Department of Teacher Education becomes Department of Teaching, Curriculum, and Educational Inquiry
New name better aligns with a mission to help students become critical thinkers and empowered changemakers
Department of Teacher Education becomes Department of Teaching, Curriculum, and Educational Inquiry
In a move to encapsulate the full depth and breadth of its programs, the Department of Teacher Education (EDT) in Miami University’s College of Education, Health, and Society (EHS) has changed its name to the Department of Teaching, Curriculum, and Educational Inquiry (TCE).
The new name will more holistically represent what the department has to offer.
“This name change honors all that the faculty in the department do alongside students,” said Brian Schultz, TCE Professor and Chair. “Not only are we developing teachers, we are guiding our students in co-creating curriculum in the hopes that they will do the same with their future students.”
According to a memo delivered to the Board of Trustees, the new name reflects a departmental commitment to foster agency in teachers and educators beyond the classroom, to recognize teacher candidates as emerging professionals and curriculum-makers, and to spark and sustain a life-long intellectual curiosity in all educators.
Teaching and Curriculum aspects of the department’s programs will empower future educators to co-construct learning alongside students in ways that align with the needs of their communities. Educational Inquiry will help Miami students develop the knowledge and skills to navigate the educational landscape after graduation.
Inquiry will also further incorporate the informed knowledge needed to empower students to confront injustices and to apply global perspectives that are critical to a thriving democratic society.
Several TCE faculty also shared insights regarding the significance of the name change:
“Teaching future teachers is more than just about instruction, content knowledge, and lesson plans,” said Ganiva Reyes, TCE Assistant Professor. “Teaching involves building relationships with students, families, and communities, learning how to engage students intellectually, and what it means to teach in a complex world. We also strive for our students to develop their own voice and agency to navigate the socio-political landscape in which schooling is embedded and advocate for themselves and their students to teach what is relevant and urgent. It is important for our department name to reflect these layers.”
“This name change reflects program development that has already been underway for several years,” said Racheal Banda Rothrock, TCE Assistant Professor. “I was excited to have the opportunity to participate with the department’s commitment for justice and equity through positioning students as capable professionals and agents of change. This new name will better encompass the important work that has already been put into our department’s evolution and will make space for future work we will engage in.”
“Names are saturated with meaning and a departmental name has particular significance,” said Tom Misco, TCE Professor of Social Studies Education. “It should embody and reflect who we are and this name change provides a much larger and comprehensive ‘denotative tent’ which cinches together who we are and what we do. The ultimate impact is congruence of meaning for future students, grantors, partners, and other stakeholders.”
“The name change will showcase how we strive for our students to become transformative educators, impacting not only their future students, but their schools, districts, profession, and, of course, society itself,” said Ann Haley MacKenzie, TCE Associate Professor of Science Education. “By being transformative educators, our society can become a more equitable, just place for ALL citizens to intelligently thrive.”
The name change will take effect on July 1, and it will continue to fuel the department’s mission to develop and infuse students’ critical understanding of the world into a wide range of curriculum, teaching, and programming.
According to EHS Dean Jason Lane, “This name change conveys a powerful message about the commitment of the faculty in the department to prepare engaged and thoughtful educators who are empowered to be changemakers in a range of educational settings through the advancement of teaching, development of curriculum, and fostering of education inquiry.”