Conceptual Framework
College of Education Conceptual Framework
The College of Education at Tennessee Technological University is committed to the preparation of educators to work in P-12 schools at the initial, continuing, and advanced licensure levels. The central theme of the Conceptual Framework describes a graduate as a Competent, Caring Professional for a Diverse, Technological Society. Supporting the central theme of the Conceptual Framework are the domains of knowledge, performance, and dispositions. The preparation of teacher, school counselor, school psychologist, school library information specialist, and educational administrator candidates is a shared effort guided by the Conceptual Framework involving collaboration among members of the P-16 community.
The unit's vision is represented by the central theme of the Conceptual Framework (A Competent, Caring Professional for a Diverse, Technological Society) and is supported by the three domains of knowledge, performance, and dispositions. The knowledge domain includes the general education courses reflecting theoretical and practical knowledge in communication skills, humanities and the arts, social science and culture, science and technology, and mathematical concepts and applications and subject matter or discipline-specific courses. The performance domain emphasizes professional and pedagogical knowledge, the understanding of the affective needs of students in the learning environment, the teacher's role in improving student performance in the classroom, the collection and analysis of assessment data, and the teacher's ability to provide and adapt instruction to meet the needs of individual students. The dispositions domain reflects the values, commitment, and professional ethics of the candidate and includes scholarship, communication, collaboration, responsibility, respect, and reflection.
Candidates seeking initial licensure at the undergraduate level complete course work in general education, giving them a broad background in the arts and sciences and strengthening basic skills in communication. They complete a teaching field major and a professional education component that:
- Leads to a high level of scholarship in the content they will teach,
- Builds understanding of learning and the learning process,
- Develops teaching competencies,
- Cultivates skills in establishing and maintaining a positive and productive classroom climate, and
- Builds competence in a variety of strategies for performance assessment, its interpretation, and its implications for instruction.
Required Dispositions
The dispositions provide the guiding network for the collection of evidence that prepare candidates for teaching, principal, school counselor or school psychologist licensure who:
- Demonstrate scholarship in subject matter, understand tools of inquiry, and effectively integrate learning across the curriculum.
- Communicate effectively, using verbal, nonverbal, and media techniques to foster active inquiry, collaboration, and supportive interaction in the classroom.
- Demonstrate positive relationships and collaborate effectively with partners in the educational process.
- Accept the responsibility to provide a supportive, safe, and technologically integrated environment and to facilitate learning in ways that promote critical thinking, problem solving and intellectual growth.
- Establish an atmosphere of respect and create an environment conducive to learning that considers the values, backgrounds, and learning needs of individual learners.
- Engage in reflection that leads to appropriate professional behavior, effective educational decision making and a commitment to lifelong learning and professional growth.
- Respect for each individual student.
- Empathy based on understanding the student as a unique individual.
- Effective use of verbal and nonverbal communication skills.
- Active listening.
- Open-mindedness that facilitates collaboration and intellectual growth.
- Communicating high-expectations founded on confidence that each student can achieve excellence.
