Guilford College

David P. Hildreth, Professor, Chair
Julie Burke, Assistant Professor
Anna Pennell, Assistant Professor
Caryl Schunk, Assistant Professor
David Temple, Visiting Assistant Professor

The Education Studies Department strives to help individuals become thoughtful, critical, and student-centered educators. We depend on the knowledge, experience, and scholarship of our program faculty, who are themselves teachers/learners, to help our students make connections between the Quaker and liberal arts traditions, the multicultural and global perspectives, and the worlds of elementary and secondary schools.

The primary goal of the Education Studies program is to develop educators who are grounded in the liberal arts and are self-confident, inquisitive and thoughtful in their practice. We seek to develop prospective teachers committed to and capable of constructive action in contemporary society. In preparing students to assume professional roles in schools, the program emphasizes understanding educational issues from a global perspective using observation, practice, experimentation and action research to discover how people learn and how schools and other educational settings are made effective.

Throughout the program, faculty and students work together in interactive learning experiences in the classroom and in the field, incorporating practical application with theoretical discussion and exploration. The tutorial sessions, a unique and integral part of the program, engage students and faculty members in one-on-one interchanges in the first- and second-year courses.

Other central components of the program include the cross-cultural internship and inquiry, usually in another country, and the capstone experience after student teaching in which students reflect on their student teaching experiences in relationship to their theoretical and philosophical grounding and explore leadership roles that they may take in the future. Close faculty and student relationships are developed through tutorial sessions, peer group learning, portfolio reviews, field supervision and the advising system.

The three major curricular components of the program are:

• a strong interdisciplinary liberal arts core required of all students;
• a double major (an education studies major and a major in another academic department);
• a cross-cultural education internship (study abroad is highly recommended, but not necessary).

There are five licensure tracks in the Education Studies major:

• Elementary licensure, grades kindergarten through six
• Secondary licensure, grades nine through 12, in English
• Secondary licensure, grades nine through 12, in Social Studies
• Comprehensive licensure, grades K-12, in Spanish
• Comprehensive licensure, grades K-12, in French

Degrees Offered

The Bachelor of Arts degree is offered in Education Studies.

Major Requirements

. Education Studies requires a second disciplinary major and a variety of intentionally focused field experiences. It is highly recommended that students engage in a teaching experience abroad (EDUC 302). Students are encouraged to begin the program by the time they have 16-20 credits, approximately the second semester of their first year. With careful planning and advising, students can complete the program with its two majors, cross-cultural field experience and requirements for State and reciprocal licensing in four years.

Students must apply to a licensure program (at a minimum of) the semester prior to enrollment in EDUC 312, 313 or 307, 308, 309.

In order to be accepted into a teacher licensure program, students must meet the following requirements:

• have 3 recommendations mailed directly to the Education Studies Administrative Assistant; one from an education studies professor, one from a professor in your second major and an additional recommendation – not a friend or family member – who can, ideally, speak to your potential as an educator.
• must pass PRAXIS I prior to being formally admitted to the education program, unless they meet one of the following exemptions: SAT scores above 1100 (old test) or ACT score above 24; licensure only candidates are exempt from PRAXIS I if their cumulative GPA from their first bachelor’s degree is 2.5 or above;
• achieve a grade of C or above in each of at least six four-credit courses in their education major;
• for secondary and K-12 licenses, earn a C or above in at least 24 hours in their second major (English, history, French or Spanish);
• clear a criminal background check

Enrollment in the College does not guarantee acceptance into the program.

There are other licensure requirements specified by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) prior to the final granting of a highly effective North Carolina teaching license (which is reciprocal in most states). These requirements do change. The Department of Education Studies intentionally keeps students informed on state and national policies that affect their eligibility for licensure and makes the appropriate accommodations in the program.

All licensure candidates must take PRAXIS II in their content area (Elementary Education, Social Studies, English) or the equivalent test in Spanish or French in order to achieve licensure. Candidates in each of these programs who do not pass PRAXIS II will have to retake the test.

We must receive a candidate’s passing scores from PRAXIS II before licensure paperwork is submitted to the State. Students may graduate from Guilford with a major in Education Studies, but paperwork for licensure will not be sent until PRAXIS II is passed. All candidates in each licensure area will need to be proficient in every element of each standard on the 21st Century Professional Teaching Standards rubric before they will be recommended for licensure by Guilford College.

Required courses for all Education Studies majors, a minimum of 36 credit hours (7 courses):

• PSY 224 Developmental Psychology – 4 credits
• EDUC 201 Philosophical & Ethical Reflection in Education – 4 credits
• EDUC 202 Education Psychology in Classrooms – 4 credits
• EDUC 203 Contemporary/Historical Issues in Education – 4 credits
• EDUC 302 Field Study in Cross-Cultural Education – 4 credits
• EDUC 440 Student Teaching – 4 12 credits
• EDUC 410 or 420 Student Teaching Seminar – 4 credits

Note: For Secondary majors, 420/440 is only offered in the fall; for Elementary majors 410/440 is offered both semesters.

