Teacher Education Communities

Interaction in Practice

The Teacher Education Department includes faculty, students, and staff with a broad array of interests: social justice and globalization, teaching and learning, teacher education and professional development, critical pedagogy, mathematics and literacy, science and social studies. Faculty and students come from different backgrounds: sociology, psychology, anthropology. Because Michigan State University is a world grant institution, our obligations are also many: to serve local schools and educators, to do high quality research, to development curriculum and policy materials, to teach well.

Many large organizations make their work more intimate and meaningful by creating smaller communities within the larger collective. We take a similar approach, and thus there are many overlapping communities within our Department. Some of these communities focus on particular research projects, like the Environmental Literacy project or the Literacy Achievement Research Center. Other groups share an interest in specific curricular domains, including mathematics, science, and social studies/history. Some groups pursue interests in social justice, including the Urban Educator Cohort Program and the GLBT Safe Schools. We also have student groups like the Read to Succeed and Kappa Delta Pi. These communities all welcome new members and are constantly changing.

Research Projects and Centers

We believe teaching and research go hand in hand. Over the decades, the college has been home to major research centers and institutes that have led to new understandings of teachers, teaching and student learning. This is why we promote and value various research projects and centers within our department. Faculty, staff, and students work hard to improve teaching through research. Our research and centers make the Department of Education a dynamic place to study education.

Interest Groups

In our department, we encourage students and faculty to pursue their passions and interests when it comes to the field of education. We give space for interest groups to develop and encourage active participation in these groups.

Student Organizations

Students in our teacher education department are future leaders. Our goal is to give students the opportunity to take part in organizations that are based around their interests. We believe that this will help foster their development as a professional educator.

Service Learning

The Department of Teacher Education at MSU values service learning. We see service learning as an opportunity to better understand children, schools, and communities. Service learning allows our students to develop the ability to work within and across a range of community and professional contexts.