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Dr. Linda C. Burkey
Department: Education
What type of interesting features do you incorporate into your classes?
The courses I teach challenge the students to think like teachers. They encourage students to be active learners and make professional decisions. In addition to class time, the students have an opportunity to demonstrate their skills and abilities of being an effective, caring teacher in the field experiences that accompany the courses.
In your opinion, how is Mount Union College unique from other small liberal arts colleges?
We build the teacher education program curriculum around the general education core curriculum in order to expand the students’ interests and knowledge base. The students also have the opportunity to complete various field experiences throughout four years. They work with various age levels and with diverse populations. There are two major teaching experiences where the students assume full responsibility of teaching. The field experiences are preclinical practice and clinical practice. In both experiences the students demonstrate their knowledge, skills, and dispositions of an effective teacher.
Finally, our teacher education program is an NCATE accredited program. This accreditation demonstrates that Mount Union College has a quality teacher education program.
How do Mount Union students benefit from attending a small school as opposed to a larger school?
Our students receive personal attention. We really get to know our students. We teach them, advise them and supervise them in their field experiences. The professors are there for the students. In the Department of Education, because of the small class sizes the students become a cohort. They get the opportunity to get to know the other education majors and develop friendships and future colleagues.
Have you done any interesting research or developed any interesting courses at Mount Union? If so, explain.
I have co-authored a reading methods textbook. This book is used to teach preservice (undergraduates) and in-service teachers (graduates) about how to teach reading and writing in grades kindergarten through eighth grade. The text is Reading and Learning to Read. It is published by Pearson/Allyn and Bacon Publishing Company. The most recent edition came out in 2006.
I have just created two new courses that early childhood and middle childhood students take in order to earn the reading endorsement for their teaching license. The reading endorsement allows early childhood and middle childhood majors to teach reading and writing intensively to students in kindergarten through twelfth grade while working as a reading specialist.
What kinds of opportunities do Mount Union students have after graduating from College?
Early childhood majors have the opportunity to teach in daycares, preschools and public and private schools. The license allows them to teach preschool through third grade. They also can work in camps and recreation centers.
In what activities do you participate in your spare time?
I enjoy spending time with my family, going to the gym, traveling and participating in various outdoor sports.
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