Education Department

Teaching is an art, not a science. A great knowledge of the subject matter doesn’t help your students if you don’t know how to present it in the classroom. You also must know how to tap into your students’ lives and know how they think, how they struggle, where their passions lie, and how cultural influences affect them.

Education majors at Franciscan University learn the art of teaching the whole person: opening minds with truth and forming hearts through a loving concern. In your classes you will learn how to bring the rich Catholic understanding of human dignity into every teaching situation, helping your students be formed in body, mind, and spirit.

Franciscan offers four different licensure programs: early childhood, middle childhood, adolescent to young adult, and intervention specialist (mild/moderate needs). Each program deals with the challenges faced by that particular group and how to help those students. All of the programs cover the basics of running a class, as well as philosophies of education techniques and approaches, and how to navigate different school environments.

Field experience begin early in the program, where you get to see put into action the theories you learn in the classroom. The many andvaried classrooms you observe through the years, along with student teaching during your final senior semester provide you a healthy base of experience to draw upon down the road.

The total program includes 36 hours of class work in education classes, followed by the Teacher Education Program. This program is rigorous. It will require a serious commitment of your time and energy, but the rewards are well worth the hours spent. Our graduates leave prepared to face the challenges of education, and to guide their students to develop intellectually, morally, and spiritually.

Sample Program | Course Descriptions

FIRST YEAR

First Semester	Second Semester
Introduction to Exceptional Individual	Math in Early & Middle Grades II
Foundations of Education	Studies in Poetry
Freshman Eng. I, Freshman Eng. II, or Adv. Compositions	Speech Comm. or Oral Interpretation
Mathematics for Early & Middle Grades	History of the U.S. II
Computers & Instr. Technology	Early Experience I
History of the U.S. I

SECOND YEAR

First Semester	Second Semester
Nature & Needs of Early Adolescents	Foundations of Ethics
Human Development	Principles of Economics
African American Experience	History of Civilization I
Phonics & History of Language	American Literature to 1865
Survey of Biology	Theology elective
Geography & the Environment	Christian Moral Principles

THIRD YEAR

First Semester	Second Semester
Early Experience II	Women Writers
Content Area Reading	Middle School Curriculum Methods & Management
Teaching Reading	Rhetoric
Teaching Writing as a Process	Grammar & Its Teaching Methods
Child & Adolescent Literature	Physical Science
Race & Minority

FOURTH YEAR

First Semester	Second Semester
Early Experience III: Community Involvement	Teaching Strategies
Teaching Language Arts	Middle Childhood Student Teaching
Reading Diagnosis & Assessment	Student Teaching Seminar
Teaching Integrated Social Studies for Middle & Adolescent Grades
Educational Psychology
American National Government

FIRST YEAR

First Semester	Second Semester
Freshman Eng. I, Freshman Eng. II, or Adv. Composition	Math in Early & Middle Grades II
Phonics & History of Language	Elements of Geometry
Introduction to Exceptional Individual	Speech Comm. or Oral Interpretation
Foundations of Education	General Zoology
Human Development	Early Experience I

SECOND YEAR

First Semester	Second Semester
Pollution of the Environment	Humanities Core: Literature
General Botany	Humanities Core:  History
Computers & Instructional Technology	Humanities Core
Educational Psychology	Theology elective
AYA Math III	Christian Moral Principles
Finite Math	Philosophy of the Human Person

THIRD YEAR

First Semester	Second Semester
Early Experience II	Problem Solving & Assessment in Middle & Adolescent Grades
Nature & Needs of Early Adolescents	Middle School Curriculum Methods & Management
Concepts of Ecology	Analytic Geometry & Calculus I
Mathematics Methods in Early & Middle Grades	Human Embryology
Teaching Reading	Content Area Reading
Precaculus	Science Practicum

FOURTH YEAR

First Semester	Second Semester
Early Experience III: Community Involvement	Teaching Strategies
Reading Diagnosis & Assessment	Middle Childhood Student Teaching
General Chemistry	Student Teaching Seminar
Discrete Mathematics
Foundations of Ethics

FIRST YEAR

First Semester	Second Semester
Foundations of Education	Speech Comm. or Oral Interpretation
Freshman Eng. I, Freshman Eng. II, or Adv. Comp.	Math in Early & Middle Grades II
Math for Early & Middle Grades	Early Experience I
Human Development	Race & Minority
Phonics & History of Language	Nutrition & Health
Foundations of Theology or Intro. to Scripture	Phys. Science with Natural Sci Lab or Survey of Phys. Sci.

SECOND YEAR

First Semester	Second Semester
Geography & the Environment	Foundations of Ethics
Christian Moral Principles	Philosophy of the Human Person
Intro. to Exceptional Individual	Humanities Core
Computers & Instructional Technology I	Humanities Core: Literature
Survey of Biology	Humanities Core:  History
Early Childhood Education

THIRD YEAR

First Semester	Second Semester
Early Experience II	Methods & Management of Young Children
Teaching Language Arts	Active Learning for Young Children in Science & Social Studies
Children’s Literature	Math Methods in Early & Middle Grades
Young Children w. Mild/Moderate Needs	Teaching Reading
Art for Young Children	Content Area Reading
	Activities, Games & Drama for the Young Child

FOURTH YEAR

First Semester	Second Semester
Early Experience III: Community Involvement	Teaching Strategies
Identification & Assessment of Young Children w. Special Needs	Early Childhood Student Teaching
Reading Diagnosis & Assessment	Student Teaching Seminar
Educational Psychology
Music for Young Children Middle School Curriculum Methods

Meet the Faculty

• Dr. Mary K. McVey, Chair
• Dr. Tiffany Boury
• Dr. Kaybeth E. Calabria
• Prof. Susan Poyo
• Dr. Mary Lucille Smith