy in tracking candidates, collecting feedback from
graduates and their employers, and assessing and
evaluating program and Unit effectiveness.
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Exchanging ideas on what it means to learn and to teach
with the larger learning community of the College by means
of collaborative inter-disciplinary work groups.
References
Below are listed the major works of theory and research on which the Unit’s conceptual
framework are based. Course syllabi contain other content and discipline-specific
references also used in the creation and ongoing revision of the framework.
Atwell, Nancie (1998). In the middle: New understandings about writing, reading, and
learning (Second Edition). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann
Bruner, Jerome (1996). The culture of education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Press.
Calkins, L.M. (1986). The art of teaching writing. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Clay, M.M. (1998). By different paths to common outcomes. York, ME: Stenhouse
Publishers.
Cole, Andrea L. and F. Gary Knowles (2000). Researching teaching: Exploring teacher
development through reflexive inquiry. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Dewey, John. (1902 & 1956). The child and the curriculum. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press.
Erickson, H. Lynn. (2002). Concept-based curriculum and instruction. Teaching beyond
the facts. Thurman Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Gagne, Robert M. et al. (2005) Principles of instructional design, 5th ED. Belmont, CA:
Wadsworth
Gee, James (1990). Social linguistics and literacies: Ideology in discourses. New York: The
Falmer Press.
Gess-Newson, Julie, and Norman G. Lederman, Eds. (2001). Examining pedagogical
content knowledge. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Gowin, D. Bob (1981). Educating. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Graves, D.H. (1983). Writing: Teachers and children at work. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Novak, Joseph, and D. Bob Gowin. (1979) Learning how to learn. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
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Piaget, Jean (1971). Biology and knowledge. Edinburgh, UK: Edinburgh Press.
Piaget, Jean. (1985). The equilibration of cognitive structures: The central problem of
intellectual development (T. Brown, trans.) Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Schoen, Donald A. (1922). “The theory of inquiry: Dewey’s legacy to education”.
Curriculum Inquiry, 22 (2). P. 119 -139.
Shulman, Lee. (1987). Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of new reform. Harvard
Educational Review, 57(1), 1-21.
Slavin, R.E. (1955). Cooperative Learning. Boston: Allyn & bacon.
Smith, F. (1998). The book of learning and forgetting. New York: Teacher’s College Press.
Smith, F. (1978). Reading without nonsense. New York: Teachers College Press.
Vygotsky, Lev (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological
processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
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