Secondary Education
Hello. If you are looking at this page you must be interested in becoming a high school teacher.... and you must have an interest in Missouri Western State University.
Information about the city: St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce.
Accreditation
The Secondary Education program at Missouri Western has been accredited by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education [NCATE] and the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education [DESE]. MWSUacademic departments have received accreditation from their respective professional organizations.
Missouri Teacher Certification
Current Missouri Teacher Certification Requirements. Specific MWSU requirements for the varying areas and levels are listed in the MWSU College Catalog.Information You Will Need
Below will be information that people think about as they consider teaching as a career and about coming to Missouri Western.
Teaching: The Nature of the Work Teacher Education at Missouri Western Elementary Education at Missouri Western Admission Requirements Elementary Education Classes Financial Aid & Scholarships Suggested Sequence of Classes
Teaching: The Nature of the Work
Now, back to becoming a high school teacher. Something that you need to know up front. Teaching has changed considerably the past few years.If you are in the process of thinking about "maybe I
should be a teacher" 
or "I
really don't know about becoming a high school teacher" you
should do some research and reading.
One of the best publications to read is published by the U.S. Government. The Occupational Outlook Handbook will provide a person with information about every possible job in the United States. Right now we are interested in information about becoming a professional educator or a teacher.
The Occupational Outlook Handbook is published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. It is probably located in your library as a hard copy. Occupational Outlook Handbook: Teaching
Being a high school teacher has many rewards. It can provide a person with a comfortable standard of living. The decision to become a secondary teacher, however, should not be taken lightly. The person who decides to be a teacher so "I will have something to fall back upon" probably will neither be a successful teacher nor enjoy teaching.
Teacher Education at Missouri Western
The present location of Missouri Western State University was a cornfield in 1968. Shortly thereafter an opportunity came to physically construct a new college with new buildings on the eastern edge of Saint Joseph, Missouri.At the same time there was an opportunity to create a totally new and different teacher education program......a program that reflected the change in philosophy about how people should be prepared for teaching. During the brick and mortar stage of college building, MWSUpersonnel visited area schools. Each time the question was asked "we are going to have a new college and a new teacher education program.....what are some of the problems with the way teachers are currently being prepared and what can the new MWSUdo to improve the process?"
Repeatedly school administrators and teachers said that new teachers need to know what teaching, schools and kids are really like... and the only way that this can be accomplished is if prospective students have an early exposure to teaching and many hours of real teaching experience working with a master teacher.
Academic research into the preparation of teachers said the same thing that area educators were saying: prospective teachers need an early exposure to the classrooms.
The result was the development of a totally new, different and dynamic teacher education program that provided for a marriage of theory and practice. Beginning in 1996, the program underwent another series of improvements to strengthen the performance-based philosophy and ensure that all components of the program are focused on providing our teacher candidates with the skills and knowledge they need to meet current challenges in teacher education.
The four phase model for the preparation of teachers was developed at Missouri Western is based upon the following:
- Professional advisory input from "school personnel in the St. Joseph area, representing private, parochial, and public institutions" (Haynes, Gettys, & Coyne, 1969)
- Early exposure to the classroom for the teacher candidate
- The concept of a continuum of courses and field experiences so that "the competency of a student in a future course depends upon the successful completion of and information acquired from a prior one" (Haynes, Gettys, & Coyne, 1969)
- Field experiences connected with specific courses so that theory informs practice, while practice further enlightens the theory
- A commitment to close collaboration between the cooperating teacher and the college supervisor as they work together to support and challenge preservice teachers to standards of excellence
Becoming a Teacher Leader: Taking Responsibility for Student Learning
MWSU teacher candidates move through four developmental phases. Phases I, III, and IV require three formal off-campus or in-school experiences that help the prospective teacher make the transition from being a novice to a professional teacher. Each of the off-campus classes is married to a campus class that provides the academic background to insure success when working with students. This is known as the Professional Sequence.In addition, many teacher candidates will actively participate in additional in-school teaching experiences. For example, teacher candidates seeking a Unified Science B.S. in Biology are required to function like graduate Teacher Assistants in undergraduate General Biology labs. Our education department faculty are often told by P-12 teachers and principals that our teacher candidates look like first or second year teachers by the time they are student teaching in Phase IV.
