Elementary Education
Hello. If you are looking at this page you must be interested in becoming an elementary school teacher... and you must have an interest in Missouri Western State University.
Perhaps you're also interested in the city of St. Joseph.
Accreditation
The Elementary 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]. MWSU academic departments may have additionally 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 an elementary school teacher.If you are in the process of thinking, "Maybe I should be a teacher," or "I really don't know about becoming an elementary 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: provides information about every possible
job in the United States. It is published
by the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Your library probably has a hard copy of the book. Right
now we are interested in information about becoming a professional
educator or teacher.
Occupational
Outlook Handbook: Teaching.
Being an elementary school teacher has many rewards. It can provide a person with satisfaction and a comfortable standard of living. The decision to become a teacher, however, should not be taken lightly. The person who decides to be a teacher so "I will have something to fall back upon" will probably not be a successful teacher or 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, MWSU personnel 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 MWSU do 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
These core beliefs have been incorporated into the current set of values that inform the MWSU Teacher Education Unit.
In large part the success of the MWSU Teacher Education program has been due to the cooperation of the area schools and individual classroom teachers over the past twenty-five years. Area teachers assumed a considerable amount of responsibility for training the next generation of teachers. Missouri Western was an innovator in what eventually became known as "the professional development school model" of training teachers.Becoming a Teacher Leader: Taking Responsibility for Student Learning
MWSU teacher candidates move through four
developmental phases. Phases I, III,
and IV require 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 connected to a campus class that provides the academic
background to insure success when working with students.
Moreover, many teacher candidates will actively participate in additional in-school teaching experiences. For example, teacher candidates seeking certification in Early Childhood Education, Special Education, or Early Childhood Special Education are required to successfully complete practicums in host schools. 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 MWSU student 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 university 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 MWSU Teacher Education program has the theme of "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 Secondary
or K-12 teacher candidates take a methods class in their major while elementary majors take multiple methods classes that teach
them how to teach reading, mathematics, language arts,
social studies, science, physical education, art, and
music. These classes are taught by qualified faculty
members in the Missouri Western education unit. Many
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 MWSU teacher
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
MWSU student 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.
- 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 University Supervisor, and discussions and activities
in Psychology of Teaching provide the focus of the magnifying lenses of critical thinking.
- The OUTCOME of
using the the Richard Paul processes of critical thinking 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
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 teacher candidates are more realistic about schools and high school age students. Second, school administrators commonly report that the MWSU first 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.
Teacher Certification
The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has authorized Missouri Western State University to offer the following teaching certificates:- Elementary Education, Grades 1-6 The Missouri Western student will major in Elementary Education and can choose to receive one of the following added endorsements
- Cross-categorical Special Education
- Early Childhood, Grades Pre-kindergarten to grade 3
- Early Childhood/Special Education, Birth to kindergarten
- TESOL
Admission Requirements
A complete review of the Admission Requirements for Teacher Education can be found at the following location: Admissions
Low Performance in Major Courses
A student will be removed from the Elementary Education Program or denied admission
if he/she earns a total of three Ds or Fs in Elementary Education major courses.
Even if a course is repeated, all grades are counted toward this total.The student can
appeal removal from or denial of admission to the program to the Teacher Education
Admission and Retention Committee (TEARC) but must present evidence of unforseen
circumstances and/or unexpected emergencies. If the appeal to TEARC fails, the student
will be allowed to re-enter or be admitted to the teacher education program after a fiveyear
academic holiday and a positive recommendation from TEARC.
The student is responsible for monitoring his or her own performance related to this rule.
At any point at which the Education Department becomes aware that the rule has been violated,
the student will be removed from the program as stated above.