Contents:

• The Teacher Education Program at CBU: An Overview

• Choosing Your Program and Major

• Understanding the Difference Between the Major and the Licensure Program

• The Larger Picture of the Licensure Program

• Phases and Stages: An Overview of the Process Leading to Initial Teaching Licensure
  

  • Stage I: Exploration

  • Stage II: Self-Identification

  • Stage III: Admission into the Undergraduate Teacher Education Program

  • Stage IV: Progressing in Your Program

  • Stage V: Advancement to Full Candidacy for Licensure

  • Stage VI: Recommendation for Licensure

  • The Crowning Achievement: A Degree and a License

The Teacher Education Programs at CBU: An Overview

For undergraduates, CBU offers various majors in the arts and sciences with teacher education courses. Elementary education students major in Liberal Studies. Secondary education students major in Biology, Chemistry, English, History, Mathematics, or Physics. These programs provide the new teacher with a wealth of knowledge in the content areas and plenty of skill in how to teach, including the use of technology, because we are training teachers for the new millennium.

Choosing Your Program and Major

If you seek to become a licensed teacher through the Undergraduate Teacher Education Program, you have two choices to make immediately. The first choice relates to the age or grade level of students who you would like to teach. Are you more interested in working with elementary-age students, or more interested in working with adolescent students in a middle or high school? If you are interested in the younger group, you are choosing an overall elementary education program, and the license that you will be preparing for is an Elementary Education/K-6 license. The K-6 license or the Liberal Studies major entitles you to teach at all levels, from kindergarten through sixth grade, and also requires that you prepare yourself to be able to teach at all those grade levels. The Liberal Studies major is a four-year program.

If you are interested in working with adolescent students in middle or high school, you are choosing a secondary licensure program, which requires that you specify exactly what subject areas you wish to teach. Your license would be for grades 7-12 and entitles you to teach at all levels, from the seventh grade through the senior year. You also must be prepared to teach at those grade levels, from middle school or junior high school through senior high school.

If you are interested in teaching at the secondary level, you must choose from among six majors that CBU offers as licensure programs for grades 7-12. These six majors/licensure programs are Biology, Chemistry, English, History, Mathematics, and Physics. You will spend the majority of your first four years in your concentration area with an advisor in that department. During this time, you will engage in six hours of field work under a professor from the Department of Education. The field work exposes you to life in the classroom and allows you to explore the field of education. You will apply to the MAT (Master of Arts in Teaching) program during your senior year, at which time you are turned over to an advisor in the Department of Education to finish the masters degree, and student teach in your specialty area.

Understanding the Difference Between the Major and the Licensure Program

The arts or sciences major that you declare is just one part of the total licensure program, just as a transcript showing your degree is just one part of a total package that creates a Tennessee licensure application. In order to complete the licensure program and become licensed, you face requirements beyond simply completing all those courses on the paradigm, program of study, or degree audit checklist. The licensure program and requirements compose the larger picture of teacher preparation.

The Larger Picture of the Licensure Program

At CBU, the undergraduate licensure program for preparation of new teachers is made up of the following elements:

• Getting admitted to the Undergraduate Teacher Education Program
• Being co-advised in the Department of Education
• Taking methods courses in the Department of Education— the right ones for your particular program
• Completing field experience components of the program so that you have meaningful and learning-filled encounters with children and youth, classrooms, teachers, and schools
• Completing a semester of student teaching, during which your time is completely committed to being a full-time teacher-in-training
• Completing a variety of assessments, including self-assessments, which help to identify your strengths and weaknesses and areas to improve
• Developing a teaching portfolio which shows your achievements, your experiences with the children you've tutored and taught in your field experiences and student teaching, your best work from your courses, and your reflections on your professional development
• Successfully passing the Praxis II tests, the tests specifically related to the license you've been preparing for

Some of these requirements may not be completed until after your degree has been awarded but still must be completed in order for the Department of Education's licensing officers to take the final step: recommending you to the State of Tennessee for an Apprentice license.

