The School of Education is one of four academic areas at the University of the Virgin
Islands. The primary authority and responsibility of the unit is to prepare high quality
teachers, school administrators and counselors at the undergraduate level and the
graduate level.
Teacher preparation programs at the undergraduate level include majors in Elementary
Education, Inclusive Early Childhood Education and secondary preparation in concentration
areas of Mathematics, Science, Social Sciences, English and Spanish. The Inclusive
Early Childhood Education major is consistent with the University’s liberal arts focus
and provides teachers of young children from birth to age eight, with the knowledge,
skills and competencies to function in early care and education settings and in public
schools. The program for elementary education majors is designed to provide broad
preparation in the liberal arts, concentrated study in one selected content area,
and professional preparation. Candidates enrolled in this program are prepared to
become highly effective and successful professionals in a complex and ever changing
society. An undergraduate program in Music Education exists outside the unit and in
the College of Liberal Arts. The objective of this major is “to train students for
professional careers as teachers and performers, prepare students for graduate studies
in the discipline, provide opportunities for students in other academic areas to study
music for cultural and professional values, and enrich the music experience of the
University and community.” Secondary preparation, unlike preparation in elementary
education, requires that candidates satisfy general education requirements for the
Bachelor of Arts concentration along with a focus on a discipline of choice.
At the graduate level, the School of Education currently offers a Master of Arts Degree in Education with concentrations in Educational Leadership, Counseling and Guidance, and Teaching, and a graduate program in Mathematics for Secondary Teachers, developed for a cohort of secondary mathematics teachers in the territory, by request of the Department of Education, and housed in the College of Science and Mathematics.
A distinguishing feature of the School of Education has been its collaboration with Universities in neighboring Caribbean islands like the British Virgin Islands and French St. Martin. In both of these countries the School of Education has offered degrees at both the undergraduate and graduate level.
The School of Education is committed to preparing teacher candidates and other school professionals who are reflective and capable of evaluating their choices, actions and decisions in the learning process; who are active learners that engage in critical thinking; who use their understanding of content knowledge, professional and pedagogical knowledge to enable student learning; and who initiate and lead relationships with school colleagues, parents and the community to stimulate student growth and student development.
