Education

Education

Whether you intend to teach, pursue work in policy, research, or administration, or simply want to be an active and vocal citizen, the education department will prepare you to think critically and creatively about the problems and potential solutions in the discipline. Through the inquiry-led curriculum, independent research, and Mentored Advanced Projects, you’ll develop flexibility in all your pursuits. If you’d like to earn your teaching license, you’ll major in the humanities, social sciences, or sciences, take the education courses for your secondary licensure (grades 5–12) or your K-12 licensure in ESL, and do a semester of student teaching. All of it will prepare you well for a career that matters.

Social Justice

Explore the role of schooling in fostering equity.

Through courses in the Department of Education, independent research, and Mentored Advanced Projects, you’ll gain an understanding of why state-sponsored, public schooling is at the heart of democracy. Classes and research projects in education will introduce you to historical and present-day tensions in schools, such as what should be taught; who should be taught; and what constitutes fair and equitable assessment. Your courses and field experiences in local K-12 classrooms will challenge you to explore what “learning” is from various groups’ perspectives; through readings, classroom discussions, and assigned projects, you will also learn about foundational work in critical, inclusive, and culturally sustaining pedagogies.
Career Preparation

Prepare for a wide range of career options.

Through your studies in the department of education, you will consider education and schooling with an eye to the mission of a liberal arts education: shaping public intellectuals and ethical citizens. Should you desire to teach in a U.S. K-12 classroom, the department’s Teacher Education Program allows you to earn an Iowa secondary teaching certificate, which is transferrable to many other U.S. states. Even if you don’t want to pursue a teaching license, you can gain real-life classroom experiences in local Iowa classrooms. No matter your path, you’ll graduate career-ready, whether you intend to teach in a U.S. K-12 classroom; explore opportunities for teaching abroad; pursue work in educational policy, research, or administration; or simply be a better-informed citizen.
Academic Mentoring

Learn from faculty mentors with a wide range of expertise.

In courses and research projects offered by the department of education, you’ll learn from experienced faculty who are experts in various interdisciplinary content areas. Our faculty teach and conduct research in a variety of educational fields including, but not limited to, the following: Black feminist literacy practices; critical sociolinguistics; international and comparative education; and inclusive STEM pedagogies. The education department faculty will help you identify and research educational issues related to your own academic and personal interests. Also, with the mentoring of cooperating host teachers and education department faculty, students who enroll in the Teacher Education Program will conduct an Action Research Project of their own design during their student teaching.

First and Foremost, a Teacher

“These students keep me on my toes. They're incredibly inquisitive, they're curious, they don't settle, they are uniquely invested in what it is that interests them, but they're also looking for ways in which to impact society once they leave here.

These are the students that teach me how to be a better teacher.”

Stephanie Jones, assistant professor of Education, describes her teaching philosophy, how faculty craft engaging courses, and how �� students challenge her to be her best.
Featured Course

How to Learn Physics

While traditional physics courses begin with ideas and then teach students how to apply those ideas to phenomena, How to Learn Physics flips the order by beginning with an occurrence and using ideas to make sense of it. In this way, students are more likely to understand the utility of the ideas, which are not just facts to be memorized, but rather ways of understanding a phenomenon.