Woodring College of Education
Woodring College of Education offers many opportunities for student leaders to develop. Woodring is home to the Division of Educational and Community Leadership and the Division of Teacher Education, both of which have strong records of producing leaders. Woodring’s faculty are educational leaders regionally and nationally, with records of scholarship and educational innovation. Leadership skills and qualities, such as reflective thinking, high professional standards and skills, diversity, and respect and equity for the people whose lives they impact are modeled by the faculty and central to the mission of Woodring.
The Division of Teacher Education has the curriculum, learning outcomes and school and community experiences to create "teacher-leaders". Early in the undergraduate degree, students in their majors are already creating and participating in experiences within elementary and secondary school settings, so that student teaching at the end of the program does not mark the first time the students have spent time in schools. By graduation, the teacher-leader is a realized outcome, and the amount of Woodring graduates who are in leadership roles in education professional organizations and within school systems indicates professionals who know teaching and leadership.
The Department of Educational Leadership, which includes in particular, Educational Administration and Student Affairs Administration, students specifically pursue degrees which prepare them for leadership in schools and colleges. The Department of Human Services and Rehabilitation Counseling prepares students for leadership roles in community agencies, social service organizations, and in advocacy groups. Education in advocacy skills and system assessment and intervention are leadership competencies which the Department keeps at the forefront of students' learning and experiences.
Students have leadership experiences in the College’s nine Resource Centers; for example, in the Center for Education, Equity, and Diversity students have active roles in the CEP Discussion Forum and in the center’s publications, the Journal of Educational Controversy and the CEED Newsletter. In student clubs, such as Diversely Inspired Volunteer Educators and the WWU chapter of Student Washington Education Association, students organize and lead other students for substantive involvement in pre-professional experiences that contribute to a career entry portfolio of documented leadership experiences at the collegiate level.
