Great Will Never Be Our Enemy
Jim Collins’s 2001 best-seller Good to Great proclaims in its first sentence, “Good is the enemy of great.” Dr. John Jones, dean of the UAFS College of Education responds, “Great will never be our enemy; great is our colleague, our friend, our goal, and our vision.”
Collins argues that many business and institutions never realize their full potential because, since they are already pretty good, they do not strive to be great. The UAFS College of Education is defying this possible pitfall by tackling bigger challenges, right after receiving an exemplary accreditation visit from the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). NCATE found the UAFS College of Education to meet all six standards for accreditation, but honored the education unit by declaring it “Target” in collaboration with school partners.
Many institutions might be satisfied with such a rating, but the UAFS College of Education is, instead, revising all its programs so that they meet not only the needs of current educators, but also the needs of future schools, students, and educators. They are starting this process with the development of Professional Development Schools.
NCATE defines Professional Development Schools as college and public school partnerships that prepare future teachers, develop existing faculty, direct inquiry toward the improvement of instructional practice, and enhance student achievement. The UAFS College of Education will address these components through co-teaching and developing a year-long internship.
Developing Professional Development Schools and enhancing our already nationally-recognized programs will not be a short or easy process, but it is will lead to a college and programs in a continual cycle of movement from good, to better, to great.