[Top]

Phases and Stages: An Overview of the Process Leading to Initial Teaching Licensure

There are several phases and stages involved in becoming licensed. All of this does not happen at once. The following table summarizes several major stages through which a student progresses to become a licensure candidate:

The paragraphs that follow will give you additional ideas about the tasks and purposes of each stage and the kinds of things that you ought to be accomplishing in each stage. These will also be discussed in even more detail later on in this guide.

Stage I: Exploration (K-6 and 7-12)

In this stage, you think about possibly becoming a teacher and explore the career with faculty, friends, family, and other mentors. You may consult an advisor in the Department of Education or with a faculty member about a subject you'd like to teach. This is a good stage in which to sign up for EDUC 110, Information Technology, to fulfill your general education requirement in Technology, because this course includes encounters with the uses of technology in K-12 settings. This is also an excellent time to take EDUC 211, Foundations of Education (for K-6), or EDUC 301, Introduction to Teaching (for 7-12) which introduces you to every facet of the teaching profession—history, philosophy, current practices and issues, the social context of schooling, and the future of educational change. EDUC 211 and EDUC 301 also require early field experiences so that you can clarify your commitments. As you take your general education courses, think about how these subjects and topics can enrich your teaching.

Stage II: Self-Identification (K-6 and 7-12)

At this stage, you are sure that you want to become a teacher and that a licensure program at the undergraduate level is the right way to go. You then "declare your major," which also means getting the right kind of advisor. If you are choosing an elementary licensure program, you should go to the Department of Education for your primary advising. But even if your primary faculty advisor will be in an arts or sciences department, this is an excellent time to make sure that a co-advisor in the Department of Education is assigned to you. At the self-identification stage, it's very important to receive and master the information in this guidebook. It is also important to complete EDUC 211 or EDUC 301 to begin preparing yourself for admission to the Department of Education. By this time you should have had the field experience that accompanies EDUC 211 or EDUC 301. You are also starting to think in terms of saving the papers and projects that you do, because you know you will be creating a teaching portfolio as part of your licensure program requirements. As you take your general education and major courses in the arts and sciences, think about how these subjects and topics will enrich your teaching.

Stage III: Admission into the Undergraduate Teacher Education Program (K-6)

At this stage, you are committed to becoming a licensed teacher and have made a decision to seek admission into the Undergraduate Teacher Education Program. Your class status is ideally late in your sophomore year or maybe early in your junior year. You have studied the requirements for admission and taken steps to prepare for the admissions process. The culminating experience is the interview and a letter that follows, which tells you whether or not you have been admitted or denied admission to the Teacher Education Program (TEP). At this point, you may have taken another one or two education courses, again involving field experience, but you have probably not taken your major curriculum and methods courses. You are keeping papers and projects from your courses and are even starting a scrapbook of mementos, pictures, and student work from the field placements you have had. You are thinking ahead to your teaching portfolio.

Making Progress (7-12)

Secondary majors continue work in major and take required EDUC practica to gain experience in the secondary classroom.

Stage IV: Progressing in Your Program (K-6)

During this stage, you are fully admitted to the Undergraduate Teacher Education Program (TEP) and are making progress through the curriculum and methods courses in the education portion of your total degree program. You are also completing and documenting the field experiences you complete in conjunction with your courses and are also constantly adding to your overall pile of items that might eventually go into your teaching portfolio. You are becoming more aware of the topics in all your courses, how they are being taught, and how you might teach these or related topics to younger students. Your capacity for reflection on the teaching of others and its impact on student learning is growing as you spend more time in the schools and with children and young people. Your awareness of the breadth and depth of knowledge you need is also growing, as is your mastery of instructional planning, strategies, and skills in assessment. You are starting to look ahead to the Praxis II tests. Once you know when you will complete your last required course, you apply at least one semester in advance for that final semester of student teaching. Typically, this is also the semester to apply for the degree and for graduation.

Applying to the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) Program (7-12)

Secondary majors should apply to the MAT program late in their junior year or the first semester of their senior year. Application to the masters program includes obtaining an application packet from the Education Department, two letters of recommendation, appropriate test scores on the GRE, Praxis I Exam, or the Millers Analogy Test, field experience from past Education practica, and an interview with the faculty in the Department of Education.

