Research and Best Practice

At the center of the model, research and best practice are depicted as the core of professional preparation at Purdue University. These two elements are consistent with the missions of Purdue as a research and land grant university; and they represent the balanced approach that is evident in recent curricular initiatives in teacher preparation at Purdue.

Initial or Undergraduate Preparation

• Focus on the Learner and Assess Growth and Outcomes. This element captures the philosophical perspective of focusing upon each child and his or her learning, rather than focusing upon teaching or simply acts of the teacher. It also stresses the importance of acquiring skills to assess cognitive, social, and personal development, as well as outcomes, for those children.
  
• Adapt Instruction to Diverse Learners. In setting high standards for all children and believing that all children can learn, it is essential that teachers be able to adapt instruction to a wide variety of such things as learners’ abilities and achievement, previous experiences, learning styles, and motivation, as well as sociocultural contexts.
  
• Use Current and Emerging Technologies. The Information Age is inextricably linked to the Internet and the access it provides for communication, acquisition of knowledge, and problem solving. As facilitators of their students’ learning in this new age, teachers must be able to utilize a wide array of tools such as computers. They also must be skilled in assisting their students to acquire skills in using the new technology for their own responsible, independent learning.
  
• Teach Effectively by Integrating Content and Pedagogy. In addition to the balance sought at Purdue in utilizing research and best practice, there also is valuing of the duality of content and pedagogy in effective teaching. Thus, emphasis is given to pedagogical content knowledge as a key to facilitating student learning.
  
• Understand Individual Development of Students. Focus on individual learners must include an understanding of their individual development. Consistent with Indiana Professional Standards Board developmental level standards, Purdue’s programs foster the development of skills and knowledge regarding learners’ development.
  
• Practice Inclusive Education. Not only is inclusive education best practice, it is mandated by law. Teachers must be able to adapt curriculum to learners’ needs in a general education classroom in order to engage effectively in inclusive education.
  
• Collaborate with Teachers, Parents, and Community. Educators are members of a learning team that also includes colleagues, parents, and agencies in the community. Such collaboration is focused upon meeting the needs of students.

Advanced or Graduate Preparation

• Think Critically and Reflectively. Higher order thinking skills are the hallmark of well educated people. As professionals in education, our graduates are able to reflect upon their own practice and to think critically about issues. They also demonstrate they can facilitate reflection, critical thinking, and problem solving in others.
  
• Synthesize Knowledge. Those at the advanced level of preparation are able to gather information and organize it meaningfully, i.e., synthesize knowledge. This is an especially important skill in the Information Age.
  
• Create Knowledge. Graduate work equips education professionals with skills of inquiry and documentation. These skills are utilized to create knowledge through observation, description, or experimentation that results in confirmation or disconfirmation of hypotheses.
  
• Communicate Knowledge. At the graduate level, communication of knowledge is qualitatively different from undergraduate skills in imparting information. It is essential that a graduate of advanced programs be able to communicate effectively the knowledge he or she has created. Such professional communication may include publication (written or electronic) or presentation to peers, students, clients, institutions, agencies, or learned societies.
  
• Engage in Professional Development. Those who have completed advanced preparation programs should display dispositions to engage in further professional development and behaviors that express those dispositions. Engaging in professional development activities is an important element in continuous (lifelong) learning.
  
• Participate Actively in Their Profession. Advanced preparation is successful when those completing it participate actively in their professions. Such participation includes activity at the local, state, and/or national level that addresses important issues of the profession. Such activity often occurs in the context of professional organizations.