The unifying theme of NWOSU's Teacher Education Program is Applied Professional Pedagogy Leads to Effective Schools (APPLES). An apple tree was used to graphically represent the model for the program. The basis or roots for the Teacher Education Program is provided by the faculty member's service, scholarly activity, and teaching. Faculty member's classroom teaching provides nourishment to the Teacher Education Program through the application and modeling of effective teaching practices that lead to effective schools. Faculty member's scholarly activities such as research, presentations, publications, also serve to nurture the teacher preparation program and ensure students are exposed to research-based professional pedagogy that leads to effective schools. Further sustenance is provided by faculty member's service to the university, the community, public schools, the state, and the nation.
From the collective research and experience of the faculty a knowledge base was developed that is represented by the trunk of the tree since it provides support to the Teacher Education Program. The competencies which branch from the knowledge base are divided into four domains. The three domains which are addressed in the professional education component of the basic program and in the graduate core classes of the advanced program are: (1) knowledge of Teaching, (2) knowledge of Students, and (3) knowledge of Schools. The fourth domain is Content Knowledge which comes from general education and specialty studies. The outcomes resulting from successful completion of the program are represented by APPLES on the tree which are the fruits of our program -effective teachers.
The tree sets on a compact disk with its image reflected on the surface. This image depicts the latest additions to the Unit’s conceptual framework. First, the compact disk symbolizes the use of technology in the Teacher Education Program. The Unit believes that technology plays an integral part in the preparation of tomorrow’s teachers and continually strives to infuse technology into the teaching/learning process. Secondly, the reflection of the apple tree symbolizes the important role of reflection in the development of educators. Current research and practice (Hatton and Smith, 1995; Spurgeon and Bowen, 2002) supports the incorporation of reflection in the preparation of effective teachers. The Unit has made reflection a part of both the preparation and the assessment of its candidates.