Education is a rapidly changing, rewarding, and creative career. It provides you the ability to create lessons that will engage and teach others with aspirations of spreading knowledge to help others grow.
At Westminster College, you will focus on real-world success immediately, spending time in PK-12 classrooms from the beginning of your freshman year. Get involved in local preschool, elementary, middle, and secondary programs throughout your major to find out what works best for you. We emphasize interaction and leadership, which means students receive plenty of opportunities to practice instruction in the classroom and with their peers.
An education degree can take you anywhere – our graduates are teaching at schools across the nation as well as globally in countries such as Spain, China, Japan, and Great Britain. That’s because Westminster alumni are recognized as being exceptionally well prepared upon graduation. The department maintains an excellent hiring rate for its graduates not only for teaching jobs but also for other related fields, such as business training and personnel management, public policy, child advocacy, sports and recreational planning, and other social service-related fields.
Upon successful completion of your teaching degree, you will be recommended by Westminster to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for certification. This certificate is recognized by most other states, as a basis for their own licensing procedures and you can easily obtain certificates for any state where you may wish to teach.
Education Curriculum Studies provides a solid foundation for careers in education-related fields but does not directly lead to a teaching certification. The curriculum offers a comprehensive understanding of educational theory and practice. Students also gain practical experience through a fieldwork practicum in a school setting. This degree equips you with the knowledge and skills needed to work in school settings as support staff or to pursue teaching certification independently. Graduates of this program are well-prepared for a variety of roles, including youth programing, social services, recreational services, educational sales, and more
You can earn a Bachelor of Arts with majors offered in Early Childhood Education (birth-grade 3), Elementary (grades 1-6), Middle School (grades 5-9), or Secondary Education (grades 9-12).
Content areas include:
Middle School
Secondary Education
Certification in All Grades K-12
All students will enjoy a wide variety of field experiences starting in their freshman year and continuing throughout their studies.
Yes! Our education program focuses on interaction and leadership. The goal of the Minor in Education is to facilitate your understanding of the central concepts, structures, and tools of inquiry of the discipline(s) and how to create learning experiences that make these aspects of subject matter meaningful and engaging for all students.
You will also understand how individuals learn, develop, and differ in their approaches to learning, understand how to adapt to diverse learners, recognize the importance of long-range planning and curriculum development, and how to implement and evaluate standards-based curriculum.
“It can be scary to be the first person to ever do something, but that has not been the case. I feel so welcomed into the Fulton Public Schools community and so well cared for by my professors at Westminster College.”
Sarah Crostic, Class of 2023
The Westminster College Teacher Education Program is designed so that majors complete a course of study
approved by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), which will lead to
recommendation for certification in the chosen major and concentration areas. Students who prepare for a
teaching career must meet professional education requirements specified by DESE, as well as the program
requirements of Westminster College. Final certification approval is determined by DESE and not by
Westminster College. Academic certification requirements, set by DESE, consist of:
All students seeking a certification must first be accepted into the Teacher Education Program (TEP) in
order to complete their degree. To be admitted into TEP students must:
Once admitted to the TEP, students must remain in good standing in order to progress through the
program.
All students seeking a certification must student teach. To be admitted into a student
teaching placement student must:
The Education Department faculty at Westminster College reserve final judgment on admission to
student teaching and assignment to a placement
