The Liberal Arts, the Mission Statement, and Teacher Education at Wabash
The Wabash College mission statement asks Wabash men to think critically, act responsibly, lead effectively, and live humanely. The goal of the liberal arts, in essence, is to develop a well rounded individual who can think for themselves about a multitude of subjects and excel in a multitude of ways. The teacher education program asks each of its participants to excel in each of these areas as a necessity of becoming a teacher. It is a professional development program, yes, by definition. But it is so much more than that. It is a program that infuses each future teacher with skills to not only excel as a teacher but to excel as a Wabash man and as a citizen. For some, such as some members of The Wabash Commentary, the teacher education program is expendable, according to their story “Save Professors, Cut Teachers” in their March 2010 issue, for a multitude of reasons. Before you think this is a rosy letter coming from a teacher education participant, I am not a part of the teacher education program; I am an outsider, though I did participate in it at one point. I argue that the teacher education program needs to remain in our curriculum, not only for reasons of tradition, but because of the positive impact its participants serve in the world around us and how it fits perfectly into our liberal arts tradition and our mission statement as a college.
The teacher education program is a unique program at Wabash. According to Cody Stipes ’11, Student Body President and teacher education student, many programs designed to educate teachers separate liberal arts and their education departments. They almost live as two different entities. Stipes said, “Most schools I visited as a prospective student put the liberal arts program in one spot and their education program in another; at Wabash, they are mended together.” This is a unique idea and part of the reason for the teacher education program’s success at Wabash. Dr. Pittard, head of the Teacher Education Department, and Dr. Butler, former head of the teacher education department, co-edited a piece entitled Liberal Arts Education and Teacher Education: A Lasting Relationship, which described the link between the liberal arts education and teacher education. First of all, it is worth noting the passion by the professors in the department for fulfilling the goals of the liberal arts so well. If this passion is even subtlety influential to the students in the department then the program is already fulfilling a major aspect of Wabash College. There is evidence of this inherent in simply listening to the passion in Cody Stipes’ voice as he supported this idea, “There is a very strong relationship between the liberal arts and teaching.” Competing with this idea is the belief that professional programs are bad and that a teacher education program is inherently not a liberal arts program. While it is a professional program officially, that is not necessarily an ill fit for Wabash when strides are made to fit within the curriculum. According to Joby Turner ’10, a teacher education program participant, Wabash’s teacher education program “is technically a professional program. However, it is different from other vocational or professional programs in the sense that it prepares us for many areas through the liberal arts. We learn about other cultures, we learn about different religions and beliefs. This provides us with a better overall picture which will help us to grow as a liberally educated professional.” This statement illustrates the idea that the liberal arts and a professional program can excel together. But besides these generic statements, how are teachers, especially Wabash teachers, affected by the liberal arts?
The teacher education program’s goal to serve both as a professional program and a liberal arts program creates a very rigorous program of study. Besides the three-and-a-half credit student teaching semester, a program participant must take five courses pertaining to teaching. This creates a program a half credit short of a major. Some may argue that some of the courses that help a student get involved in the liberal arts are then lost in the large course load requirements for becoming a teacher. While teacher education, as an area of concentration, essentially replaces the minor, students get a well rounded experience surrounding their major thanks to the classes that are required in addition to the teaching courses and Wabash curriculum requirements. These required extra courses create essentially a minor to go along with an area of concentration and the individual’s major. For instance, to become a social studies teacher, not only should a student major in one of four areas; psychology, economics, history, or political science, but they also need to develop a focus in two of the three remaining areas by taking at least three classes in each of the two fields they selected. For someone who is a political science major and a teacher education area of concentration, they could select three economics courses and three history courses in order to receive a license. That is six courses, more than the five needed for a minor. These classes would enable them to teach government, history, or economics, according to Dr. Pittard. However, it would also provide this individual with a well rounded understanding of their major and the fields pertaining to it. Economics, political science, and history relate with one another on many levels. These courses would not only help the student as a future teacher, but give them a stronger liberal arts education and a much broader understanding of their focus area.
The Wabash teacher education program clearly fits within the ideals of our liberal arts based curriculum and tradition. Still, is that enough? What about our mission statement? The teacher education program probably fits our mission statement just as well as any other program in the school, if not better. Wabash educated teachers, according to the article edited by Dr. Pittard and Dr. Butler, often focus on helping their students develop critical thinking skills, not just the subject information. In order to teach critical thinking skills, they must have them as well, which is evidenced by the article. There are other ways the teacher education student works within the mission statement. According to Cody Stipes, the teacher education student is involved in the classroom as early on as their first teacher education class, and is teaching in the classroom usually by their sophomore year. He adds, “We must act responsibly . . . in Education 230, you teach for an entire week. You have a responsibility in that classroom at an early juncture in your Wabash career.” Intertwined with this is obviously leading effectively. As a teacher, a potential mentor, and as a representative of the college, teacher education students are responsible for a lot in the classroom, most importantly the education of the students while they are there. On top of that, their leadership skills will hopefully not only encourage the students to exceed in the classroom, but also beyond it, whether it is in the community or in extra-curricular activities. Finally though, as a teacher, one must live humanely. Teachers are often under a microscope with their actions inside and outside the classroom. One bad slip in judgment can bring heavy criticism on the teacher, students, the school itself, and education as a whole. The Wabash educated teacher, I would like to think, is just as prepared for this role as anyone else, if not more prepared. The mission statement of the Vollege blends in well with teacher education and its students, if the program itself is lost then an excellent representation of the College is lost as well.
But are there better ways to pursue the education process where Wabash students could still create the same impact? What about a program like Teach for America, which has an excellent reputation? Dr. Pittard responded to this question, “Is [Teach for America] successful in recruiting very high level, capable, committed, and passionate students? Yes, it’s absolutely successful in doing that. And why? Because they have retained a level of selectivity and it is sold as sort of a mission.” But she continued, “Is it successful in facilitating change in very challenging schools over a long period? I don’t know, research suggests it may not be as successful at that”. This information makes me wonder, where does the Wabash man have a greater impact? Without trying to take anything away from Teach for America applicants or those accepted (I have applied myself), this makes me question the program a little bit. Yes, it seems wonderful for the individuals, or maybe even some of the students who they work with, but does it really create a positive impact on education? Having both the Teach for America applicants and the Wabash taught teacher education participants provides the best of both worlds for our students and education in general. This not only maximizes the amount of teachers that create a positive impact from our school, but it also represents our school on multiple levels in the education field. Suggesting that Teach for America, by itself, is a healthy alternative for education as a whole, however, is absurd. Teach for America participants, unless they remain in education for more than the two required years, will find it hard to positively influence education on the whole over an extended period of time. The Wabash teacher education participant can influence individual students, much like the Teach for America participant, but also has a chance to change the American education system for the better over the long term.
In conclusion, let me reiterate the importance of the teacher education program and its role in Wabash and education in general. Not only does it fit within the guidelines of the liberal arts and the mission statement, but it helps promote some of the best ideas from Wabash to the students of the United States. The teacher education program, combined with Wabash, is very strong. I will conclude with one last quote from Cody Stipes that encourages these ideas: “I believe Wabash needs the teacher education program, just like how every school needs a teacher education program like Wabash’s. If every school had a program like ours, the United States would have the top education program in the world.” Removing this program from Wabash would not only create a lasting impact on our students and curriculum, but the ripple effects would be felt in the education system throughout Indiana and our country.
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