RCOE Conceptual Framework

Executive Summary

In what follows we offer a summary of the conceptual framework for the Reich College of
Educations (RCOE) efforts to fulfill its mission, vision, and commitments. At the heart of
our framework is the concept that highly effective organizations have a set of shared
commitments. Through ongoing dialogue the membership of the organization creates,
refines, and revises its activities. Such dialogue serves as the key means for communication
among members. For the organization to remain effective, our commitments must stay in
the public domain so that all members share in their ongoing creation and application.

I. Cultivating Communities of Practice

Broadly defined, a community of practice is a web of individuals bound together by a
common set of goals and values. The RCOE cultivates vibrant and dynamic learning
communities that bring together students, teachers, and teacher educators in the shared goal
of achieving genuine praxis, in which we improve our pedagogical practices and our
theoretical understanding of teaching and learning. Although the RCOE includes multiple
communities of practice with their own distinctive characteristics, we share this goal as a
unified community.

II: Advancing Professional Knowledge

The RCOE views itself as a professional school committed to advancing the knowledge and
expertise of our respective fields. While we use a variety of theoretical perspectives in the
preparation of educators, sociocultural and constructivist perspectives (e.g., Vygotsky,
Piaget, Bruner, Dewey) are central to guiding our teaching and learning. Our core
conceptualization of learning and knowingthat learning is a function of the social and
cultural contexts in which it occurs and that knowledge is actively constructedemerges
from the intersection of these two perspectives. The RCOE emphasizes five areas of
knowledge that are in accordance with our core commitments:
(a) knowledge of learners,
(b) knowledge of subject matter and curriculum goals,
(c) knowledge of teaching,
(d) knowledge of socially just principles and practices, and
(e) knowledge of how to foster socially just relationships with diverse populations.

A) Knowledge of Learners
DarlingHammond and Baratz-Snowden (2005) state competent educators must develop a
deep understanding of how individuals learn, including:
The learner and his or her strengths, interests, and preconceptions;
The knowledge, skills, and attitudes we want students to acquire and how they may be organized so
they can use and transfer what theyve learned;

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Executive Summary

The assessment of learning that makes students thinking visible and through feedback guides
further learning;
The community within which learning occurs, both within and outside the classroom (p. 7).

B) Knowledge of Subject Matter and Curriculum Goals

Based upon our commitment to social constructivism, we engage learners in the study of
subject matter that extends to a deeper and richer understanding about how the content
they study relates to their lives and their needs. This means they must have a deep
understanding of the content themselves for which they have responsibility as well as the
knowledge and ability to represent that content in meaningful ways for all students
(Shulman, 1987). Educators content knowledge most often is addressed through program
standards at either the national and/or state levels. All of our programs are built on these
standards and are held accountable for demonstrating their candidates' performance in
relation to the standards. Each program's decision related to meeting the content standards
is reflected in the curriculum check sheets prepared for all majors.

C) Knowledge of Teaching
Because content knowledge alone is insufficient for the preparation of teachers, it must be
synthesized with pedagogical knowledge. While a number of general pedagogical theories
and principles exist that all educators must come to understand, pedagogical knowledge
often is subject specific and therefore our candidates explore such knowledge in that
context, most notably in their subject specific methods courses and in their field
experiences. Because learning is a career-long commitment, our goal is not to provide our
candidates with all the skills and knowledge necessary to perform throughout their careers.
Instead, our role is to help candidates develop the core understandings and skills that will
prepare them for a lifetime of professional learning and development.

D) Knowledge of Socially Just Principles and Practices

We embrace approaches to education that are boldly and clearly anti-racist and anti-bias in
focus (Nieto, 2009). As a result, the curricular knowledge we teach must also incorporate
an analysis of how topics such as diversity, multiculturalism, and social justice intersect with
our social systems (e.g., schools), especially as they are manifested on local, state, and
national levels. This entails understanding the historical and contemporary dimensions of the
personal and systematic forms of oppression associated with categories such as race, class,
gender, sexuality and ability. To accomplish this goal, teachers and students must take on
distinct roles and responsibilities. Teachers must actively engage in an analysis of how and
what they teach their students supports and/or disrupts systems of privilege and oppression.
Students, in turn, must develop the critical capacity to evaluate the value and validity of
what they are learning from their teachers. Such a capacity involves seeking out and

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remaining open to divergent viewpoints. It also involves critically appraising the validity of
all perspectives, including ones personally held as well as those of their teachers (Shor,
1992).

E) Knowledge of How to Foster Socially Just Relationships with Diverse Populations

To more fully and authentically incorporate students in the learning process, we encourage
our candidates to adopt approaches to teaching and learning that are often described as
critical multicultural education and as culturally relevant pedagogy (Ladson-Billings,
2001; Nieto, 2009). Both approaches entail viewing cultural differences as opportunities,
resources and the places to ground pedagogical interactions. This work continuously extends
outside the classroom through our efforts to offer community-based learning opportunities
via Service Learning courses and projects as well as school-based practica. Our candidates
must come to understand that their students families and their communities are resources
that must be cultivated, appreciated and included within the construction of learning
experiences for their children (Freire, 1970). As a result, we believe that our candidates
must understand how to create inclusive and caring learning environments and how to foster
genuine and meaningful interactions with their students families and broader communities
(Noddings, 2005).

III: Developing Expertise in our Fields through Reflection and Inquiry

Expertise in a profession comes as a result of absorbing knowledge gained from theorists and
from research that frames perspectives about that profession. Experts clearly have "acquired
extensive knowledge that affects what they notice and how they organize, represent, and
interpret information in their environment;" such knowledge later "affects their abilities to
remember, reason, and solve problems" (Bransford et al., 2000, p. 19). Hence, for experts,
knowledge is not merely a list of isolated facts but rather knowledge comes to exist within a
highly organized and contextualized structure.

