Elementary Education
Students
One of the hallmarks of Washington College is our small and intimate residential community, which strives to develop each individual.
Future teachers are also free to concentrate on their special interest areas by combining their preparation with a self-selected major. Popular choices are: Humanities and American Studies, both interdisciplinary majors, Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, and Environmental Science. Some students even design their own majors.
Society demands that our future citizens learn to work closely together to meet a common goal. Cooperative learning activities are an important part of our on-campus instruction.
Throughout their relationship with the Education Department, our students will work closely together to master material and to learn to share their knowledge with their peers and future students, using a variety of strategies to meet diverse learning styles and needs of the students they will teach. Students also demonstrate their proficiency with technology in their class work and in their field experiences.
Our location on Maryland's Eastern Shore provides us with unique opportunities to explore the ecology of the Chesapeake Bay. The culminating experience will be an extended internship in a PDS classroom. During that time, teacher candidates will apply what they have been learning to the full-time duties of the classroom. At the end of this experience, they will present their portfolio to PDS and college representatives and apply for certification.
Teacher Education Program
The Teacher Education Program is characterized by a highly nurturing and personalized environment, intellectual rigor, and a performance milieu within a liberal arts context. Education is not a subject major. As the department is a member of the Social Sciences Division, the foundational sequence courses (Principles of Education and Educational Psychology) can fulfill distribution requirements in the social sciences.
The department aims: a) to provide the professional preparation for certification required by the State Department of Education in Maryland and the 43 states with whom Maryland has reciprocal certification agreements; b) to explore the social, psychological, philosophical, and historical foundations of education in our society; and c) to stimulate inquiry concerning the nature of our educational institutions. The department, recognizing that the world of schooling is a primary socializing agency for the American polity, has the further aim of inviting students in elective courses to inquire into the nature of education and its relationship to their future lives as citizens, parents, or educators.
Program requirements are in alignment with the Maryland Redesign of Teacher Education and standards of assessment are based on The Essential Dimensions of Teaching. The College has established ten Professional Development Schools in three local counties in order to implement state requirements that each teacher candidate complete 100 days of field experiences in a Professional Development School in two consecutive semesters. This includes the student teaching experience.
Entry Requirements
Entry criteria to the Teacher Certification Program are as follows: cumulative GPA of 2.8 (and a GPA of 3.0 in the teaching field for secondary certification); recommendation from a professor in the student's major field of study; a passing score on the Praxis Exam, Part I; approval of the Education Department Chair following a formal interview with the Chair and departmental colleagues. Admission to the program generally occurs at the beginning of the spring semester of the junior year. (Where possible, the Department will make accommodations for "late deciders.")
It should be noted that Washington College Teacher Certification Program requirements may be modified because of evolving state requirements for approved programs in teacher education.
Program Completion
Students will be recommended for Maryland Approved Program teacher certification when they complete the following: 1) an academic degree with a cumulative GPA of 2.8, and a GPA of 3.0 in their major (in their teaching field for secondary certification); 2) successful completion of the Washington College Teacher Certification Program; 3) successful completion of Praxis I and II examinations according to Maryland standards.
Elementary Education
The Elementary Certification program is made up of three required components: 1) completion of selected core courses in Humanities, Social Sciences, and Mathematics-Natural Sciences; 2) an academic major, preferably in Human Development; 3) a required sequence of Education courses and field experiences. Consultation with the Director of Elementary Education should be held during the first semester of the freshman year to insure proper scheduling and selection of courses.
The required education courses for students who wish to become certified as elementary teachers are listed under the Human Development major.
The Human Development Major
Students selecting the Human Development major will study the individual in community and the world of schooling. The major is (a) a comprehensive preparation for prospective elementary school teachers, and (b) an interdisciplinary program for students who wish to examine human development in the context of theory and practice in education but who do not wish to seek teacher certification.
The Human Development major is designed to help students answer the question, "How do children develop into fully mature, autonomous and self-aware human beings who are capable of both intimate and public communal relationships?" These studies will facilitate an understanding of the development of children in our multifaceted society within the comprehensive liberal arts foundation of the Washington College experience. The Human Development major provides the opportunity for enlarging our understanding of the development of school-aged youth. This is a particularly appropriate foundation for individuals wishing to become elementary school teachers.
The academic program includes sequenced study in educational foundations (the history, philosophy, and psychology of education), a developmental progression of study in pedagogical theory and practice, a demonstrated knowledge of content in selected liberal arts disciplines, and multi-disciplinary courses from the departments of anthropology, sociology, and psychology.
Field experiences and research are an essential component for the major. For the non-teacher candidate, the major study includes field experiences in schools or other educational and social agencies, and the major study for the teacher candidate includes a 100-day internship in a Professional Development School.
Washington College places singular emphasis on the completion of a "significant independent project" as the culminating activity in a major program. The non-teacher major will develop and present an approved interdisciplinary thesis which includes field research. The teacher candidate will develop and present a professional portfolio which includes an action research project; the Maryland Essential Dimensions of Teaching standards will provide guidance and evaluative criteria.
