It prepares teachers of adolescents in the wide variety of courses taught in junior and senior high schools. The department offers courses leading to certification in over 30 different teaching fields. The primary objective of the secondary education program is to prepare teachers who are both competent and humane.
All students develop a comprehensive knowledge of their specialized teaching fields.
In addition, throughout the four undergraduate years, the program endeavors to help each student develop a personal and a professional commitment to the teaching profession. The curriculum enables each student to examine the role of the teacher by exposing him or her to the science of teaching and teaching competencies, providing clinical and field experiences in conjunction with prescribed courses, teaching about the roles of the school in society and developing the attitudes and values essential to humane teaching. The students of secondary education need to grow in their knowledge of education and adolescents. Students entering the program must want to work with secondary school students to discover whether they can help students on a continuing basis and to study how human beings learn and grow. Secondary education students must achieve an academic performance which is above the minimum required for graduation.