BSC Education Departments Conceptual Framework

We believe that purposeful and intentional teachers:

• Demonstrate intellectual curiosity

• Demonstrate philosophical, pedagogical, and academic grounding

• Practice reflective and intentional teaching

• Practice advocacy for the community, the profession, and for all children

• Demonstrate intellectual curiosity
  

  • We believe that purposeful and intentional teachers are intellectually curious. We define intellectual curiosity as any interest that leads to inquiry. We believe that intellectual curiosity, this wakefulness of mind, is a vital quality of an effective teacher. Intellectually curious individuals exist in a state of constant learning, reading and researching.  Intellectually curious individuals persistently seek solutions to problems and connections between and among divergent topics.

• Demonstrate philosophical, pedagogical, and academic grounding

  • We believe that purposeful and intentional teachers know, know why, and know how.

  • Purposeful and intentional teachers know –they have wrestled with knotty questions and complex academic content from a variety of disciplines.

  • Purposeful and intentional teachers know why – they have developed a philosophical stance which informs their teaching decisions.

  • Purposeful and intentional teachers know how – they have acquired a repertoire of teaching moves informed by their pedagogical studies. These teaching moves include the ability to select and use resources and technologies to support teaching and learning.

  • Purposeful and intentional teachers can clearly articulate their beliefs about teaching and learning, cite supporting research and philosophical underpinnings, and speak to informed applications in a variety of classroom settings.

• Practice reflective and intentional teaching
  

  • We believe that purposeful and intentional teachers hold a set of principles which guide the decision-making process and which inform practice. We believe that effective teachers do what they do on purpose – each teaching move is intentional and reasoned.  We believe that “intentional teachers are thoughtful, reflective people who are conscious of the decisions they make and the actions they take; they live and teach by the principles and practices they value and believe in” (Miller, 2008)

• Practice advocacy for the community, the profession, and for all children
  

  • We believe the purposeful and intentional teachers know, respect, participate in, and advocate for the communities in which they teach.

  • We believe that purposeful and intentional teachers serve as advocates for the teaching profession. They participate in professional organizations and contribute to the “professional conversations” of their peers. Their actions and attributes are models of advocacy.

  • We believe that purposeful and intentional teachers know, respect, and advocate for ALL children. They advocate for whatever is necessary to meet the needs of individual members of their learning community.