Education
The education department seeks to develop each student’s ability to analyze problems in education, to evaluate proposed solutions, and to act as teachers or citizens in ethical ways that further equity in the schools. The introductory courses (EDU 101, EDU 210–215) are designed for all students. Students pursuing licensure will major in an academic discipline. They must earn a grade of C or higher in all required education courses. All education courses prepare students for secondary licensure (grades 5–12), and students who meet the requirements receive an Iowa license when all requirements are completed. The Iowa license is portable and will transfer to most states.
Students seeking licensure at Grinnell College must apply to enter the Practitioner Preparation Program. This should be done no later than the deadline for declaring a major, usually in the second semester of the second year.
Candidates must be approved by the Committee on Teacher Education. Applications for both the program and Student Teaching Handbook are available on the department website.
Licensure can be attained in the following areas:
American history, American government, anthropology, biology, chemistry, general science, economics, Chinese, English, French, German, Latin, Russian, Spanish, physics, psychology, physical science, math, sociology, and world history. Student seeking licensure should consult members of the department about these requirements as early as possible. Requirements for each license are listed under endorsements on the department Web page. Students can also earn an endorsement in ESL.
Students seeking licensure must have taken courses in all divisions and a course in mathematics, in humanities, in American history or government, and coursework in both a biological and physical science.
For all areas of licensure, the foundation courses are Education 101, 21x (there are several courses to choose from), 221, and 250. All require observation or research in Grinnell public schools, an experience that aims to integrate theory and practice. In the upper-level courses, students apply theory and methods of instruction to specific disciplines. Each licensure sequence includes a 14-week experience in student teaching, which may be done in Grinnell or nearby public schools.
Most students seeking licensure at Grinnell College plan to take nine semesters to do so. The College will forgive the ninth-semester tuition, provided students meet the conditions described in the Expenses and Financial Aid portion of the catalog.
Students may request permission from the department to complete the requirements for licensure in eight semesters by indicating their ability to complete a major and obtain a strong liberal arts background in seven semesters. Students must also indicate that extracurricular commitments will not interfere with 14 weeks of full-time teaching. If students are able to complete the requirements for licensure in eight semesters and prior to completing their B.A. degree requirements, the 12 credits associated with student teaching (EDU 460 and EDU 469) will count toward the 124 credits required for graduation. Any credits completed after a Grinnell bachelor’s degree has been awarded are granted as post-B.A. credits.
All course prerequisites for the Professional Semester (student teaching) must be completed within the five years immediately preceding the Professional Semester. The Grinnell College Teacher Education Program for secondary licensure is approved by the Iowa State Department of Education.
Grinnell Requirements for Licensure
Secondary Licensure 1. Educational and Professional Requirements (34 credits*)
- Education 101 Educational Principles in a Pluralistic Society (4 credits)
- Four credits chosen from one of the following: (4 credits)
- Education 210 Historical Perspectives on U.S. Education
- Education 211 The Politics of Educational Assessment
- Education 212 Critical Pedagogy and School Reform
- Education 213 Critical Issues in Second Language Acquisition
- Education 214 Nature of Science and Science Teaching
- Education 215 Reading and Writing Youth Culture
- Education 217 Introduction to Comparative and International Education
- Education 221 Educational Psychology (4 credits)
- Education 250 Differentiating Instruction for All Learners (4 credits)
- Education 341-346 Research and Methods in Teaching and Learning (2 credits)
- Education 340 Research and Methods in Teaching the Young Adult (4 credits)
- Education 460 Seminar in Teaching the Young Adult (4 credits)
- Education 469 Student Teaching Internship in the Disciplines (8 credits)
2. An approved major, including courses required for licensure 3. An approved course in each: American history, humanities, and mathematics; coursework in both a biological and a physical science; and demonstrated proficiency in writing. 4. An action research project based on student teaching * Note: Certain licenses and dual licensure may require more than 34 credits.
Focus on the discussion of key concepts in multicultural/nonsexist elementary and secondary educational theory and practice, and the foundation of educational principles in the United States. Ten hours of observation in schools required for all seeking licensure. Required for Iowa teacher certification.
Three questions guide our study of the history of U.S. education: (1) Whose interests should schools serve and whose interests have they served in the past? (2) What should be taught and why? and (3) How should schools be organized and operated? We explore current educational issues (e.g. resegregation, immigrant education, tracking, secularism, and homeschooling) through an historical lens that considers the ideologies and assumptions embedded in the institutions and policies of the U.S, school system.
The course will begin with an examination of the purposes and limits of assessment and discussions of the ethical use of standardized tests. We will examine the concept of meritocracy as a guiding principle of the American education system and will trace the historical development of standardized measurements of intelligence and aptitude as tools used to track students and determine eligibility for further schooling. We will include an analysis of the current national debate on the K–12 education. Eight hours field experience in 5–12 public school setting.
This course is a study of critical pedagogy from its roots in Marxism and the
Frankfurt School through current-day theoretical connections (postmodernism, critical theory, critical feminism, and critical race theory) and their relevance to American public education. We will examine the dual character of schools that helps to explain some difficulties of school reform; that is, the democratic promise of schooling on the one hand, and its institutional service to a society based on race, class, and gender privilege on the other. Eight hours of field experience in 5–12 public school setting.