An important goal of the RCOE is to develop adaptive experts who are more likely to
continue to develop their skills and add to their knowledge base as they expand the depth
and breadth of their expertise (Bransford et al., 2005, p. 49). A cognitive apprenticeship
establishes a teaching and learning relationship in which interactions between expert
learners and novice learners support the movement of the novice toward the expert end of
the learning continuum (Hock, Schumaker, & Deshler, 1999, p. 9). However, like Freire
(1970), we note that the roles of expert and novice are not absolute, but instead are fluid as
teachers and learners engage collaboratively in dynamic learning environments in which they
co-explore their respective knowledge, perspectives, and experiences.

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An important component in the process of developing expertise in ones field is the capacity
to engage in active and reflective inquiry into ones practices. When professionals engage in
reflective inquiry within the context of their own practice, they habitually ask themselves
what happened during their work, how they responded emotionally to what happened, what
about the experience was positive and negative, how the event may have been experienced
by others or in light of different viewpoints, what conclusions might be drawn from the
experience, and how they might improve upon their performance, thereby creating an
action plan to advance their mission (Gibbs, 1988). Through reflection and inquiry,
educators and other professionals learn to view the world from different perspectives and
then use this knowledge to engage in professional practice that is responsive to the needs of
diverse students and clients and addresses social inequities or injustices.

IV. Promoting a Core Set of Professional and Ethical Dispositions

Learning has to be more than the mere accumulation of knowledge, skills, beliefs, and
values if it is to have meaning to those who teach or serve and to those who learn. As an
expectation of their performance as members of the RCOE Community of Practice, we ask
our candidates to behave in ways that reflect four key dispositions. Candidates must exhibit
commitments to:
1. Meeting the needs of all learners.
2. Promoting the value and significance of diversity and social justice.
3. Engaging in reflective practice.
4. Demonstrating professional and ethical practice.

Candidates must have multiple opportunities to display the key behaviors associated with
each disposition so that both the candidate and the observer can reach the conclusion that the
candidate will be likely to display the disposition in future situations. The RCOEs focus on
these four key dispositions does not imply that program areas do not have other dispositions
for which candidates may be held responsible by their respective areas. However, we
believe that such additional dispositions fit easily within the RCOE conceptual framework.

Disposition 1: Meeting the Needs of All Learners

Candidates are expected to maintain a positive and supportive learning environment for all
individuals, and prepare developmentally appropriate interventions, lessons and activities. If
our candidates exhibit these identified behaviors consistently and at high levels, they will
have displayed their commitment to meeting the needs of all individuals they encounter in
their chosen professions.

Disposition 2: Promoting the Value and Significance of Diversity and Social Justice
We are committed to creating emancipatory, socially just educational and therapeutic
environments, and we actively encourage our community members to engage in the deeply
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Executive Summary

personal and professional work necessary to enable us all to collaborate with and advocate
for the diverse populations with whom we work. We ask that our candidates develop:
a commitment to understanding and promoting socially just educational practices;
a desire to embrace and sustain the humility and openness necessary for understanding how good
intentions might mask hidden biases and unjust actions;
a valuing of alternative and divergent viewpoints and a sense of empathy and solidarity to ally with
those marginalized within a social system;
the courage to challenge and question the status quo, and the resilience to endure and act through
adversity and resistance.

Disposition 3: Engaging in Reflective Practice

Our goal is to assist our candidates in developing behaviors that will provide us with an
indication of their commitment to reflective practice. We expect candidates to reflect on
and actively use feedback from mentors, evaluators and instructors. Candidates are also
expected to engage in reflective self-analysis about their own teaching performance and the
learning performance and behaviors of all of their students, clients, or other learners.

Disposition 4: Demonstrating Professional and Ethical Practice

Because teaching, leadership, and counseling are inherently moral and ethical enterprises,
we expect candidates to work collaboratively with diverse populations and conduct
themselves according to the highest ethical and moral standards. We also expect that
candidates will assume active roles as participants in professional decision-making processes
and meet all professional obligations.

References (see full version of Framework for complete bibliography)

Bransford, J.D., Brown, A.L., and Cocking R. R. (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. Washington, D.C.: National
Academy Press.

Bransford, J.D., Derry, S., Berliner, D., & Hammerness, K. with Beckett, K.L. (2005). Theories of learning and their roles in teaching. In L.
Darling-Hammond & J. Bransford (Eds.), Preparing teachers for a changing world (pp. 40-87). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Darling-Hammond, L. & Baratz-Snowden, J. (Eds.). (2005). A good teacher in every classroom. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Seabury Press.

Gibbs, G. (1988). Learning by doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods. London: Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development,
Oxford Polytechnic.

Hock, M. F., Schumaker, J. B., & Deshler, D. D. (1999). Closing the gap to success in secondary schools: A model for cognitive
apprenticeship. In D. D. Deshler, J. B. Schumaker, K. R. Harris, & S. Graham (Eds.), Teaching every adolescent every day: Learning in
diverse middle and high school classrooms (pp. 1-52). Newton, MA: Brookline Books.

Ladson-Billings, G. (2001). Crossing over to Canaan: The journey of new teachers in diverse classrooms. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

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Nieto, S. (2009) The Light in their Eyes: Creating Multicultural Learning Communities. New York: Teachers College Press.

Noddings, N. (2005). The Challenge to Care in Schools: An Alternative Approach to Education (2nd ed.). New York: Teachers College Press.

Shor, I. (1992) Empowering education: Critical teaching for social change. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Shulman, L.S. (1987). Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform. Harvard Educational Review, 57, 1-22.