Admissions Brochure
Swarthmore College Education > State Review
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Education Program Goals
The goals of the Education Program at Swarthmore are to enable students to investigate educational theory, policy, research and practice from a variety of disciplinary perpsectives as well as to prepare students to enter the teaching profession. The Program encourages our undergraduates to think critically and creatively about the processes of teaching and learning and about the place of education in society. The Education Program seeks to prepare our undergraduates to equitably and responsibly meet the needs of all students in an era of rapidly increasing racial, ethnic and linguistic diversity and technological change and to develop students' abilities to fully participate in the civic, cultural and economic arenas. Teacher certification candidates are prepared to meet the standards required by PA Chapter 354 and Chapter 4 and to pass the teacher exams required by Pennsylvania. Many students take Education courses who do not plan to teach, however. For these students the Education Program offers the opportunity to explore interests and aptitude in areas such as counseling, early childhood development or educational research as well as to confront issues they will face in their roles as parents, citizens and/or professionals in fields outside of Education.
Education Program Offerings
Swarthmore does not offer a major in Education, However, students with interests in education regularly design Special Majors in Education and another academic department. Students may do Special Majors or Minors in Education as part of both the Honors and Course programs. Education courses typically are multidisciplinary in nature and incorporate the perspectives of psychology, sociology, political science, philosophy, history, economics, linguistics and/or anthropology in the investigation of the educational issues and practices they examine. Education is a member of the Social Sciences Division at the College. Many of the upper-level courses are cross-listed with courses in other social science departments. Field placements in a wide variety of public and private schools—observing, researching, tutoring and teaching—are a key component of most Education courses. Courses in Education fall into three categories:
- A multildisciplinary introductory course provides an overview of central questions of educational theory, policy and practice. This course, which is taken by approximately one-third of each graduating class, is a Primary Distribution course in the Social Sciences and draws individuals from a broad cross section of the student body.
- Upper-level course and seminars (see list on back of brochure) that draw heavily on the concepts, methods and research of related social science disciplines. These courses are open to all students who have completed prerequisites in Education or an alternative, usually an introductory course, in the relevant social science department.
- Practice Teaching and the Curriculum and Methods seminar are taken by students planning to teach, almost all of whom choose to participate in the certification program. Approximately fifteen students a year undertake practice teaching; typically three-quarters of them complete the requirements for secondary certification and one-quarter complete the requirments for elementary certification
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Faculty
There are four full-time faculty in Education, who have doctorates in Education from Harvard University (2), Bryn Mawr College and the University of Pennsylvania. In addition, the Program hires two-three part-time faculty and 3-4 Supervisors of Practice Teaching every year. Faculty research and scholarly interests include: literacy and the construction of social identity, student interest, learning and problem solving, using virtual communities in the teaching of math, life careers of women principals, adolescent development, and educational policy.
Pennsylvania Teacher Certification
Swarthmore College offers competency-based teacher certification programs, approved by the State of Pennsylvania, in Biology, Chemisstry, English, French, German, Mathematics, Spanish, and Social Studies. (Because of new state regulations, beginning with the class of 2004, History, Economics and Political Science majors will complete Citizenship Education certification and Psychology and Sociology/Anthropology and Psychology majors will complete Social Science certification.) The Teacher Education Committee, composed of Education faculty, faculty from the major departments in which we certify students and local school educators, oversees the certification process. Students take a total of seven course credits in Education, including Introduction to Education, Educational Psychology, Adolescence, an Education elective or their choice, Curriculum and Methods and Practice Teaching (a double credit course) and complete a major in their area of certification. As part of the certification program, they student teach for a minimum of twleve weeks and receive weekly supervision from the College. Placement during Practice Teaching is available in a range of public (urban and suburban) and private schools, including several Friends schools, in the Philadelphia area with whom we collaborate. Before being certified, certification candidates must pass a series of teacher exams, PRAXIS tests, offered by the Educational Testing Service.
In accordance with Title II of the Higher Education Act, beginning in April , 2001 Swarthmore College must publically report the passing rates of all program completers on the series of PRAXIS tests required for certification in Pennsylvania. Swarthmore students who completed our program between September l999 and August 2000 had a 100% pass rate on all of the PRAXIS tests they took: Reading, Writing, Math, Listening, Principles of Learning and Teaching 7-12 and on the subject area tests in their areas of certification: English, Biology, Math and Social Studies. In addition students being certified in Elementary Education in our collaborative program with Eastern College had a 100% pass rate on the Principles of Learning and Teaching K-6 and on the Elementary Education test.
Employment
Graduates of the College's certification program have been very successful in finding teaching jobs in their subject area in a wide vareity of public and private schools in Pennsylvania and all over the country. Each year all graduates who wish to teach have found teaching jobs for the coming academic year. In l983, Swarthmore College joined with fifteen other selecdtive liberal arts institutuion in the Northeast to form the Consortium for Excellence in Teacher Eduction. The Consortium has established a web-site to assist its graduates in finding jobs, Currently, the market for teaching positions is very strong. Many students who do not plan to be certified take Education courses at the College as Special Majors. Upon graduation, they often work in human service, counseling, educational policy or research positions as well as join the Peace Corps or go on to graduate school in education, law or social work.
The current attention being given to the improvement of education at the local, state and federal levels makes this an especially challenging and interesting time to study in this field. In the past few years, concern about the lack of individuals entering the teaching profession who are well prepared in both their subject area as well as in education has prompted several foundations as well as states to provide scholarships and tuition reimbursements for undergraduates who plan to teach, especially in area of teacher shortage. Swarthmore students are excellent candidates forthis kind of financial support.
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Courses
Introduction to Education
Educational Psychology
Adolescence
Counseling: Principles and Practice
Special Education
Educating the Young Learner
Literacies and Social Identities
Gender and Education
School and Society
Envrironmental Education
Urban Education
Curriculum and Methods
Practice Teaching (double credit)
Seminars
Child Psychology and Practice
Social and Cultural Perspectives On Education
Educational Policy
