In this experiential course offered in the first quarter, students learn and practice basic counseling and mediation skills, as well as strategies for working with groups that are specific to working in schools. Emphasis is placed on using these skills and strategies with children, peers, and colleagues who differ from the self in terms of culture, ethnicity, language use, gender, sexual preference, social class, and professional position. TEP 516 Culture and Language in the Classroom 4 units This course provides an orientation to the philosophy, curriculum, and learning objectives of the program and explores how each candidate responds to this material. A primary objective is to facilitate the candidate's beginning construction of his or her identity as a professional educator in multicultural settings. They explore the requirements of providing culturally-responsive instruction that allows for access to the core curriculum in each subject for all students.
Candidates visit local classrooms, recording observations and writing reflective interpretations.
TEP 517 Children's Development and Classroom Organization 4 units This course combines a rigorous study of children's cognitive and social development with the exploration of various models of classroom organization and focuses on the interdependence of knowledge of appropriate developmental practice and successful classroom management. Team teaching, student grouping, peer tutoring, and the effective integration of personnel such as paraprofessionals and volunteers into the classroom are explored. This intensive workshop provides practical methods and survival skills for teachers in classroom management, lesson planning, classroom systems, assessment strategies, and professional behavior. In this course candidates learn to provide balanced and comprehensive reading instruction for K-5 classrooms. Relationships between oral and written discourse and language variation are studied in order for candidates to begin to develop flexible literacy instruction strategies and skills to meet the needs of diverse students.