Undergraduate Secondary Education Program
GVSU's Secondary Education program will prepare you to teach grades 6-12 in the subject areas you select. You will select a major and a minor from the list of subject areas below.
In Fall 2021, the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) established new certification structures for teachers, which include new Middle School (grades 5th-9th) and High School (grades 7th-12th) grade bands. The new Secondary programs are expected to begin in Fall of 2024. Information about the new grade bands will be shared once the new programs are approved both by GVSU and the Michigan Department of Education.
To earn Secondary Teacher Certification, all GVSU students must complete the Education major through the College of Education and Community Innovation, and subject area majors/minors through the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Courses in this program meet Michigan Department of Education requirements for Secondary Education.
In the subject area majors and minors, students learn content and pedagogy in the specific subject areas they wish to teach. Faculty engage students in discipline-specific teaching and learning, opportunities for research and scholarly activity in the disciplines, experiences in area classrooms and in the community, and study abroad programs.
The Education major is designed for students seeking certification at the Secondary level. Students in the Education program can earn certification to teach in grades 6th-12th. In the Education major, novice teachers are prepared to address the needs of the whole child; use relevant, research-based criteria to establish a supportive, engaging environment that fosters learning; and use practices that meet individual learners needs. Students complete structured field experiences embedded throughout the program.
Subject Areas for Secondary Education Majors and Minors
Note that most Education majors/minors require students maintain a 2.70 GPA or higher, unless otherwise noted.
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Secondary Education Standalone Majors |
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Social Studies (Secondary) (3.0 GPA) |
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Visual Arts Education (K-12) (3.0 GPA) |
Courses
A list of Education courses may be viewed on the Education programs’ Course List page.
Information on the courses for each subject area can be found by searching GVSU's Catalog.