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73 | COLUMBIA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY 2017-2018│COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
FROM THE DESK OF THE DEAN…
The College of Education (CoE) equips Christian educators to think, teach, and lead
biblically in educational settings throughout the world. This mission encompasses the
preparation of teachers to enter early childhood and elementary classrooms with a five-
year, two-degree program including: an undergraduate double major in Bible and Teacher
Education and a graduate master’s degree
(B.A./B.S. and M.A.T.) or a stand-alone M.A.
in Teaching (M.A.T.) for those already
having earned a bachelor’s degree.
Additionally, at the master’s level, the CoE
provides training for K-12
th
grade Bible
teachers (M.A. in Bible Teaching) and
equips
practicing
teachers
and
administrators
for
Christian
school
leadership positions through a Master of
Education
(M.Ed.) with tracks in Educational
Administration and Instruction and Learning,
and an Education Specialist (Ed.S.) degree.
At the doctoral level, the CoE offers a Doctor
of Philosophy (Ph.D.) program with a
concentration in Educational Leadership.
In order to fulfill the mission of the College of Education, the courses of study are based
upon a philosophy of education that approaches both the means and the ends of education
by thinking biblically about the nature of students, instructional strategies, and curricular
content (knowledge, skills, and dispositions). Preparation includes training that equips
students to think in culturally responsive ways within classrooms that are increasingly
diverse.
Currently more than 100 graduate students are working during summers to become or to
enhance their positions as K-12
th
grade teachers, Christian school principals and
headmasters, instructional supervisors, and administrators in Christian higher education.
These students, drawn to Columbia International University through the reputation of our
faculty and graduates, currently come to study not only from schools across the United
States, but also from Australia, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Indonesia, Korea, Bolivia, China,
Taiwan, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and the Philippines. There is no question that
the CoE reflects CIU’s middle name – International.
Regardless of where our students are – beginning as college freshmen or completing their
doctoral degrees – CoE students believe they can and will impact the Kingdom through
education. The CoE strives to equip students to be discerning and wise educators whose
lives exemplify the thinking and dispositions of Christian educators as they create effective
learning communities.
Blessings,
Connie Mitchell, Ed.D.
Dean of the College of Education