USC Professional Education Unit Conceptual Framework
PROFESSIONAL EDUCATOR AS LEADER
As the flagship university of South Carolina, the University of South Carolina (USC) has a responsibility to produce not only
knowledgeable and practiced teachers, counselors, and administrators, but also educators who can lead in the drive for
excellence, equity, and opportunity for all students in South Carolina as we enter the 21 st century. There is a central role for
leadership in our programs that is reflected in the conceptual framework of both our initial and advanced programs –
Professional Educator as Leader. The education programs at USC Columbia are systematically designed and continually
assessed in relation to their success in developing Professional Educators as Leaders.
The College of Education is the anchor of the Professional Education Unit (PEU). Therefore, its four core values of
stewardship, intellectual spirit, integrity, and justice serve as a starting point for our model and are an integral part of its three
main components. The foundation of education at USC is constructed upon DISPOSITIONS necessary to be a principled and
thoughtful educator. These dispositions guide and support the two main components of our program: an inner core of content
and professional KNOWLEDGE and a dynamic outer sphere of PRACTICE. In the activities and offerings of the PEU, all
components are fluid, interactive, and complimentary.
Students’ successes at USC are rooted in their DISPOSITIONS. The PEU begins by considering students’ emerging beliefs,
attitudes, and ethics. The further development of appropriate dispositions is supported throughout students’ programs. There
are four dispositions that are vital to the Professional Educator as Leader. A Professional
Educator as Leader should represent a commitment to:

Integrity through which one’s actions are ethical, open, and forthright.

Intellectual Spirit that undergirds the responsibility of professional educators to construct, generate, and share
knowledge while maintaining perspectives on the contexts of learning

Justice for all people, appreciation for and recognition of the significance of diversity, and a dedication to democratic
principles (including individual rights and responsibilities for the greater good)

Stewardship that guides teaching, counseling, and leading; recognizes the central roles of collaboration and professional
responsibility; and requires initiative in identifying and acting on needs with thoughtful and professional care
Based on a foundation of appropriate dispositions, professional educators as teachers, counselors, and educational leaders
construct KNOWLEDGE that will serve as the core of their practice. Professional educators understand the fundamental roles
of theory, research, and practice as basic aspects of knowledge. The knowledge of USC’s professional educators is defined in
seven areas:

Content including a broad general education in the Arts and Sciences and an in-depth understanding of the areas in
which each professional educator will practice

Cultural issues that encompass an awareness of the important cultural, social, and political influences in a professional
educator’s work

Human growth and development as a foundation for analyzing and understanding behavior and making appropriate
professional decisions

Self-knowledge and understanding with the awareness of how this knowledge affects teaching, counseling, and leading

Standards and recommendations for practice from professional associations, national and state guidelines, and legal perspectives,
with the knowledge necessary to assess these standards in the societal context

Technology and its appropriate integration into professional practice

Theory and research of pedagogy, curriculum and assessment in the areas in which each professional educator will
practice
The sphere of PRACTICE is built from and revolves around the inner core of knowledge. There is a clear and functional
interdependence between practice and knowledge. Practice of the Professional Educator as Leader incorporates a variety of
skills and processes reflective of both professional dispositions and knowledge. Each of the defined elements of practice is
significant and warrants inclusion as a specified element of practice. However, all of the components of practice overlap and
are sub-components of one another to some degree. For example, one cannot build relationships effectively without
communicating, planning, assessing, and making decisions. We define the Professional Educator as Leader as a person who is
successful in seven areas of practice:

Assessing through appropriate formal and informal methods in order to analyze past effectiveness, plan for the future,
and make informed decisions

Communicating effectively through oral and written language and a variety of communication techniques and
technologies while practicing reflective listening to ideas and solutions offered by others

Creating opportunities for learning by effectively designing and maintaining physical and affective environments;
implementing plans, adjusting strategies, and managing people, activities, technology, and resources

Decision-making based on appropriate assessment; in-depth professional knowledge; educational, environmental, and
societal contexts; and dispositions of the Professional Educator as Leader

Engaging in inquiry to further personal knowledge while contributing to and promoting the knowledge of the
profession at the local, state, national, and international level.

Planning appropriate goals and effective use of resources, environments, procedures, and evaluation systems that
consider contexts, characteristics, needs, and abilities of teachers and learners

Relationship building and collaborative behaviors that foster a community of learning and serve as the cornerstones of
communicating, teaching, counseling, and leading