...From the Editors of SCJE (08-25-06)
Welcome to the inaugural issue of the Southern Colorado Journal of Education. It is our intention to provide educators in the region with scholarly works and descriptive papers that primarily concentrate on enhancing student learning. As we worked to establish the SCJE's mission there were three primary considerations.
First, we envisioned discussions focusing on practices effective educators use in school settings that promote a culture of learning for all students. This discussion will provoke reflection on dispositions towards such issues as intellectual rigor, expectations, diversity and life long learning. Secondly, we wanted to give equal importance to a critical examination of the theoretical and practical literature in terms of "what works!" The focus here will be upon such things as processes, strategies and learning methodologies that are used to promote student learning. A third consideration is that of what good educators know about content, pedagogical content, general pedagogy and the learner and how learning takes place. We would like to see some lively debate about these important aspects of what we do as educators.
These considerations were recently summarized on the editorial page of the Denver Post where it was noted that effective educators have subject matter expertise coupled with an understanding of how children learn and develop; skill in using a range of teaching strategies and technologies; sensitivity and effectiveness with students from diverse backgrounds; the ability to work well with parents and other educators; and expertise in assessing how well children are doing, what they are learning, and what must be done next to advance them.
Our hope is that the Journal will provide a resource for discussing the above considerations while focusing on decision-making and reflecting upon those decisions. Regarding the former, decision-making is a complicated process and often there are no clear-cut answers but the quality of the decisions educators make directly influence the kind of learning experiences provided and ultimately impact the degree to which learning is promoted. As for reflecting, a growing body of research shows that experienced educators reflect on the many different dimensions of classroom teaching and are able to identify erroneous assumptions and aspects of their teaching that can be improved.
In a recent issue of the Journal of Teacher Education, Jennifer Gore wrote that educators who are critically reflective, professional, democratic, highly skilled, and passionate about their work still need to keep their eye on the ball (student learning) and it is hoped the Southern Colorado Journal of Education will provide a focus on that ball.
Linda Garris Christian
David Andrew Jacobsen
