Widening the Circle: Seeking Inclusive Education

Focus of 2008-10 Cohort

Each of us has a picture of what it means to be a teacher and a student. We've created those pictures based on our experiences as learners, and often with particular teachers in particular classrooms. However, what we experienced as students may or may not represent the realities of public schools now and in the future or the realities of the range of students with whom we will work.

We must challenge our current beliefs about schooling and teaching if we are to become effective advocates for all our students. Classrooms are becoming increasingly diverse including a wide range of ethnic origins, languages, abilities, and socio-economic backgrounds. Further, a democratic society requires people to engage in creative problem-solving, utilize technological skills, collaborate effectively with co-workers, and actively seek information and resources. If public schools are to effectively prepare students for public life, teachers must enact a critical, reflective practice that results in a positive impact on student learning.

Can prospective teachers learn to be both educators and activists, to regard themselves as agents for change, and to regard reform as an integral part of the social, intellectual ethical and political activity of teaching? This provocative question, posed more than a decade ago by Marilyn Cochran-Smith, nationally prominent professor of education at Boston University, provides the contextual framework for our study in MIT 2008-2010. Our exploration of educative practice in John Dewey's terms, will be integrated with larger issues of social justice in our democracy.

This rigorous program will prepare teachers to engage in reflective practice, demonstrate appropriate professional dispositions, advocate for social justice in the context of schools, read original research, and be scholars and critical consumers of educational practice. Candidates will learn research-based instructional strategies for their endorsement areas that leads to positive impact on student learning. They will also learn whatís involved in motivating their students to learn. Other areas of focus will include integrating the arts and mathematics across curricula and examining how content, classroom management and pedagogy can work with issues of democracy and social justice. A highly supportive environment is fostered where faculty and student colleagues work together to meet the demands of the program.

We invite people into the program who are eager to become deeply purposeful and thoughtful teachers. We want prospective teachers who are willing to examine and challenge when necessary the existing structures of schooling in order to create learning environments that are responsive to the needs of all students.

We seek candidates: (i) with strong reasoning skills as evidenced by critical reading and integrative writing; (ii) who actively seek out and are open to critical, constructive feedback; (iii) who have a genuine interest in their own intellectual, political, and emotional growth; and (iv) are invested in serving the communities where they will teach.

Making an Impact (or Making a Difference)

MIT graduates are getting hired from the smallest public school in the state on Decatur Island, to urban schools in Tacoma and Seattle, and schools around the nation and world including Hawaii, Alaska, New York, Honduras, Taiwan and Chile.

Our 83% placement rate within the first six months of graduation for full time teaching positions for 2003-2006 puts us among the top two of the 22 teaching certification programs in the state, while the statewide average is 53%.