ACADEMICS - Pre-Primary Specialty
Preprimary Specialty requirements:
The Preprimary specialty license program will prepare students to teach children ages 3, 4 and 5 in preschool settings. It is not a “stand alone” license, and will be added to increase the breadth of the Elementary Teaching license. Elementary Education majors are required by the Minnesota Department of Education’s Board of Teaching, to have a Middle School License in Math, Science, Language Arts/Literature or Social Studies, or a Preprimary Teaching License as part of the Elementary teaching license.
Course requirements:
Six courses and Student Teaching are required for the specialty. Classes are available to undergraduate and graduate students. Three courses come from the Social and Behavioral sciences, two of which are required prior to taking the education courses. Three classes, developed by the Education Department, will focus on teaching methods and learning environments for young children. These courses need to be taken in sequence in a single academic year. Field experiences hours will be required for these courses. After the completion of all classes, candidates will student teach for 14 weeks, half in preprimary or kindergarten and half in a grade, 1-6.
Classes required for a Preprimary Teaching license include:
1. PSY 105 General Psychology - Prerequisite
2. PSY 250 Child Development - Prerequisite
3. SPE 440 Parent and Professional Planning (evening/weekend)
or SOC 231 Family Systems (day)
4. ECE 345/545 Foundations of Preprimary Education (fall)
5. ECE 346546 Learning Environments for Preprimary-aged Children (winter)
6. ECE 347/547 Immersion and Teaching Competence (spring)
7. ECE 488, 489 Student Teaching
The program will include substantial learning time in the field in preprimary settings, including settings within the city of Minneapolis in collaboration with our community relations staff. In ECE 347/547, faculty will be coaching and collaborating with the field site teacher/s to encourage reflection, support and recognize the teaching competence of our students. The three core classes will be taught by a team of faculty, in the spirit of Early Childhood settings where teachers do not "teach alone."
Already licensed teachers can work towards the MAE degree through the following two options:
Special Education Course Descriptions
Reading Endorsement Course Descriptions
