MAT Core Committments

Equity: We are committed to preparing candidates who understand the challenges that students from traditionally under-served populations experience in school, who develop agency to advocate for underserved student populations and who have a commitment to addressing inequities that reside in the educational system. We draw on research on equity in schooling to inform the design of courses and learning experiences to support candidates in developing attention to issues of equity in teaching.

Understanding Learners & Learning: We are committed to preparing candidates who focus on learners and learning. We prepare candidates to understand who the learners are in their classrooms and how to design instruction that draws on the competencies and knowledge that students bring to bear on their learning. We also provide candidates with experiences to study theories of learning and development, while also observing and reflecting on those theories in context. Candidates use these experiences to guide instructional planning and decision-making.

Teaching and Learning in the Content Areas: We are committed to preparing candidates to teach in the content areas and to developing their content knowledge for teaching and pedagogical practices unique to the discipline. Using practice-based approaches to teacher preparation, candidates learn high leverage practices for teaching in the content areas.

Learning from Practice: We are committed to preparing candidates to learn in and from their practice. Teacher candidates cannot learn all they need to learn in teacher preparation but they can learn how to systematically inquire about teaching and learning, collect data to provide insight on instruction, and use what they learn through professional collaboration to improve their practice.

Leadership: We are committed to preparing candidates who will become leaders in their school. We use innovative approaches to teacher education to cultivate their practices for leading teacher learning once they become teachers.