Good Soil Rooting Educator Preparation in the Catholic Intellectual Tradition

Abstract

An examination of the Catholic Intellectual Tradition (CIT) informs the substance and manner of educator preparation, grounding a College of Education in the mission of the University. A CIT-formed educator is capable of critically interacting with both harmonious and dissonant contemporary movements in K-12 education to produce judgments of reform, resistance, resilience, and care within the current technocratic paradigm. The CIT hallmarks of formation, vocation, contemplation, cura personalis, and justice have implications for educator preparation programs at Institutions of Catholic Higher Education (ICHE). An educator who is formed in values, thoughtful in practice, attentive to personal relationships, and discerning of educational justice is well-positioned to grow in the intellectual, interpersonal, and technical competencies that define an exemplary and merciful educator. Colleges of Education in ICHE can find the tensions of the human condition which shape the educational venture gracefully and faithfully addressed within the CIT.