This course will focus on issues critical to the acquisition of a second language.
It will examine the historical, theoretical, and pedagogical foundations of language teaching in the United States. Of particular interest will be the relationships among language, literacy, and culture, and their influences on both teaching and learning across the curriculum. Special attention will be given to the instructional needs of ESL/bilingual students and to the creation of classroom environments that foster multilingualism. Eight hours of field experience in 5–12 public school setting.
This course will begin by considering the nature of science from a variety of perspectives, including official publications from professional science organizations, ethnographies of science laboratories and workplaces, and prominent critiques of science. Ideas about the nature of science will be used to analyze various science curricula and instructional strategies. Students will have the opportunity to focus on the discipline and level that is of most interest to them. Eight hours of field experience in 5–12 public school setting.
This course examines contrasts in the construction of adolescence in texts written about, for, and by adolescents. We will pay particular attention to how historical and current cultural constructions of adolescence reinscribe or challenge mainstream conceptions of adolescents as members of social-political groups (as raced, classed, and gendered, for example). We will focus on one site of youth culture, the school, to examine how various school practices (such as athletics, school dances, clubs, pedagogical approaches) reinforce or challenge dominant notions of adolescence.
Education can be a vehicle for world peace, reducing poverty and creating greater equality in the world. Or such is the claim of a multitude of education projects funded by grassroots initiatives and transnational organizations, including UNESCO, the World Bank, and nongovernment organizations (NGOs). In this course we learn to evaluate transnational education projects against their stated and implied goals, while considering their impact on local economies, communities, and education systems. We also investigate how globalization and democratization implicate education in broadscale changes. Student interests influence the countries we use in our case studies.
The application of principles of development and theories of learning from birth to 18 years. The study of interaction in the teaching-learning process. Topics include motivation, individual differences, evaluation of achievement, and learning styles. Two hours per week spent in Grinnell public schools. Course requires 24 hours observing/teaching in 5–12 class room.
This course aims to help future teachers develop ethical and effective approaches for meeting all students’ learning needs, using a critical model of inclusion based on a disability studies framework. The course will center on two key activities: a case study with a student at the middle or high school, and the peer lessons developed using approaches that help all students learn more effectively. The case study will require that students spend a minimum of 24 hours in the school observing, tutoring, and talking with the focus student. In the course, students will develop research skills to improve their own teaching and will analyze how particular students learn, how teachers adapt instruction to meet a wide range of student learning needs, and how schools organize curricular paths for students.
This course is taken with a complementary disciplinary specific methods course. Students will analyze and experiment with a variety of critical approaches to texts, will review and evaluate teaching materials, and will explore alternative means of evaluation of all the types of learning that should be happening in a classroom. Students will practice planning engaging lessons, assessing in fair and constructive ways, and developing effective classroom management approaches.
This course complements the general methods course. Students will develop a practical theory of teaching English/language arts, one that synthesizes what they have learned about excellent, ethical teaching. Students will choose curriculum and design specific approaches for use in the middle or high school as they investigate the purposes for teaching English and theorize about how to best engage students in critical reading, writing, viewing, and speaking.
This course complements the general methods course and provides an introduction to theories in and teaching or world languages. We will analyze theories of language acquisition and pedagogies that grow out of those theories, and evaluate theories of the “best” pedagogy for teaching a new language. We will discuss how to integrate the sometimes opposing theories of ethical and effective teaching practices. Students will have an opportunity to practice teach.
This course complements the general methods course. Becoming a teacher of the social sciences requires students to think about what they are teaching, whom they are teaching, and how they will teach. The work in this course is structured to provide students with the tools to answer those questions and to teach effectively for student understanding.
This course is a study of strategies, techniques, materials, technology, and current research used in the teaching of mathematical concepts to middle and high school students. Students will review the standards involved in teaching mathematics at the secondary school level; develop an awareness of the professional resources, materials, technology and information available for teachers; prepare unit and lesson plans with related assessment procedures on a variety of topics; and acquire teaching experience.
This course is a study of strategies, techniques, materials, technology, and current research used in the teaching of science concepts to middle and high school students. Students will review the standards involved in teaching sciences at the secondary school level; develop an awareness of the professional resources, materials, technology and information available for teachers; prepare unit and lesson plans with related assessment procedures on a variety of topics; and acquire teaching experience.
This course is a complement to the general methods course, EDU-340. It will provide prospective ESL practitioners with the methodologies necessary to develop into successful and thoughtful teachers. We will examine past and current approaches, methods, and techniques for teaching ESL. Students will explore the political and cultural implications for teaching ESL in the United States and overseas.
This course is a complement to the student teaching internship and is designed to provide students with a structured way of making connections between teaching theory and practice. We will conduct weekly seminar meetings aimed at two purposes: 1) to develop a book of classroom management cases through a problem-posing approach to teaching challenges, and 2) to support the design, implementation and presentation of an action research project.
This internship is the culminating experience for the student teaching program and provides a vehicle for systematic practice of our program goals and the program standards they encompass. This carefully mentored 14-week internship begins as soon as the school to which you are assigned begins its school year. Equivalent to a full-time job for the 14 weeks you are working in the schools, the internship commits you to over 600 hours of work.
* Indicates courses not offered every year.