- Introduction to Education and Phase I Field
Experience. These two courses, which must
be taken concurrently, should be taken the second semester
of the sophomore year at MWSU. The Intro class will
provide the person with an overview of schools. Later
in the semester the MWSUstudent will be assigned to
an area school for four hours each week. An overall
goal of the two classes will be for the person to make
a commitment---yes or no---about becoming a teacher.
Some college students decide that teaching is not for
them after spending time in P-12 classroom during the
Phase I field experience. It is important to our faculty
that students make a deliberate and informed decision
about their major before they have heavily invested
time, money, and energy.
Phase I of the MWSUTeacher Education program is known as Awareness. The emphasis is on gaining awareness regarding the historical and philosophical foundations of schooling, how schools are organized and administered, legal foundations and constraints, and beginning teacher methods. During Phase I, the teacher candidate begins to reflect upon and create his or her philosophy of education after studying the various Western philosophers and how these philosophers affect classroom environments.
- Phase II Methods Course The secondary
teacher candidate will take a methods class that teaches
them how to teach their content knowledge. These classes
are taught by qualified faculty members in the candidate's
major. Some of the methods classes also require an authentic
application in a teaching environment.
- Psychology in Teaching and Phase III Field Experience are the next two companion courses. Again, these classes provide for a marriage of theory and practice. The psychology class helps the teacher candidate investigate how people learn, how students mature mentally, and how to control/manage a classroom. During part of each day {one hour per day, five days per week for the entire semester}, the MWSUteacher candidate will travel to an area school where he or she will assume the same responsibilities for one class that a student teacher will have all day long. The MWSUstudent will observe teachers, write lesson plans, teach lessons and evaluate students. Students will keep journals of the actions that they have taken in the classroom as they plan and execute lessons, manage the classroom and evaluate student progress. A requirement for both daily lesson plans, the unit plan, and journal writing is extensive reflection with plans of how to adjust teaching in order to positively affect student learning.
- The ACTION and of the Phase III teaching is object of reflection.
- Formal lesson plans (with reflection guides on the back), unit plan guides, the format for the journal writing, conferences with the Cooperating Teacher and the College Supervisor, and discussions and activities in Psychology of Teaching are the various LENSES that focus reflection.
- The OUTCOME of using the lenses to reflect upon their actions, results in adjusted teaching plans to increase the positive effect upon student learning.
Seminar in Secondary Education and Phase IV Student Teaching are the companion courses of Level IV, the Finding Voice stage of the teacher education program. Due to the extensive application of knowledge and skills prior to Phase IV, the teacher candidate is well situated to find his or her own style of teaching. The emphasis during this stage will be on the synthesis of what has been learned before and a mature application as "the teacher" in the classroom.
During Student Teaching III MWSU students will be assigned to an area school for twelve weeks for the entire school day. The student teacher will have the opportunity to work with students and a professional teacher who will assist the student in developing his or her own style of teaching.
Becoming a Teacher Leader: Taking Responsibility for Student Learning
As indicated above the faculty in the MWSU Department of Education feel that the best way for a person to learn about teaching and to actually develop into a professional educator is to spend many hours in an actual classroom, to apply theory and common sense as they reflect upon their classroom experiences, and to thoughtfully make adjustments to their teaching in order to increase the positive effects of their teaching upon student learning. Only those with a strong commitment and desire to teach, along with demonstrated mastery of content knowledge and teacher skills, will ultimately be recommended for Missouri teacher certification.What are the benefits to the student of spending so many hours in the classroom? First, the MW secondary teacher candidates are more realistic about schools and high school age students. Second, school administrators commonly report that the MWSUfirst year teacher will perform at a much higher level than other first year teachers. Thus, our graduates enjoy a high employment rate compared to other Missouri institutions.
Secondary Education at Missouri Western & the Major Content Field
A Missouri Western teacher candidate will major in a content field outside the Department of Education. In order to be recommended for certification the person will complete the MWSU Professional Sequence of classes. Majors or areas of content are available in the following fields. A prospective student should contact one of the academic departments for proper advisement and to file a formal academic course of study. The secondary education student will also have an informal advisor within the Department of Education.The teacher candidate who completes the approved program in one of the above areas will be recommended for Missouri teacher certification. Physical Education, Art and Music majors will be recommended for certification in grades K-12. All others will have a grades 9-12 recommendation.
It is recommended that the secondary education student also investigate the steps that will lead to Middle School certification, grades 5-9.