Professional Core Requirements 

The Professional Core at Montana State University Billings combines the intellectual foundations of education and the professional knowledge and skills required of all teachers into a coherent sequence of courses. The core provides the basis for understanding the philosophical, historical, cultural, and sociopolitical means by which society attempts cultural transmission and it provides the opportunity to acquire the knowledge and skills that are essential for effective instruction. It includes the range of human development and learning as they affect instructional planning, evaluation, curriculum design and implementation, performance skills, management of classrooms, direction of students, professional responsibilities, and ethical issues affecting teacher effectiveness.

At different points in its sequence of courses, the Professional Core engages students in supervised practice applying their developing knowledge and skills. By having faculty who hold diverse disciplinary perspectives teach throughout its sequence, the Professional Core encourages students to develop a professionally responsible understanding of the diversity that defines learners and teachers. The student teaching experience completes the sequence and includes both a final look at classroom skills and a capstone seminar.

The Professional Core presents a balanced approach to epistemology from philosophical, psychological, and sociological perspectives. The core is predicated on the evidential nature of knowledge required for the professional practice of education. While the professional practice of education is also informed by belief and intuition, it is ultimately defensible only to the extent that it has evidential support. The Professional Core engages students in both the processes and products of human knowing as such knowing is central to all aspects of education. The Professional Core involves the

1. creation,
2. facilitation of change,
3. transmission, and
4. application of human knowledge across the diversity of ways in which individuals understand human knowledge.

Secondary and K-12

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
EDSP 204	Intro to Tchng Exceptnl Lrnrs	3
EDU 105	Education and Democracy *	3
EDU 220	Human Growth & Development	3
EDU 221	Educ Psyc & Measurement	3
EDU 333	Rd & Wrtng Across Curriculum	3
EDU 343	Strat for Mnging Div Learners	2
EDU 354	Secondary Junior Field	2
EDU 381	Curriculum Theory & Design	3
EDU 406	Phil, Legal & Ethical Issues	3
EDU 495A	Student Teaching: K-12	9
or EDU 495C	Student Teaching: 5-12
HTH 412	Drugs and Alcohol	1
Content Area Methods Course		2-3
Total Minimum Credits		37-38

*

May satisfy General Education requirements.