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What to know about the Teacher Pathways program

March 28, 2022 by Strategic Communication

Markers, pencils, and crayons in an early childhood classroom.

Opportunities to earn college credit for general education courses in high school classrooms have been around for many years.  

Missouri State University’s College of Education (COE) and Springfield Public Schools (SPS) recently partnered to give high school students college credit for classes and experiences to prepare them to be teachers.  

“Students are able to explore the field of education through the regular classroom setting, guest speakers, field trips and practicum placements,” said Katie Kensinger, coordinator of college and career readiness at SPS.  

“The Teacher Pathways program allows high school students to understand much more about the profession. This is essential for them to truly know if teaching is what they want to pursue after graduation.”  

In the classroom  

Students enrolled in dual credit courses take the classes at their high school.  

The high school teachers offering the courses work with Dr. Denise Cunningham, head of the childhood education and family studies department, and the dual credit office to make sure their syllabi align with MSU course requirements.  

“I worked on aligning the coursework that they are offering with the standards required by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE),” Cunningham noted.  

“Now, each program has its own introductory course – early childhood, elementary, and combined middle and secondary.”  

High school students can take up to two courses in education at a reduced fee per credit hour. Students who qualify for free and reduced lunches can earn dual credit free of charge. All credits transfer into an MSU education program.  

“Partnering with MSU strengthens our SPS curriculum and ensures it is more relevant,” Kensinger remarked.  

“Beginning college with a clear vision and applicable credits may help some students graduate within four years.” 

The future of teaching 

Teacher Pathways can help high school students finalize their decision about wanting to pursue teaching as a career.  

“I’ve learned how to write a proper lesson plan and introduce lessons to students in an engaging way,” said Michelle Dobre, a senior at Hillcrest High School. “The practicum gave me an opportunity to see what it’s actually like being a teacher.”  

Cunningham explained that an early practicum gives high school students a peek into a profession that has so many rewarding qualities, even when there are tough times.  

“We need our best and brightest to become teachers. They’re the ones who can inspire the lives of everyone else.”   

Explore degrees in education 

Filed Under: Early Childhood and Family Development, Elementary Education, Secondary Education Tagged With: childhood education and family studies, education, Springfield Public Schools

Dr. Elizabeth King featured in Mind’s Eye magazine

September 7, 2021 by Strategic Communication

Dr. Elizabeth King studies social-emotional development in young children. Her recent research into how preschool teachers affirm or minimize children’s emotions – and how it varies between genders – is featured in the 2021 issue of Mind’s Eye.  

The full story is available on the site now. 

Here is an excerpt:   

King believes gender plays a major role in our social-emotional development. 

“The ways we talk about emotions with young children is affected by and affects our views of gender,” King said. 

“Our views of gender influence who we allow to experience and express various emotions. That changes how we talk about emotions with children.” 

Read the full story 

Congratulations, Dr. King!  

Filed Under: COE Faculty, Early Childhood and Family Development, Elementary Education, Uncategorized Tagged With: childhood education and family studies, Mind's Eye

Increasing awareness: The dissonance of motherhood as a teacher

September 18, 2020 by Sydni Moore

Dr. Sarah Baker holds her daughter as she stands with her three sons.

Parents trust teachers to take care of their children. It’s a relationship built on trust and mutual desire to provide the best for the younger generation.

But how are teachers expected to care for others’ children when they lack the resources to support their own family lives?

Dr. Sarah Jean Baker, childhood education and family studies assistant professor, studied this dynamic for her dissertation. Specifically, she studied women school leaders who were also mothers and the challenges they faced in these identities.

With her background and personal experience, she helps teacher candidates understand the complexities of their future role.

Adding context

Teaching is often seen as a maternal, female role because of the historical conditions teaching developed within.

Prior to public education, most classrooms were led by men. After public education was established, however, there was an influx of students in the classroom. That meant a need for more teachers, which meant a need for a cheaper workforce.