Additional required courses for elementary licensure:

(A double major in Education Studies and a second (any) disciplinary major is required)

• MATH 103 Math for Elementary School Teachers – 4 credits
• An HP course with an HIST prefix – 4 credits
• EDUC 306 Processes in Teaching Elementary School Science – 4 credits
• EDUC 307 Literacies Across the Curriculum – 4 credits
• EDUC 308 Internship in Leadership, Collaboration and Community – 4 credits
• EDUC 309 Planning for Teaching and Learning – 4 credits

Note: EDUC 307, 308 and 309 are co-requisites and must be taken together. EDUC 306, 307, 308 and 309 are offered in the evening during the fall semester and during the day in the spring semester.

Total credit hours required for A.B. degree in Elementary Licensure – 60 credits

Additional requirements for Secondary Licensure in English

(A double major in Education Studies and English is required)

• EDUC 312 Seminar in the Processes of Secondary and K-12 Teaching (offered in Spring semester only) – 4 credits
• EDUC 313 Seminar in the Processes of Secondary and K-12 Teaching Theory into Practice (offered in Spring semester only) – 4 credits
• ENGL 380 Rhetoric and Composition – 4 credits (Offered every other Spring. It is critical that you discuss this course requirement with both your English and Education Studies major advisor.

Total credit hours required for A.B. degree with Secondary Licensure in English – 48 credits

Additional requirements for K-12 Licensure in French or Spanish

(A double major in Education Studies and French or Spanish is required)

• EDUC 312 Seminar in the Processes of Secondary and K-12 Teaching (offered in Spring semester only) – 4 credits
• EDUC 313 Seminar in the Processes of Secondary and K-12 Teaching: Theory into Practice (offered in Spring semester only) – 4 credits

Total credit hours required for A.B. degree with K-12 Licensure in French or Spanish – 44 credits

Additional requirements for Secondary Licensure in Social Studies

(A double major in Education Studies and History is required)

• EDUC 312 Seminar in the Processes of Secondary and K-12 Teaching (offered in Spring semester only) – 4 credits
• EDUC 313 Seminar in the Processes of Sec and K-12 Teaching: Theory into Practice (offered in Spring semester only) – 4 credits
• PSCI 101 The American Political System – 4 credits
• PSCI 103 International Relations or PSCI 105 Comparative Politics – 4 credits
• ECON 221 Macro: US in World Econ – 4 credits

Total credit hours required for A.B. degree with Secondary Licensure in Social Studies – 56 credits

 

Licensure Only: Individuals who hold a bachelor’s degree from a four-year, regionally accredited college or university may complete teaching licenses in each of the five licensure tracks. Licensure only students typically complete just the courses listed for an education student’s major; however, additional coursework may be required. For licensure only in Secondary or K-12 licensure areas, if the first degree is not in English, history, Spanish or French, the additional coursework may be extensive.

Secondary Social Studies: Must complete one 200 level or above HIST course at Guilford. Students who completed an upper-division history research seminar at another accredited college or university may petition the Department of History to waive this requirement.

Secondary English: Must complete at least one 300 level or above ENGL course at Guilford. If the previous degree is more than five years old, the Department of English strongly recommends ENGL 200 Introduction to Literary Studies in addition to the ENGL 300 or above requirement.

Licensure only students are exempt from PRAXIS I if their cumulative grade-point average for their first bachelor’s degree is 2.50 or greater. Guilford’s cumulative grade-point average does not count towards exemption from PRAXIS.

Endorsements
Students who complete an approved teacher licensure program (with a highly effective status that includes methods courses and student teaching) in any area can then have their licenses endorsed to teach in additional areas. Requirements for endorsements are 1) having earned a highly effective teaching license, and 2) have a minimum of 24 hours in a content area which is taught in the schools with a grade in each course of a C (no C-s) or above. The endorsement can be added to the initial license at the time of application for the initial license. An endorsement makes the initially licensed candidate eligible to teach in the content area for which they earned 24 hours with a C or above. Endorsements are for teaching at all grade levels, K-12 in the specific endorsement area.

For instance, if an individual was obtaining an Elementary K-6 highly effective licensure and had completed 24 credit hours in history with the grade of C or above, they would qualify for a K-12 History endorsement. This type of endorsement would allow them to teach history content courses in middle and high school.

Highly effective licensure can be transferred to another state. However, the endorsement will not transfer out of North Carolina.