Teacher Education Program
TEP Handbook

What Is Teaching?
Teaching is the giving of oneself, time, energy, and effort to prepare children for the future. Teaching is more than giving, however. It is also coping with change, frustrations, and disappointments. It is growth, and it is being open to ideas, trends, research, and new knowledge. The teaching profession has accepted the responsibility to teach students how to learn; to develop reading, writing, and computation skills; to develop problem solving skills; to use today's technology to complete tasks; to learn how to work with diverse populations; and to overcome barriers that arise in new situations. Teaching also demands that students be given opportunities to think and become problem solvers, to interact effectively with others and to develop good interpersonal skills. Consequently, prospective teachers must demonstrate their ability to listen and to communicate their thoughts with clarity. Finally, the College of Education expects that individuals entering the profession accept the premise that individual self-esteem, human dignity and worth, and personal growth form the foundation for the teaching profession. The goal of the College of Education at the TROY-Dothan Campus is to graduate teachers who make instructional decisions that are based on a sound knowledge and are appropriate to the given context -- professional educators who are informed, reflective, decision-makers.