During my collegiate career as an Elementary Education major at Saint Peter’s University, I have struggled to find the validity in the methods I have come to learn are a part of the educational system. The classes, overall seem to do the proper works in preparing a student who is seeking to become a teacher. As a prospective teacher, there were times where I understood the curriculum very clearly while at other times, it was difficult to decipher relevance. In the course of training to become a teacher, I have taken introductory courses giving background knowledge as preparation, some classes had clear and distinct purposes for my use, and other classes left a looming cloud of confusion. Something that the program succeeds in is preparing prospective teachers in the theoretical sense of education, but it does all but prepare prospects for practical situations. There is the implication that the courses are designed with the intention of helping teachers for when they enter into the classroom while only presenting students with hypotheticals; but where does the real experience come in? In this paper, I include my account of Saint Peter’s Education curriculum, the meanings of theoretical and practical education, and what those terms mean for teachers before and after they enter their own classrooms as the educator.

Last modified

• 11/22/2019

Creator

• McCray, Nadirah

Contributors

• Dr. Nicole Luongo, Thesis Advisor

Publisher

• Saint Peter's University

Date created

• May 2019

Resource type

• Research Paper

Rights statement

• In Copyright