Program Design

Coursework

Our residents engage in graduate level coursework towards a master’s degree in Rural Educational Justice delivered in a hybrid format. All classes are online and may include some synchronous and in-person sessions. We are working towards the residents earning 30 distance education credit hours beginning with the second summer session each year (anticipated June start). There is also an in-person event known as the Summer Learning Exchange to launch the program each year. This event brings together all residents, mentor teachers, district leaders, and ECU edPIRATE faculty and staff for a few days of fellowship and professional development.

Course content will focus on the tenants of rural education which emphasizes the importance of place and identifying the assets of the community in which you are located. In addition, criticality is also at the center of the curriculum. Our residents are trained in culturally responsive pedagogy with an emphasis on creating classrooms where every child can see themselves in the curriculum, feel seen and heard, as well as experience joy in learning.

Residents will be trained for advocacy and pedagogical best practice within a community school whole-child model in order to rigorously engage in these three guiding questions:

• Why do we teach? With faculty, residents will examine the historical and contemporary competing goals for schools and teachers. This foundational coursework will also provide models and examples for how schools can facilitate family-community partnerships and foster community-centered agency.
• What do we teach? Coursework will also provide residents with whole-child and justice-oriented curriculum frameworks. Core disciplinary concepts and literacy skills will be taught as strategies for meeting the demands of the whole child and community-centered social justice.
• How do we teach? Lastly, coursework will prepare residents with high quality pedagogy that integrates community funds of knowledge into disciplinary inquiry and literacy practices. Core practices from the disciplines will be embedded within larger culturally responsive classroom community models.

Internship

In addition to completing coursework online, our residents are learning and teaching in the classroom of a mentor teacher at a school site in one of our partner districts, four days a week for the entire school year. They are paired with an experienced mentor teacher who can model effective teaching practices. Using the co-teaching model, our residents gradually take on increasing teaching responsibilities until they are independently teaching all subjects for a few weeks. This is considered a part of the student teaching experience. There are mandatory components embedded in the internship such as edTPA and licensure exams (Pearson & Praxis) that leads to a teaching license. The possible areas of certification are elementary education or middle grades education (English/Language Arts OR Social Studies).

Induction support

Upon completion of our program at the end of the 13 months, our residents are then qualified and certified to serve as the teacher of record in their own classroom. We will continue to provide induction support and professional development to our residents during their first three years of teaching.

School Leadership

School districts have the opportunity for free professional development for their staff.  Our program offers several microcredentials for administrators and other staff.  For additional information regarding the microcredentials, please visit our Educational Leadership Development page.