Mission

The mission of the St. Thomas Aquinas Teacher Education Program is to foster the development of learners who are able to contribute to and live successfully in our democratic society and our diverse world community. We accomplish this mission by preparing knowledgeable, caring educators who have a passion for learning and who can develop that passion in their students. They possess a level of content area knowledge and skills that allows them to continue to learn and to apply their knowledge in their vocation as educators. They effectively promote learning through a socially mediated process that supports the learner's personal construction of knowledge. They are effective communicators and collaborators and can create supportive, inclusive environments for learning. They are thoughtful educators who critically reflect on practice. They are committed to lifelong learning in order to help all students achieve to their fullest potential.

Learning Outcomes

To achieve our mission, the St. Thomas Aquinas College Teacher Education Program creates a caring, challenging environment for learning and supports each candidate's development as an educator. We believe that becoming an educator requires:

1) an understanding of human development and of individual and contextual factors that influence motivation and learning, and the ability to personalize instruction for students based on their developmental levels and prior experiences.

2) an understanding of classroom organization and management, curriculum, and professionalism, and the ability to design and maintain learning environments that supports student motivation and learning.

3) an understanding of learning as a socially-mediated, constructive process and the ability to use different instructional methods in response to learning objectives and student needs.

4) an understanding of the disciplines taught, and the ability to use instructional strategies that support the development of students' critical thinking and problem solving skills.

5) an understanding of effective communication and collaboration strategies, and the ability to create learning communities in which interactions with and among students, parents, and professionals focus on students' learning and well being.

6) an understanding of assessment as an ongoing process involving multiple sources of information and varied assessment techniques, and the ability to use assessment to results to maximize students' motivation and learning.

7) an understanding of the use self-evaluation and reflection as tools for professional growth, and the ability to use the resources within the school and broader professional community as supports for professional growth as a learner and as a teacher.

Candidates who achieve these learning outcomes are educators who have the knowledge, skills and dispositions that allow them to make informed-decisions. They create learning environments that are student-centered, knowledge-centered and community centered and in which assessment is used to support learning. In such learning environments, educators who are graduates of St. Thomas Aquinas College, create effective learning opportunities for all students.