Keeping the End in Mind: Re-centering Jesuit Pedagogy for Preservice Teacher Preparation

Jesuit Universities embody a mission to prepare students to be men and women for and with others. Serving people on the margins and working with them to dismantle systems of oppression is infused in academic majors and core curricula. Jesuit pedagogy seeks to engage students in contexts, experiences, reflections, actions and evaluations that develop the whole person for the common good. Jesuit teacher education programs (TEP) are in a unique position where pedagogy is critical to the development of university students who then implement pedagogy with students in K-12 schools as preservice teachers. TEPs are charged with demonstrating ways program outcomes reflect the mission of the university, standards in K-12 schools and educator preparation accreditation requirements. The problem is that these areas do not always align and critical elements of Jesuit pedagogy are not reflected in standards for P-12 learners and educator preparation accreditation. This article explores Jesuit pedagogy, standards for educator preparation accreditation and stated learner outcomes for teacher education at John Carroll University (JCU). A review of the Jesuit Ideal is analyzed against department learner outcomes that follow each domain description. During analysis, significant omissions were discovered where central elements of the Jesuit Ideal were not reflected in learner outcomes. Recommendations for revisions and additions to department learner outcomes are offered to facilitate critical conversations and actions within the teacher education program at JCU and other Jesuit universities with similar programs