Educational Foundations Secondary Certificate

The Certificate in Educational Foundations: Secondary is for undergraduates who are committed to social change through a career in education or a related field. The purpose of the certificate is to prepare future professionals who are critical thinkers, well informed about theory and practice, and who possess the knowledge and skills that will enable them to be change agents in economically, racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse communities. This purpose is achieved by providing students with 1) a broad-based focus on content preparation; 2) a sophisticated understanding of the intersections of multiple disciplines within larger historical and contemporary themes.

The Certificate in Educational Foundations: Secondary is designed to complement the Major/subject area preparation of undergraduates who desire to be middle/high school teachers. The certificate consists of 36 credits (12 lower division; 24 upper division) to begin developing the teacher knowledge necessary for classroom life. The set of courses provides developmentally appropriate growth for undergraduate students interested in teaching and the opportunity to obtain prerequisite knowledge to assist them as future graduate students. The Certificate in Educational Foundations: Secondary does not result in a teaching license.

This is a pre-professional degree preparing graduates who are highly competitive for admission into master’s level teacher certification programs or other graduate school programs. Many of our undergraduates continue to UOTeach, the graduate teacher education program in the Department of Education Studies. This is a four-term program resulting in a masters of education (MEd) in Curriculum and Teaching and it fulfills the teaching licensure requirements for the state of Oregon (Elementary K-5 or Secondary 6-12.

Application and Admission

To add the Certificate in Educational Foundations: Secondary, schedule an appointment with an advisor at the College of Education Student Academic Services Center

Program Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this program, students will be able to:

• Demonstrate understanding of the roles and responsibilities of teachers working in public schools.
• Demonstrate understanding about the social and economic influences on teaching and learning.
• Analyze the ways race, gender, sexuality, class, climate education, immigration, Indigeneity, intersectionality, and individualism are simultaneously reproduced and challenged by U.S. schools.

Certificate in Educational Foundations—Secondary

Schedule an advising appointment with COE Student Academic Services to add the Certificate in Educational Foundations—Secondary. In addition to regular appointments with your primary advisor, schedule an advising appointment with a COE advisor each year to make sure you are staying on track with the Certificate requirements: https://education.uoregon.edu/student-academic-services 

Start pre-requisites early so you are able to fit in all upper-division courses.

Obtain as much experience as possible with middle/high school ages youth for your graduate school application. Check for opportunities on the EdF blog and for possible opportunities in your EO coursework. EdF Blog link: edf.uoregon.edu.

You are part of the Educational Foundations community – see emails from us for invitations and information!

Need help? Have a question? Please visit edf.uoregon.edu