Academic Catalog

Education

Introduction

Goshen College seeks to graduate teachers who interact with their students and the content they teach, lifelong learners who are professionally active and who put their faith into practice in all aspects of teaching and learning . Goshen College is authorized by the Indiana Division of Educator Licensing and Development to prepare teachers for elementary and secondary schools. The teacher education program has been accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education since 1954.

An important part of Goshen’s teacher education program is learning first-hand in the schools. Students will work in a variety of settings with diverse populations. If Study-Service Term (SST) is part of the international education experience, students will also have the opportunity to work with children or youth in another culture.

School systems in the area cooperate with Goshen College to provide strong and varied student teaching experiences. Pre-service teachers experience a broad spectrum of classroom situations. During the student teaching experience, students will work 12 or more weeks full time in a local school system and will be supervised by classroom teachers and college professors. After satisfactorily completing an approved teaching program and the Praxis II exam, students will apply and be recommended for licensure. Goshen graduates are generally eligible for initial or conditional certification in other states.

Visit the education department Web site at www.goshen.edu/education/Home.

Education programs available:

Elementary education (K-6)

Upon completion of a major in elementary education, pre-service teachers are eligible to be certified to teach kindergarten through sixth grade. Fieldwork takes place in a variety of classroom settings where pre-service teachers learn to teach language arts, math, social studies, science, art, physical education and music. Approaches to classroom management, discipline and evaluation are also explored.

Elementary education/Special education (K-6)

Goshen offers certification in Exceptional Needs: Mild Intervention for K-6 in conjunction with an elementary education certificate. It is a certification that must be completed at the same time as an elementary education certification, but does not stand alone as a separate program. To complete this program, 12 additional hours (Student Teaching: Exceptional Needs, Special Education Issues, Learning Disorders and Social Emotional Disorders) are added to the elementary education program.

All-grade education in English as a new language, music, physical education or visual arts (K-12)

All-grade education focuses on the content area while including requirements for general and professional education at all developmental levels.

Secondary education (5-12)

Pre-service teachers can be certified to teach fifth through 12th graders upon completion of teacher education requirements for teachers of early adolescence, adolescence and young adults and content requirements in the chosen field of instruction. Goshen offers teaching majors in:

Special attributes of Goshen’s teacher education program

Elementary and exceptional needs dual certification program – Nationally, there is a critical shortage of special education teachers. Completing this dual certification program dramatically increases a candidate’s marketability. In addition, all classrooms include students with special needs. We believe that all special education teachers need to know what regular classroom teachers know, and all regular classroom teachers need to know what special education teachers know. The marriage of these two licensure content areas will prepare candidates to meet the needs of all students in their classrooms.

English as a New Language – Schools continue to need teachers who are skilled in working with students who do not speak English as their first language.

Conflict transformation – As school violence has increased, we have seen the need for teacher candidates to develop skills in conflict mediation. In collaboration with the peace, justice and conflict studies department, we are able to offer a series of three courses that equip our students in being able to help transform conflict peacefully. We strongly recommend that all teacher education candidates complete this sequence, which results in a Goshen College Certificate in Conflict Transformation (see below).

Environmental education – Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center, a 1,150-acre nature conservancy owned by Goshen College, hosts more than 5,000 school children each year for outdoor education. All elementary education majors have the opportunity to work in environmental education as part of their program.

Laboratory kindergarten - Since 1959, a laboratory kindergarten has been operated by the education department in the Church-Chapel Building. The laboratory kindergarten is an integral part of teacher education at Goshen College. It provides opportunities for (1) observation of child development and behavior; (2) observation of teaching procedures; and (3) field placements for the kindergarten internship.

Curriculum Library, Peace Curriculum Collection and Royer Reading Room - (Children’s Literature Collection) in the Harold and Wilma Good Library. This collection of materials provides excellent resources for teaching and research.

Admission to the teacher education program

Students generally apply for admission to the Goshen College teacher education program during the sophomore year. Admission to the program includes:

• Successful completion of the reading, writing and mathematics sections of the Pre-Professional Skills Test (Praxis I)
• A review of the high school record
• Successful performance in early fieldwork experiences
• Supportive references
• Demonstrated experience with children or youth
• Successful completion of the technology competency
• A written essay

Teacher education students must maintain a 2.5 GPA overall and a 2.8 in their content area. All content related courses for the license content area must be passed with a C or higher. Because the field of education is continually changing, education courses taken more than 15 years prior to admission to the program will not be accepted for transfer credit.

