A Solid Foundation
Navigating your teaching journey through the guideposts of reflection, resourcefulness
and responsiveness. These are the qualities cultivated through the Educational Studies
Department at Illinois Wesleyan University. Why do these qualities matter? Because
together, they create teachers who are committed to social justice in their classrooms
and schools so that the democratic ideals of equity and opportunity are realized for
all students.
At Illinois Wesleyan University, we strive to prepare teachers who understand, appreciate,
and are responsive to students from diverse backgrounds, and who have the knowledge,
skills and dispositions to foster learning among all children regardless of culture,
race, ethnicity, language, class, gender and/or ability.
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Our Mission
- Social Justice: A commitment to social justice means working to ensure that the particular educational
system, of which you will be a central part, will treat your students with fairness,
recognizing their talents, and giving them every opportunity to succeed.
- Creative and Critical Thinking: We don't believe that great teachers are born; instead they achieve greatness through
honest self-evaluation, critique, experimentation, and risk taking.
- Reflection: Scholarly reflection involves asking questions, rethinking what one knows, posing
problems, and generating possible solutions.
- Resourcefulness: Resourcefulness requires a commitment to ongoing learning, the ability to draw from
theory, research, and disciplinary knowledge when developing curriculum and pedagogy
responsive to culture, ethnicity, class, language and ability.
- Responsiveness: Responsiveness involves establishing caring, inclusive, inspiring and safe learning
communities in which all students feel they belong.
- Making a Meaningful Difference: We hold to a vision of teachers committed to making a meaningful difference in the
lives of all students, teachers who will inspire among their students a passion for
learning and acting in the world, and in so doing, will transform the educational
landscape.
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