
The Minnesota teacher licensure program in Communication Arts and Literature prepares students for teaching middle and secondary school. This program requires courses in linguistics, literature, writing, and writing pedagogy. It requires, therefore, early and careful planning.
COJO 100 Public Speaking (4 credits) (formerly COMM 100)
COJO 211 Communication Theories and Methods (4 credits) (formerly COMM 120)*
COJO 212 Rhetorical Criticism (4 credits) (formerly COMM 140)*
COJO 260 Electronic Media Production (4 credits) (formerly COMM 160)*
*To register for COJO courses without the prerequisite of COJO 111, please contact the chair of Communication and Journalism in advance of registration. COJO 111 is not required for licensure, but a student completing COJO 111, one of the three COJO courses listed in the English section above (COJO 326, 328, or 426), and the four COJO courses required for licensure will have completed a minor in Communication and Journalism.
Block I
EDUC 210 Education's Place in Society (4 credits)
NOTE: 30 hour field experience must be completed during this course
EDUC 212 Human Relations & Multicultural Education (4 credits)
NOTE: Cross-listed during the summer with TEGR 512
PRAXIS 1 exam (PPST) required for admission to the program
Block II
EDUC 330 Psychology for Teaching and Learning (4 credits)
PREREQUISITE: EDUC 210
EDUC 332 Field Experience II: Learning and Teaching (0 credits)
NOTE: This 30 hour field experience must be taken concurrently with EDUC 330
EDUC 345 Adolescent Literature (2 credits)
PREREQUISITE: EDUC 210; Usually offered in late afternoon/evening
EDUC 355 Reading for the 5-12 Teacher (4 credits)
PREREQUISITE: EDUC 210; Usually offered in late afternoon/evening; also offered in summer
Block III
EDUC 381 Curriculum and Methods for Specific Discipline (5-12) (4 credits)
PREREQUISITE: EDUC 330 & Education program admittance; meets late afternoon once a
week
EDUC 383 Field Experience III: Curriculum and Instruction (0 credits)
NOTE: This 30 hour field experience must be taken concurrently with EDUC 381
Block IV
In order to student teach and complete the Education program, the English major and EDUC 381 and EDUC 383 must already be completed. The PRAXIS II exam is also usually taken prior to student teaching.
EDUC 456 Inclusive School Communities (2 credits)
NOTE: Portions of this course are completed in Blocks I, II, and III
EDUC 460 Clinical Practice: Student Teaching and Seminar (10 credits)
Demonstrated competence on all state required standards
Because of the number of courses required under Plan A, it is difficult for students to graduate in four years unless they take twenty credits worth of coursework instead of the standard sixteen credits during the regular semester and/or do coursework in J-Term or Summer Session I and/or II.
Under Plan A, students earn more than the minimum 132 credits required for a baccalaureate degree at St. Thomas; in most cases, students will earn anywhere from 142 credits (34 in Education, 44 in English, 20 in Communication and Journalism, and 44 in general education) to 154 credits for those that have not already fulfilled their Foreign Language requirement (an additional 12 credits). Those who prefer to begin their teacher licensure at the undergraduate level and complete it at the post-baccalaureate level should consider Plan B.
Please contact Dr. Brenda Powell in the English Department or Dr. Margaret Reif in the Teacher Education Department.
Students seeking elementary licensure (K-6) with a 5-8 specialty in Communication Arts and Literature may complete the standard English major, the English major with a Writing Emphasis, or the English major with a Teacher Education Emphasis. For a complete listing of requirements in the elementary education area, please see pages 125-126 in the Education section of the 2008-2010 Undergraduate Catalog.