News Story

by Rebekah Farquhar

"I can see us eventually having a school of education...not only at the undergrad level, but also at the master's level."

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Elementary Ed Program
to Start Fall '07

Dr. Debi Miller and her husband founded a Christian high school in Vancouver, Wash. Dr. Miller is the director of MBC's new teacher education program.
--Amanda Paxton, photo.

Because of the recent accreditation, Multnomah Bible College can now add an on-campus elementary education program and license teachers according to Oregon's state requirements. According to both Dr. Debi Miller, director of the teacher education program, and Dr. Wayne Strickland, academic dean, the four-year major will be available to freshmen entering in the fall of 2007.

Students enrolled in the program will complete an additional term between their junior and senior years and will graduate with two degrees: one in elementary education and one in Bible and theology.

According to Dr. Strickland, the program fits well within MBC's mission. "We really believe that we have to think about ministry even in supposedly 'secular' kinds of scenarios," Dr. Strickland said. "What better way to do that then when you are teaching school? To be able to take that biblical worldview and integrate it into your teaching for the kingdom of God."

Dr. Miller said that graduates of the new program will be well-equipped for teaching. "I'm very confident that what we ask of our students will equip them to go into the classroom. Will we learn things? Obviously. Will the students be guinea pigs? Yes. Will they be poorly served? No. I couldn't, in good conscience, start the program if I felt that," Dr. Miller said.

She said she thinks the program will be excellent even in its first year. "The quality of a program comes in part over years of experience," Dr. Miller said. "But it also largely comes in part through the kinds of experienced faculty you hire to staff it, the quality of the students in the program, the curriculum itself and what we demand of our students and expect them to produce."

Graduates who did not major in elementary education but want to pursue state licensure will be able to enroll in a Master's of Arts in Teaching, which will tentatively be offered in the spring of 2007.

As a four-term program, the master's program will include all the professional coursework from the elementary education major and prepare the students for state certification.

Students enrolling in this program will graduate with a master's degree in 16 months. After graduating in either program, students will be certified to teach in early childhood or elementary school settings (preschool through fifth grade, or sixth through eight grade in a self-contained classroom).

The college plans to expand the program. Dr. Strickland said he "can't imagine that we would just stop with elementary.

"I can see us eventually having a school of education so that we will teach the whole spectrum of K-12 and that we'll not only have it available at the undergrad level, but also at the master's level."

He emphasized that these are ideas, not set plans. "They are not in the strategic plan, which goes out 10 years," Dr. Strickland said. "We will see what the demand and the growth are and how well we do with this kind of program."

Dr. Miller and Dr. Strickland said that the new elementary education program will differ from the current educational ministries program. According to Dr. Strickland, "The educational ministries program is more specifically focused in two areas: leadership and development, and personal development."

The new major's approach will also differ from that of educational ministries. "We are preparing teachers to go into formal classroom settings. It is research-based teaching, learning and assessment,"Dr. Miller said. "The content in early childhood and elementary is literacy and language development, social studies, science, math--all your basic core subjects.

"We're preparing teachers in methods courses, curriculum and instruction, classroom assessment and classroom management."

She said the programs will share some common courses such as human development and educational psychology, that will help graduates understand the nature of the learner.

The new major has been in development for several years. MBC started with a feasibility study and then hired Dr. Miller in January 2006 to oversee program development. Before coming to MBC, Dr. Miller received bachelor's, master's and doctorate degrees in education from George Fox University.

She has taught in a various school settings and also founded a Christian high school with her husband in 1996.

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