Course Sequence for Human Development majors
Option 1: Course Sequence for Human Development majors with Elementary School Teacher certification
Professional courses required for Maryland Approved Program Certification (8 courses)
- EDU 211-214 Clinical Experiences/practica
- EDU 301 Principles of Education
- EDU 302 Educational Psychology
- EDU 351 Processes and Acquisition of Reading
- EDU 352 Reading Instruction and Assessment
- EDU 354 Literature for Children: K-8
- EDU 411 Curriculum and Instruction: Mathematics and Natural Science
- EDU 412 Curriculum and Instruction: Language Arts and Social Studies
- EDU 413 Teaching Internship in a Professional Development School (8 credits)
- EDU 414 Teaching Internship in a Professional Development School (8 credits)
- EDU 430/ANT394 Diversity and Inclusion
Additional courses will be selected, in consultation with the advisor, from the following:
Anthropology
- ANT 200 Introduction to Language (FLS 200)
- ANT 215 Sex, Gender, and Culture
- ANT 236 Race and Ethnicity
- ANT 305 Doing Anthropology
Psychology
- PSY 302 Life-Span Development
- PSY 316 Cognitive Science
- PSY 331 Personality
- PSY 334 Psychopathology II
- PSY 390 Research Design
- PSY 433 Child Assessment (prerequisite PSY 333)
Sociology
- SOC 212 Family
- SOC 213 Gender
- SOC 221 Social Inequalities
- SOC 306 Research Methods in Sociology
- SOC 313 Sociology of Childhood
- SOC 341 Variant Behavior
- SOC 350 City and Suburb
- SOC 351 Religion in the United States
Senior Obligation
Human Development majors selecting the certification option will prepare and publicly present a professional portfolio which includes independent action research.
NB: not a course
Certification students require selected core courses in content areas. In completing the General Education requirements of the College, students will choose from the following list of courses in the distribution sequences:
Natural Science - two courses
Students will take two courses in the natural sciences. The courses must have a laboratory component, and can be courses for non-majors or majors.
Preferred two-course sequences are:
- BIO 111, 112 General Biology
- CHE 111, 112 General Chemistry
- PHY 111, 112 General Physics
Alternately, students may complete any combination of the following courses:
- BIO 100 Genes, Nature, and Society
- BIO 104 Society, Ecology, and the Chesapeake Bay
- CHE 110/ENV110 Chemistry of the Environment
- ENV 399/EDU 491 Environmental Education
- PHY 100 Introduction to Gravity and Space-Time Physics
- PHY 110 Astronomy
- PHY 140/ENV 140 Introduction to Earth Science I: Exploring the Solid Earth
- PHY 141 Introduction to Earth Science II: Atmosphere, Ocean, Environment
Quantitative - two courses
Students will take two math courses, one of which should be MAT 401 Communication, Patterns and Invention in Mathematics. Students may choose from MAT 109 Statistics or PSY 309 Statistics and Experimental Design, or any other mathematics course.
Humanities (two-course sequence)
Students will fulfill the Humanities requirement by taking any of the following pairs:
- AMS 201/ENG 211, AMS 202/ENG 212 Introduction to American Culture I and II
- ENG 201, 202 Forms of Literature and Composition I and II
- ENG 207, 208 History of English Literature I and II
- ILC Any two courses in International Literature and Culture
Fine Arts - one course
Any course in art, drama, or music that will fulfill distribution in the Fine Arts.
Social Science - three courses
Students will take:
- EDU 301 Principles of Education
- EDU 302 Educational Psychology
(The two above courses are also required for the major) - HIS 201 or 202 History of the U.S.
Option 2: Course Sequence for Human Development majors without teacher certification
Foundation courses (required) - two courses
- EDU 301 Principles of Education
- EDU 302 Educational Psychology [satisfy social sciences distribution requirement].
Two of the following courses from two separate disciplines:
- 105 Introduction to Anthropology
- 201 Introduction to Sociology
- PSY 201, 202 General Psychology
Research Design Course - one course
- SOC 306 Research Methods in Sociology, PSY 390 Research Design or ANT 305 Doing Anthropology.
The choice of research method will determine the student's major co-advisor and the nature of the senior obligation research.
Experiential Field Course: 1 course
Students must select at least one of the experiential learning components; EDU 211-4 Clinical Field Experiences or EDU 491: Special Topics: Individualized Internships/Experiential Learning
Eight courses (in addition to the above) will be selected from at least two areas as listed. Two of these courses may be at the introductory level; six of these courses must be upper level.
Area 1 - Anthropology
- ANT 200 Introduction to Language (FLS 200)
- ANT 215 Sex, Gender, and Culture
- ANT 236 Race and Ethnicity
- ANT 305 Doing Anthropology
Area 2 - Education
- EDU 211-4 Clinical Field Experiences or EDU 491 Special Topics: Individualized Internships/Experiential Learning
- EDU 311 World Geography
- EDU 315 Traditional and Modern Grammar
- EDU 351 Processes and Acquisition of Reading
- EDU 352 Reading Instruction and Assessment
- EDU 354 Literature for Children: K-8
- EDU 412 Curriculum and Instruction: Language Arts and Social Science
- EDU 430 Diversity and Inclusion
- EDU 490 Internship in Writing Theory and the Conference
Area 3 - Psychology
- PSY 302 Life-Span development
- PSY 316 Cognitive Science
- PSY 331 Personality
- PSY 334 Psychopathology II
- PSY 390 Research Design
- PSY 433 Child Assessment (prerequisite PSY 333)
Area 4 - Sociology
- SOC 212 Family
- SOC 213 Gender
- SOC 221 Social Inequalities
- SOC 306 Research Methods in Sociology
- SOC 313 Sociology of Childhood
- SOC 341 Variant Behavior
- SOC 350 City and Suburb
- SOC 351 Religion in the United States
Substitution of up to two courses is possible with the approval of the advisor.
Senior Obligation
Human Development majors selecting the non-certification route will complete and present a research study.