The Educator Preparation Program

The Educator Preparation Program (EPP), housed under the Education Department at Ave Maria University, is a Florida state-approved program offering a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education (K-6). As such, the program is aligned with the Florida Educator Accomplished Practices (FEAPs) standards. Graduates of the program are eligible for a Florida state teaching license. Further, the program is designed to meet the requirements of the Florida Reading and English for Speakers of other Languages (ESOL) Endorsements. Aspiring educators receive training with the knowledge, skills, and professional dispositions needed to make a positive impact on K-6 student learning. Integrated throughout the program are methodologies to deliver comprehensive instruction to English learners, to work with special populations, and to integrate technology for greater student engagement. Students officially accepted to the final internship may be eligible for the Florida Department of Education’s Internship Temporary Certificate pathway to be the teacher of record during final internship. Interested students must meet all requirements outlined by FDOE and the AMU Education Department. Applications are due to the Department Chair by September 1st of the senior year.

Mission

The Education Department strives to prepare highly qualified, creative, culturally competent, ethical, and critically reflective educators. Animated by a conceptual framework emphasizing character, knowledge and service, we seek to form teachers committed to personal integrity and good moral character, who are dedicated to providing the best possible education for all students.

The Education Department has adopted the following specific goals to fulfill its mission:

(1) provide a challenging undergraduate program with a focus on Catholic and classical education that encourages creativity, intellectual depth, breadth, and curiosity;

(2) instill in its graduates an appreciation for the human condition (especially as rooted in Catholic understandings vis-à-vis the nature and dignity of the human person) and a commitment to service of others and life-long learning;

(3) provide high quality, standards-based instruction, including the modeling of best practices, that prepare aspiring educators to meet the needs of diverse learners;

(4) provide aspiring educators with the content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and skills, and professional dispositions requisite in the field;

(5) provide field and clinical experiences that empower aspiring educators to make theory-to-practice connections in diverse K-6 settings.

Philosophy

Founded on the belief that the human person seeks knowledge, love, and happiness and is naturally oriented toward truth, we believe that education is a powerful tool to help others flourish. We believe that the role of an educator is to be a role model: to be a living, coherent, and sincere witness to a love for life, knowledge, and service to others. A deep concern about others, their welfare, dignity, and freedom, is at the core of the student-teacher relationship. The degree to which our teacher candidates hold a passion for the subject under consideration and a love for others is the degree to which they will be successful educators. All of the state-of-the-art pedagogical skills and professional practices our teacher candidates master during their time in our program will build on this foundation. While implementing methodologies and practices proper to the discipline and compliant with state guidelines, the program will maintain a deliberate and explicit foundation in the philosophical and theological insights of the Catholic tradition, especially its understandings related to the nature and dignity of the human person, the nature of Truth, and the unity of all knowledge is ultimately rooted in the order of God and creation. Holding that education is more than simply preparing students for college and career, our teacher candidates will also attend to human liberation and orient their students to the transcendental realities of truth, beauty, and goodness.

Programs of Study

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