Conceptual Framework and Core Values
The College remains committed to the fundamental goal of employing as well as preparing education professionals who are KNOWLEDGEABLE, EFFECTIVE, and CARING, and who demonstrate these core values through their (k)nowledge, (s)kills, and (d)ispositions.
EFFECTIVE
Knowledge
We believe that an educator must be highly knowledgeable, not only of the subject matter being taught, but also of general teaching skills, pedagogy, human development, individual learner needs, educational research, and issues of diversity in order to be effective. We also believe that it is important for educators to have knowledge of what makes educators “effective.” In this way, educators have a standard for which to aim; they have specific skills and knowledge which they can attempt to incorporate into their professional selves. As was mentioned above, educators must have a solid “foundation” of research-based knowledge before they can attempt to “build” up knowledge in others; this holds true when considering what constitutes effective educators.
Skills
Educational research shows that effective teaching, above all other school-related variables (such as curriculum, class size, funding, etc.), is the single-most important factor leading to student success. Furthermore, studies have shown that students taught by effective teachers for just one year will outpace their peers for the next few years of school, while students taught by ineffective teachers will lag behind the average student for up to three years. Effective educators may be described in a variety of ways, including caring, humorous, competent, demanding, knowledgeable, and fair.
In order to prepare educators who possess these qualities, we strive to equip our students with the skills required to teach effectively—strong cognitive and reasoning skills; verbal ability; organizational skills and the abilities to set priorities and plan instructional time effectively; teaching methods, including effective questioning and wait time, and the abilities to tailor lessons to meet individual learner needs, design and implement guided practice, and provide constructive feedback to students; classroom management approaches and skills that create safe learning environments; and the ability to assess and track student progress in order to adjust future instruction so that all students are learning.
Dispositions
The concept of an effective educator, while based to some extent on research literature, is utterly important, yet often elusive. We believe that an effective educator can be labeled in any number of ways, including analytical, dutiful, competent, reflective, diversity-responsible, expert, and respected. We train educators to value both the general concept of effective teaching and the skills associated with it, and who will strive to incorporate a variety of attributes associated with effective educators into their instruction.
These goals are in line with the following Hawaiian values and proverbs about attributes associated with our definition of effective, which we hope our students will understand and put into practice:
- Kūpono—Honest, reliable, excellence
- Kuleana—Responsible
- Laulima—Cooperation
- E kuhikuhi pono i na au iki a me na au nui o ka ‘ike—Instruct well in the little and the large currents of knowledge (In teaching, do it well; the small details are as important as the large ones).
- Hō a‘e ka ‘ike he‘enalu i ka hokua o ka ‘ale—Show knowledge of surfing on the back of the wave (Talking about one’s knowledge isn’t enough; let it be proven).
- ‘Ike ‘ia no ka loea I ke kuahu—An expert is recognized by the altar he builds (It is what one does and how well he does it that shows whether he is an expert).
- E ho‘ōki i ka ho‘ina wale o hō‘ino ia mai ke kumu—One should never go home without [some knowledge] lest his teacher be criticized.
- E kuahui like i ka hana—Let everybody pitch in and work together.