“Instead of raising taxes to pay for more male teachers, single women were offered teaching positions, because they didn’t need the same income,” Baker said.

Women didn’t need a large salary, Baker added, since many communities also housed and fed their one-room schoolhouse teachers.

Later, once a woman married, she was expected to stay home and raise children, relying on her husband to make money.

“When we see that teachers’ salaries are low compared to other professions, that goes all the way back to the idea that an educator’s earnings were never intended to support a family,” Baker said.

Apart from teachers having low salaries, there are additional concerns when it comes to becoming a mother while being a teacher. Unpaid maternity leave, additional time commitments and finding substitutes while on leave are all real things teachers must navigate on their own.

Being a mother and a teacher

As a mother, former kindergarten and first-grade teacher and school leader, Baker understands the struggles that teachers encounter as they decide to start their own families.

“You see statistics that say women are anywhere between 75% or 85% of our nation’s teachers,” Baker said. “But there are not school policies and practices in place that support women in both roles of an educator and mother.”

“The ultimate goal of schools is to support child development in multiple ways,” Baker said. “Teachers want support in making sure they can give their own children quality time. They want support in raising their own children.”

Baker also wishes teachers received more support as qualified, valuable professionals.

“It’s all connected with how we raise up the profession,” Baker said. “Many teachers are already giving their all in their profession. Educators should feel dignified in the work that they’re doing.”

She believes teachers need to feel a higher value is placed on the work they do for their communities, like during the current pandemic, for example.

“It’s highlighted the important work they do for their communities. They should be paid more for their work,” Baker said. “It should be able to support their families.”

Dr. Sarah Baker giggles with her daughter.

What’s being done

Baker strives to educate teacher candidates about the complexities and historical context of women as teachers.

The subject holds a special place for her, because it was her dissertation topic as she pursued her doctoral degree. Since then, she’s continued to see the field evolve and learned more about the system mothers must navigate.

“I’m trying to help my students understand how to be advocates against policies that disadvantage teachers and students, too,” Baker said. “It’s important to be proactive about those policies. My students may not be thinking about maternity leave now, but they may need it a few years down the road.”

Baker said her own experience in her undergraduate program didn’t touch on those topics.

“I think that’s why it’s so important to me to bring those perspectives to them,” Baker said. “It’s important for them to really think about what all this might mean for their future.”

Filed Under: COE Faculty, Early Childhood and Family Development Tagged With: childhood education and family studies, education, mother, Sarah Baker, teacher

A focus on fatherhood

April 22, 2020 by Sydni Moore

A young boy looks up from playing with toys in a tub of water.

When most of the country was ordered to stay at home in March, senior Eli Jones’s school environment did not change. The child and family development student was already completing coursework online while interning in Illinois.  

“I currently work for a family-focused, child-centered welfare agency called Hobby Horse House (HHH) in Jacksonville,” Jones says. “I’ve been able to be part of many aspects of the services we provide, a major one being parenting classes.”   

The spread of COVID-19 means Jones is completing intern duties remotely, too. 

“While I can’t go into details of my casework, I can tell you that we’re doing the best we can during this situation to provide our services while limiting person-to-person contact and working through telecommunications,” Jones says. 

Passion project 

Fortunately, working in ways he isn’t used to hasn’t meant the halt of what he calls his passion project: a parenting program exclusively for fathers. The idea came to Jones during a discussion with his workplace’s parenting services coordinator. 

“The goal of the program is that fathers will be able to handle all aspects of raising their children,” Jones said.  

A young girl plays on a slide.
A young girl plays on a slide, her friend smiling.

He hopes it will also combat the notion that men cannot parent like women can.  

“Honestly, men get a bad rep as fathers, because many aren’t taught to be nurturing individuals,” Jones said.  

His goal is to combat toxic masculinity—an adherence to traditional, male gender roles that limit the emotions of boys and men.  

“Through toxic masculine traits, and the thought that it’s the mother’s job to raise children, we have created a standard that dads aren’t really parents, but simply babysitters.”  