Major in elementary education (K-6)

Modified general education program (60-73 credit hours)

Language arts
Comm 202, Oral Communication 2
Educ 307, Children's and Adolescent Literature 3
Engl 110, Literature and Writing (or Engl 210) 3
Engl 204, Expository Writing (strongly recommended) 3

Science
Phys 100, The Physical World (or alternate) 3
Biol 100, The Biological World (or alternate) 3
Biol 340, Field Experience in Environmental Education 3

Mathematics
Math 131, Math Concepts for Elementary Classroom I 3
Math 132, Math Concepts for Elementary Classroom II 3

History and Social Science
Hist 105 or 202, American History I or II 3
Educ 310, Education Psychology: Elementary 3

Physical education
PhEd 100, Wellness 1
PhEd 309, Physical Education for Children 2
Certification in first aid and CPR 0-1

Humanities
Hum 220-225, Humanities 4
Educ 330, Fine Arts for Children 3

Bible/religion/philsophy/peace studies
Bibl 100 or Bibl 200 3
PJCS 210, Transforming Conflict and Violence 3
Any Bible or religion class (except Greek or Hebrew language) 3

International/intercultural education
Foreign language competency (or alternate) 0-8
SST or alternate intercultural study 12-13

Professional education courses (K-6) (37 credit hours)

• Technology competency by exam
• Educ 201, Foundations of Education 3
• Educ 300, Exceptional Students 3
• Educ 301, Curriculum Studies: Math 2
• Educ 303, Literacy I: Developmental 3
• Educ 304: Curriculum Studies: Social Studies 2
• Educ 308, Curriculum Studies: Science 2
• Educ 344, Adaptation and Assessment 3
• Educ 401, Child Development Practicum 1
• Educ 402, Student Teaching: Elementary 12
• Educ 406, Literacy II: Diagnostic 3
• Educ 409, Elementary Education Seminar 3

Additional requirements for Exceptional Needs: Mild Intervention (K-6) (12 credit hours)

• Educ 340, Learning Disorders 2
• Educ 342, Social and Emotional Disorders 2
• Educ 346, Special Education Issues 3
• Educ 415, Student Teaching: Exceptional Needs 5

Planning guide elementary education

Secondary education certification (grades 5-12 or K-12)

Modified general education requirement

Additional communication skills course, strongly recommended:
Engl 204, Expository Writing 3

For PJCS/Phil requirement:
PJCS 210, Transforming Conflict and Violence 3

For social science requirement:
Educ 309, Educational Psychology: Secondary 3

Professional education requirements (30 credit hours)

• Educ 201, Foundations of Education 3
• Educ 302, Adolescent Exceptional Learners 3
• Educ 309, Educational Psychology: Secondary 3
• Educ 314, Curriculum & Instruction for Adolescent Learners: General Methods 2
• Educ 315, Curriculum & Instruction for Adolescent Learners: Content Methods* 1
• Educ 321, Middle School Curriculum & Instruction 3
• Educ 403, Secondary Education Seminar 3
• Educ 405, Student Teaching 12

*For K-12 licensure, a content area methods course in the major department is required instead of Educ 315.

Planning guide secondary education

Certificate in conflict transformation for teachers

9 credit hours

This certificate may be added to an elementary, middle school, or secondary education program. For further information, consult with a member of the teacher education faculty. Education students who wish to complete the conflict transformation studies minor at the conclusion of their certificate requirements should declare the minor and consult with a PJCS adviser for further details.

• PJCS 210, Transforming Conflict and Violence 3
• PJCS 325, Mediation: Process, Skills and Theory 3-4
• PJCS 426, Conflict in Groups 3

Transition to Teaching (grades K-6 or 5-12)

Transition to Teaching (TtT) is an alternative certification program based on the premise that a candidate already has the content knowledge in the licensing area. Candidates must have completed an undergraduate degree in their field with at least a 3.0 GPA to be eligible for this program, based on Indiana state law. An assessment of content knowledge and skills will be completed for each candidate by the GC licensure adviser before entering the program. Additional course work may be a prerequisite for admission to the program. The 18 credit hours required for secondary and 24 credit hours required for elementary programs are for education coursework only. Candidates must demonstrate basic technological proficiency by passing a placement test in the fall or transferring credit for a course approved by the licensure adviser.

Courses listed for two credit hours are in reality three credit courses, but because the state of Indiana has placed restrictions on credit hours, TtT students pay for only two credit hours. Field experience is required for some classes.

Secondary education (grades 5-12) curricula, as well as additional information about the TtT program is available at www.goshen.edu/education/Transition_to_Teaching.

Elementary education TtT curriculum

24 credit hours

First year fall semester

• Educ 301, Curriculum Studies: Math 2
• Educ 302, Adolescent Exceptional Learners 2
• Educ 303, Literacy I: Developmental 3
• Educ 310, Educational Psychology 2
• Technology Competency, by examination

• Educ 304, Curriculum Studies: Social Studies 2
• Educ 307, Children's and Adolescent Literature 2
• Educ 308, Curriculum Studies: Science 2
• Educ 401, Child Development Practicum 1
• Educ 406, Literacy II: Diagnostic 2

• Educ 410, Transition to Teaching Practicum

Education major: non-certification

Goshen College offers a B.A. degree in education to students who want to study education, but who do not intend to meet requirements for teacher licensing or who meet all licensure requirements for a content area for which Goshen College offers no major. Students who might benefit from this option include (1) students who, for personal reasons, choose not to do student teaching; (2) students who do not qualify for certification because of grade point average or Praxis scores; (3) international students who choose to major in education, but do not seek U.S. teacher certification; and (4) students who are seeking licensure in French or German. For further information, see the Goshen College Teacher Education Handbook.