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Mission and Goals




Mission Statement

 The mission of Bridgewater College is to educate and develop the whole person.  Our graduates will be equipped to become leaders, living ethical, healthy, useful, and fulfilling lives with a strong sense of personal accountability and civic responsibility.  In such, the Department of Education seeks to prepare competent, caring, and highly qualified teachers who exhibit professional knowledge, skills, and dispositions in content, communication, management, assessment, and pedagogy.  Building from a conceptual framework that emphasizes a Christian atmosphere, education of the liberating arts, and introspective resiliency, our candidates enter the workplace ready to address educational issues of diversity, technological mediated learning, and stewardship of time, management, and resources.

                                          Approved by Education Faculty       

                                          August 27. 2008

Program Goals

The goals of the Teacher Education Program at Bridgewater College are framed around five areas: Content, Communication, Management, Assessment, and Pedagogy (CCMAP).

  1. Content: Successful candidates will be able to demonstrate knowledge of facts, understandings, and concepts of the disciplines they will be expected to teach.
  2. Communication: Successful candidates will be able to demonstrate appropriate skills of written and oral communication with students, core providers, and colleagues, including respectful and informed communication across cultures and ethnicities.
  3. Management: Successful cnadidates will model effective and efficient management of time, space, and resources, including planning and organization of classrooms, lessons, and classroom behaviors.
  4. Assessment: Successful candidates will be able to use a variety of informatl, formal, formative, and summative assessments to measure student learning.
  5. Pedagogy: Successful candidates will be able to design appropriate instructional strageties and presentation skills (including use of educational technologies) and understand the complex role of a teacher in the teacher/learning process.

The Teacher Education Program at Bridgewater College takes very seriously the personal and professional dispositions required to be a successful teacher in today's world; therefore, the following dispositions are assessed of candidates throughout the program.

The successful Bridgewater Teacher Education candidate:

  • Is responsible and dependable.
  • Shows initiative.
  • Is punctual and regular in attendance.
  • Exhibits the ability to make decisions.
  • Sets appropriate priorities and meets deadlines.
  • Displays mature judgment and self-control.
  • Demonstrates enthusiasm for teaching.
  • Has compassion for students.
  • Dresses appropriately.
  • Demonstrates professional behavior with students, families, and school personnel.
  • Maintains confidentiality.