The Tift College of Education, the largest private preparer of teachers in Georgia, is dedicated to the preparation of teachers who will know the foundations of the education profession, its content bases for curricula, and the characteristics of diverse learners, who will do the work of professional educators in planning and implementing well integrated curricula using developmentally appropriate and culturally responsive instructional strategies, materials, and technology; and who will be reflective, collaborative, responsive decision makers, facilitators, and role models in the classroom, the school, the community, and the global environment.  Among the College’s great strengths are its dedicated faculty and its ongoing commitment to its students and their development as professional educators.

 

The course work and field experiences in Teacher Education are grounded in a conceptual framework guided by the theme, "The Transforming Practitioner." This theme is used to organize the structure, content, and focus of all majors and certification programs so that graduates will:

 

Priority One
Education has become a top priority in the United States and abroad. Government and corporate leaders from Main Street to Wall Street are calling for a renaissance with more imagination and more innovation in our nation’s schools. There is a clarion call for quality teachers. This is an exciting and optimum time to prepare for the teaching profession at Mercer.

 

To accomplish this task, the Tift College of Education offers the Bachelor of Science in Education degree with majors in Early Childhood Education (P-5) and Middle Grades Education (4-8). A new program, entitled the Holistic Child, has recently been introduced at the Early Childhood level.  This program is designed to provide certification at the P-5 level as well as integrated preparation in early childhood special education.  In conjunction with the College of Liberal Arts, the College offers secondary (7-12) certification in the areas of English, mathematics, history, broad field social science and broad field science, and P-12 certification in music, art and foreign language.

 

Students majoring in the Holistic Child Program/Early Childhood Program have many hands-on experiences with children in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade and leave the program prepared to work in a variety of school settings. Middle Grades Education majors are prepared to work with adolescents in grades four through eight and have developed content depth in two of the following four areas: language arts, mathematics, science or social science.

 

Mercer also offers certification in foreign language education, art education and music education.  Certi-fication in these areas is linked to a College of Liberal Arts major. Students wishing to teach at the secondary level need to major in one of the content disciplines offered in the College of Liberal Arts that coordinates with the area of certification they desire.

 

An “A” Faculty
Thirty of the 33 faculty in the Tift College of Education have earned doctorates. The diversity of training and in-depth experience of the faculty provide an outstanding level of expertise for the programs offered.  Faculty also provide professional development for teachers in area schools and present papers and conduct workshops at state, regional and national conferences. Many of the faculty have grants that allow for collaboration with the public schools for improvement of teaching and student achievement.

 

Employment Edge
Professional education classes are sufficiently small to provide for excellent student-teacher communication and relationships. This ongoing student contact enables the faculty to serve as valuable references for graduates when seeking employment.

 

At Mercer, networking opportunities are excellent. With the College’s field-based component, students are in the schools, beginning in their first semester, working with teachers, curriculum directors and administrators. In recent years, education majors have enjoyed a 100 percent job placement rate after graduation.

 

In the Field
From the first course a student takes, he or she is involved in field experiences that progress from observation through tutorial and small-group teaching settings to whole-class teaching experiences. Culminating the field experiences is the student teaching experience, a 15-week intensive period of full-time teaching in an area school. This experience is supported by a mentoring team of a University supervisor and the cooperating school-based teacher.

 

Technology-Enhanced Learning
Technology integration and instruction is supported by a substantial collection of CD-ROMS and other software. Early on, students are introduced to the Internet for communication with professors and for access to the vast depository of lesson plans and learning activities in cyberspace.

 

Faculty integrate various forms of technology, including videos and graphing calculators, in the methods courses for demonstration of appropriate teaching strategies and techniques.
Students completing the Mercer professional education program meet the state’s technology requirement.

 

Certified Excellence
Mercer offers initial teaching certification for post-baccalaureate students through its undergraduate and graduate teacher education programs. Field experiences and instructional technology are components of this program.

 

Advanced Degrees
Three advanced degree programs are offered by the College of Education. A Master of Education is available in Early Childhood Education, Middle Grades Education and Secondary Education. This program is a 36-semester hour program, available on the Atlanta Campus, that can be completed in two full years. The Holistic Educator is a Master of Education program designed for education professionals in the fields of education, social work, health care, and other related fields. Available only on the Macon Campus, it also requires completion of 36 semester hours of coursework. The Specialist in Education (Ed.S.) degree is a 27-semester hour program for certification in Early Childhood or Middle Grades Education, available only on the Atlanta Campus.