Stages of life 

While Jones’s progress for his project has slowed, much of it has already been laid out. The program will consist of 12 modules—including several for every stage of childhood through maturity—to be covered across 12 weeks: 

  • Weeks 1-2 covers development from birth through two years of age. Fathers will learn how to feed, bathe and diaper their babies, as well as how to aid them as they learn to walk and talk.  
  • Week 3 teaches fathers about self-care, self-worth and how to ditch toxic masculinity.  
  • Week 4 covers ages 2-5, as well as how to find child care and preschools.  
  • Week 5 focuses on school-age children ages 5-12. It teaches fathers how to assist children with schoolwork and help them understand their changing bodies, gender roles, sex and body sovereignty.  
  • Week 6 shows fathers how to navigate the world of dating as their children become curious about romantic relationships.  
  • Week 7 covers brain development across stages of childhood, as well as how to manage stress and money as a parent. 
  • Week 8 focuses on puberty. 
  • Week 9 includes information about ages 12-18.  
  • Week 10 teaches fathers how to structure their days, managing chores, errands and schedules.  
  • Week 11 focuses on children’s educational needs and the possibility of raising a special needs child.  
  • Week 12 is for leftover information and unanswered questions, Jones says, as he is sure there will be spillover from previous modules.  

Jones acknowledged the program covers a lot of material in a short amount of time. It’s his hope, though, that the additional formation of a group to help fathers socialize will build community. Dads will receive support in their learning and growth.  

Putting it to work

Jones plans to form a trial group next spring to go through each module. Feedback will help him adapt the program to fathers’ needs.  

Jones is currently looking into grant funding for researchers to help with further development.  

“The end goal for this program is to publish the curriculum, so that other centers like HHH could use the content,” Jones says.  

Two boys play with toy kitchenware at a small table.
Two boys play with toy kitchenware at a small table.

Childhood education and family studies assistant professor Dr. Elizabeth King knows it’s possible. She calls Jones an “engaged and critical” student.  

“He doesn’t simply take content at face value, but he pushes it,” she says. “He wants not only to learn whatever material is covered, but to challenge the concept, turn it on its head and consider it in various contexts—always with a social justice lens.” 

Empowered parents 

Dr. King, who has worked with Jones for about two years, claims students like him make professors better at what they do. She’s happy for the opportunity to finally talk him up.  

“His approach to the parenting program he’s developing is innovative,” she says. “It’s not only a how-to for fathers, but it focuses on updating the narrative of what fathering looks like.” 

Many parenting programs put a focus on mothers, she says.  

“His program aligns directly with the American Psychology Association’s call for positive father involvement.” 

Eli Jones works on his parenting program at his desk.
Eli Jones works on his parenting program for fathers at his desk.

What’s better? Jones’s program aligns with his own ideal that fathers feel empowered to be the best parents they can be.  

“I believe this program will help fathers not only be better for their children,” he says, “but for themselves.” 

Filed Under: COE Faculty, COE Students, Early Childhood and Family Development Tagged With: COVID-19, Eli Jones, Elizabeth King, father, parent, parent program

Online master’s in child development ranked among the best

May 17, 2019 by Abigail Blaes

COE Master's child development

Online Schools Report recognized Missouri State University’s master’s in child development program as one of the top 10 in the nation.

About the ranking

Missouri State ranked eighth on the list.

MSU was noted for its personalized degree construction. Individuals in the program have the opportunity to choose a third of their classes based on personal interest.

The program’s reputation, student satisfaction and 100% self-pacing of the program were all listed as contributing factors to the ranking.

How the ranking is determined

The Online Schools Report uses a variety of data sources to develop the rankings. The criteria for this ranking includes:

  • Acceptance rates
  • Earning potential
  • Online presence
  • Online program quality
  • Retention
  • Student satisfaction
  • Reputation

MSU was also recognized for having their program completely accessible online.

Filed Under: Child Life Studies, Early Childhood and Family Development Tagged With: child development, Graduate Program

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