Iowa was the first state in the nation to accept the terms of the 1862 Morrill Act. The four founding land-grant principles in the Morrill Act were:
- Access regardless of race, creed, gender or economic background
- Integration of practical and liberal education programs
- Respect for applied and basic research and
- Service to the state's citizens.
In 1868, Iowa State University of Science and Technology became the nation's first land grant college.
Students enrolled at Iowa State could pursue studies in the areas of mechanical arts, agriculture, arts and science, and normal studies (teacher education). In 1868 Adonijah Welch, Iowa State's first president, created a professorship in the "science and art of teaching." Iowa State was the first U. S. institution to offer ongoing teacher education courses as part of a four-year bachelor's degree program.
Virgil Lagomarcino led efforts to establish a College of Education and in 1968 became the newly created college's first dean. Several departments, elementary education, secondary education, physical education and industrial education, were housed in the new college. Other teacher education programs remained in their respective colleges. Some secondary education faculty members had joint appointments in the College of Education and in their subject-area departmental tenure home, e.g., Agricultural Education and Studies and Foreign Languages and Literatures.
In 1990, the two departments of Elementary Education and Secondary Education in the College of Education merged to become the current Department of Curriculum and Instruction. Throughout the history of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, teacher education has been a major focus on the department. In addition to teacher education programs, the Department of Curriculum and Instruction is now home for several graduate degree programs, including Master of Education, Master of Science and PH.D programs
In keeping with our rich traditions, the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Iowa State University is working to fulfill the following:
Vision:
As the Department of Curriculum and Instruction we aspire to prepare transformative leaders in teaching, learning and curriculum within diverse pre-K-16 settings through exemplary teaching, research and outreach.
Mission:
As an engaged community of scholars and teacher educators, we seek to:
- Enhance Iowa's families, schools and communities through exemplary education and teacher preparation.
- Provide educators and students with the knowledge, skills and experience necessary to become transformative leaders in an increasingly changing and interdependent world.
- Support the advancement of specialized academic disciplines through exemplary research and scholarship.
Core Values:
Consistent with our vision, mission and Iowa State's land grant ideals, we value:
- Excellent teaching
- Rigorous research
- Effective Outreach
- Diversity
- Equity
- International perspectives
- Ethically grounded decisions
- Academic freedom
- Cross disciplinary collaboration.
Our Land-Grant Heritage
Iowa State University was founded on the ideals that higher education should be accessible to all and that the university should teach liberal and practical subjects. These ideals are integral to the land-grant university, a special class of university created by the Morrill Act, passed by Congress in 1862. Iowa was the first state to accept the law's provisions. Iowa State University subsequently pioneered the idea of Extension -- extending the university's knowledge to people throughout the state.
Vision