Stage V: Advancement to Full Candidacy for Licensure (K-6)

At this stage, you complete your student teaching semester, which requires a full-time commitment to teaching in the schools where you are placed. The student teaching experience is also accompanied by a professional development seminar. Be aware that it is possible to fail one or both components, because assessment is performance-based. This would require re-registration and yet another semester of student teaching. During this semester, you are advised to take your Praxis II tests necessary for licensure. You will also have an assessment conference with your advisor, as well as several other assessment conferences that are associated with student teaching itself. You will work on the finishing touches to your portfolio, adding in those items you develop and acquire during your student teaching semester, including student work from the classes you teach, unit and lesson plans, and videotapes or other records of your teaching. Although you will not be taking regular classes on campus, you will have much to do during your student teaching placements. It is typically a challenging experience, even for the best of students. Typically, you will also graduate at the conclusion of this semester.

Completion of the Undergraduate Major (7-12)

Secondary majors complete their undergraduate program of study and transition into MAT advanced Education courses once admitted to the MAT program. Documentation of field experiences in conjunction with your courses is vital to your success as a teacher as is the compilation of on-going projects that you might add to your teaching portfolio. You are becoming more aware of the topics in all of your courses, how they are being taught, and how you might teach these or related topics to your future students.

Stage VI: Recommendation for Licensure (K-6)

Once all of the above items have been completed (portfolio, assessment records, successful Praxis II scores, transcript showing the degree), you are then eligible to be recommended for an Apprentice license, which is the first "real" professional license offered by the State of Tennessee. You should remain especially aware that the power to recommend for the Apprentice license rests in the hands of the Department of Education, which means that failure to complete one's teaching portfolio or departmental assessments, as well as not taking your Praxis II tests, could delay your being recommended for the Apprentice license.

Completion of the MAT program and recommendation for licensure (7-12)

Your capacity for reflection on the teaching of others and its impact on student learning is growing as you spend more time in the schools and with young people. Your awareness of the breadth and depth of knowledge you need is also growing, as is your mastery of instructional planning, strategies, and skills in assessment. You are starting to look ahead to the Praxis II tests. Once you know when you will complete your last required course, you apply at least one semester in advance for that final semester of student teaching.

Next you complete your student teaching semester, which requires a full-time commitment to teaching in two schools where you are placed. The student teaching experience is also accompanied by a professional development seminar. Be aware that it is possible to fail one or both components, because assessment is performance-based. This would require re-registration and yet another semester of student teaching. During this semester, you are advised to take your Praxis II tests necessary for licensure. You will also have an assessment conference with your advisor, as well as several other assessment conferences that are associated with student teaching itself. You will work on the finishing touches to your portfolio, adding in those items you develop and acquire during your student teaching semester, including student work from the classes you teach, unit and lesson plans, and videotapes or other records of your teaching. Although you will not be taking regular classes on campus, you will have much to do during your student teaching placements. It is typically a challenging experience, even for the best of students. Typically, you will also graduate at the conclusion of this semester. Once all of the above items have been completed (portfolio, assessment records, successful Praxis II scores, transcript showing the degree), you are then eligible to be recommended for an Apprentice license, which is the first "real" professional license offered by the State of Tennessee. You should remain especially aware that the power to recommend for the Apprentice license rests in the hands of the Department of Education, which means that failure to complete one's teaching portfolio or departmental assessments, as well as not taking your Praxis II tests, could delay your being recommended for the Apprentice license.

The Crowning Achievement: A Degree and a License

In many ways, becoming licensed should be just as much a cause for celebration as the Big Moment of graduation. Your Apprentice license will come in the mail from Nashville, and you start to realize that you have become a fully professional teacher. Even if the Department of Education faculty is not gathered around you in person at that moment like we will be at your CBU Commencement, in spirit we are there. In this guide, and throughout the program, we will always affirm for you the importance of becoming fully licensed as a professional teacher. The effort to make teaching a true profession, as well as a true vocation, will be a part of the 21st century's educational environment. Earning your Apprentice license, your first professional license, is the goal of our program, as well as preparing you to become one of the great teachers of our future!