Department of Education

Faculty: Associate Professor Erben, Chair; Professors Almerico, O’Hara, Soublis Smyth; Associate Professors Cloutier, Johnston, O'Grady, Schimmel; Assistant Professors McKeown, Romero-Hall, Wilson; Lecturer Tankersley.

Mission: The mission of the Department of Education is to develop teachers who are prepared to create compelling, active learning environments. Future teachers at The University of Tampa develop skills that enable them to create caring communities in which learner success and retention are maximized. Education faculty members emphasize responsiveness to and valuing of human diversity and intercultural understanding. Education faculty members work collaboratively with future teachers, local educators, community members, alumni and students to establish and facilitate a relevant, appropriate teacher preparation program. Research-based teacher development is facilitated through critical and analytical inquiry involving case studies, micro-teaching, videotaped self-evaluations and teaching practica. An essential aspect of all courses is that effective teaching requires analysis, reflection and conversation with and about learners, curricula and practices.

Philosophy: The best way for teachers to prepare learners well is to equip them with problem-solving strategies that enable them to cope with new challenges in their personal and professional lives. In the context of coping, learners are enabled to understand the subjective and changing nature of truth; that multiple perspectives exist; and that what is considered to be true by any one individual or at any one point in history may change over time.

The teacher’s role is to serve as a guide whose primary responsibility is to act as a facilitator for student learning. In the process of creating learning experiences and environments, the teacher takes into account the well-being and development of the whole learner in terms of physical, emotional, social, aesthetic, intellectual and linguistic needs. The teaching and learning process needs to be characterized by extensive interaction between teacher and learners, and among learners themselves. Teachers provide learners with experiences that enable them to learn by doing, because meaningful learning is an active process.

School is a place where learners develop personal as well as social values. In the words of Maxine Greene, “We have to know about our lives, clarify our situations if we are to understand the world from our shared standpoints.” Schooling needs to prepare learners with a broad understanding of the democratic process and the role of the individual in that process. Such an understanding includes how governance structures operate in a democratic society. Schools should not only transmit knowledge about the existing social order, they also should seek to reconstruct it. Learners must be enabled to understand how individuals can take advantage of the democratic process and to act as change agents as they pursue efforts to restructure the society in positive ways.

Teachers need to place a premium on bringing the world into the classroom. Learning experiences need to include field trips, telecommunications, community-based projects of various sorts and opportunities to interact with persons beyond the four walls of the classroom.

Teachers must allow learners freedom of creative choice and provide them with carefully designed experiences that will help them find meaning in their lives and find their own answers to questions. This does not suggest, however, that learners may do whatever they please. The choices that are offered to learners are well-structured and are designed to provide optimal learning. Curricula are judged by whether they contribute to the individual’s quest for personal and professional meaning. Appropriate curricula result in an increased level of personal awareness as well as content-area knowledge.

Teacher Education Programs at UT

The following undergraduate programs offered through The University of Tampa Department of Education are approved by the Florida Department of Education:

Elementary Education/ESOL-endorsed (K-6)

Secondary Biology Education (6-12)

Secondary English Education/ESOL-endorsed (6-12)

Secondary Mathematics Education (6-12)

Secondary Social Sciences Education (6-12)

Physical Education (K-12) (exercise science)

Minor in Education

The Department of Education offers a minor in education available to all students who may wish to teach. The minor can provide an overview of education to the student. The following classes are required to complete a minor in Education: EDU 200, EDU 207, EDU 209 and EDU 212.

Certification Endorsements

Certification endorsements are offered in early childhood education (ages 3-8) and ESOL (English to speakers of other languages). The ESOL endorsement is delivered through an infused model and cannot be earned separately from an elementary or secondary English teaching degree. Courses are designed to provide students extensive experience working with children, adolescents and young adults in school settings.

The following graduate program are offered through the UT Department of Education:

Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction (M.Ed.)
Master of Science in Instructional Design and Technology (M.S.)

Any course transferred to this University for purposes of meeting teacher certification requirements must be equivalent to a specific UT course.

Florida State Teacher Education Mandates

Florida state laws pertaining to requirements for certification in teacher education may be enacted after this edition of the UT catalog has gone to press. Education students must comply with these requirements, even if they do not appear in this version of the catalog, in order to graduate from any Florida teacher education program or be certified to teach in the state of Florida. Such information will be made available in the Department of Education office.

ESOL (English to Speakers of Other Languages) Endorsement

All Florida teacher education programs must provide ESOL training as part of elementary and secondary certification. Elementary education and secondary English education majors who began their programs in or after fall 2000 as freshmen (regardless of institution) must complete 15 hours of ESOL coursework to earn an ESOL endorsement. At UT this includes stand-alone ESOL coursework: LIN 217, EDU 312 and EDU 319 ESOL Practicum (with Seminar) II (for elementary and secondary English education majors) as well as ESOL content infused into existing education courses. The ESOL Standards (2010) are assessed through targeted assignments uploaded to LiveText (ESOL indicators are addressed) in stand-alone ESOL courses and infused ESOL courses. Secondary biology, math and social science education majors as well as physical education majors who began their programs in or after fall 2000 as freshmen (regardless of institution) must complete specified ESOL coursework in EDU 354 to fulfill ESOL requirements.

Admission to Teacher Education

Undergraduate Admission

Students who intend to major in a teacher education program at The University of Tampa must apply for admission into the Department of Education and have completed, or will complete, 30 credit hours by the end of sophomore year. Transfer students must be admitted to teacher education before enrolling in any 300- or 400-level education courses. Candidates may not enroll in 300- or 400-level education courses until they are officially admitted to teacher education. Application forms are available in the Department of Education office and at www.ut.edu/education/admission.

Students who have submitted the following documentation are eligible for admission to teacher candidacy:

• A completed Admission to Teacher Education application.
• An unofficial transcript indicating completion of 30 credit hours of coursework.
• A GPA of at least 2.5 (on a 4.0 scale) overall and 3.0 in 100- and 200-level EDU courses, certified by the Academic Advising Office.
• Documentation of passing scores on all portions of the General Knowledge (GK) Exam on the Florida Teacher Certification Examinations (FTCE).
• A signed Cooperative Learning Agreement.
• A completed Applicant’s Perspective on Education.
• Two completed UT Educator Disposition Assessments with a rating of no less than a "2".
• One letter of recommendation.
• Criminal Record Information Form.

Completed applications are to be submitted to the administrative assistant in the Department of Education office. Students who do not meet the above requirements but still want to enter the Department of Education are referred to the department’s Candidate Performance/Admission, Retention, Dismissal (CP/ARD) Committee regarding whether a waiver can be granted.