Licensure in English Education


"I shall ... straight conduct ye to a hillside, where I will point ye out the right path of a virtuous and noble education; laborious indeed at the first ascent, but else so smooth, so green, so full of goodly prospect and melodious sounds on every side, that the harp of Orpheus was not more charming."

John Milton  (1608-1674)
Of Education

General Requirements for Licensure in English: 

  • Completion of the College requirements for graduation including the core curriculum requirements.
  • Completion of the requirements for an English major. Students obtaining a license in English Education must complete ENG 231: Young Adult Literature as part of their major.
  • Completion of the requirements for the Teacher Education Program.

Course Requirements:

  • EDU 121 (History of Educational Theory and Practice)
  • EDU 242 (Educational Psychology and Teaching Exceptionalities)
  • EDU 240 (Reading, 'Riting, and Race), 250 (Multicultural Education), or 260 (Social Diversity and Inequality in Education)
  • EDU 400 (Organization for Teaching)
  • EDU 410-411 (Internship in Teaching)
  • EDU 420 (Seminar in Secondary Education)

Other Requirements:

  • Minimum scores on the Praxis Series or minimum scores on the SAT
  • Students will need to meet the requirements for admission to the Program and admission to student teaching.
  • Candidates must demonstrate their qualifications as Future-Ready Educators by providing the six required pieces of evidence as described here . 

To demonstrate depth of content for Evidence #2,

students must submit a major research paper on a topic of their choice, such as a particular author, a particular literary period, or a particular critical movement.  It is expected that the level of research will exceed superficial or common expertise for the topic.  In other words, it must reflect in-depth scholarly research and analysis, rather than a broad overview of the topic.

 

Directions to Students

 

Students planning to earn secondary English licensure are required to submit a major research paper on a topic of their choice.   This requirement can be met by revising an honors thesis or by revising a paper done in the context of a 300- or 400-level English class, seminar, or independent study.   Regardless of the paper’s genesis, it will be evaluated as a unique product by the chair of the Department of Education and the Davidson faculty member who currently serves as the English Education representative to the Teacher Education Committee.  It is expected that the level of research will exceed superficial or common expertise for the topic.  In other words, it must reflect in-depth scholarly research and analysis, rather than a broad overview of the topic.  Further, the structure of the paper must include the following.

 

  • Cover page.  Include your name, the title of your paper, and the date submitted to the Department of Education.
  • Table of contents.  Design your Table of Contents in such a way that your reader will find it helpful in navigating the contents of your project.
  • One page abstract.  This is a summation of the key points found during your research exploration.
  • Introduction.  Here you will outline the issue to be studied and explain why it is worthy of significant research analysis.
  • Summary of previous scholarship.  This is a brief (about two pages) summary of previous scholarly investigation of your topic.  This will provide a context for the main body of your research that is to follow.  You should be careful to make sure that this is a brief document unto itself; in other words, it should be a clear and coherent essay, rather than an annotated bibliography or a series of disjointed paragraphs summarizing previous work.
  • The Research Study. The body of your paper. Here you will present your research findings.
  • Conclusion. Summarize your main findings and then explain the importance of your research.  In other words, explain why your work is important.  This is also a good place to speculate what further lines of inquiry might be fruitful for future research.
  • Bibliography or Works Cited pages.  This section should include sources that were actually cited in the paper.   If you would like, you can also include a list of Works Consulted.  Be sure everything is documented according to an accepted scholarly format such as APA, MLA, Chicago, Turabian, etc.
  • Summary of research methods. Here you will provide a detailed summary of the research practices and methods employed during the writing of your paper.  For instance, you will want to explain how you arrived at your topic and what kind of background work went into narrowing and focusing your inquiry.  Also, you will explain how you collected your initial information and what changes occurred during your research—i.e., how your topic became more refined as you continued with your work.  Other items that you will want to include should refer to what databases you used, what people you spoke with who helped during your research, difficulties you had in gathering certain information, treasures you stumbled on accidentally while browsing the stacks.  In short, you will want to explain your trials and tribulations encountered during this project.
  • Note. The total length of the paper should stay roughly between 15-25 double spaced pages, not counting bibliography, table of contents, summary of research methods, and abstract.

Standards for High School English Teachers

The following standards are mandated by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and are imbedded in the specialty area coursework.

Standard 1:  English teachers demonstrate knowledge and use of reading processes through the use of a wide range of text. 

  • Demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of and an ability to use varied theories and teaching applications for text representing a global, multi-cultural, historical, and contemporary spectrum of literature.
  • Demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of and an ability to use varied teaching applications for a range of works of literary theory and criticism and an understanding of their effect on reading and interpretive approaches.
  • Demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of and an ability to use varied theories and teaching applications of a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate text appropriate to high school.

Standard 2:  English teachers demonstrate the knowledge and use of multiple composing processes.

  • Demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of and an ability to use varied theories and teaching applications of print and non-print text.
  • Demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of and an ability to use varied teaching applications that integrate time for and practice of composition in all aspects of learning.   
  • Demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of and an ability to use varied theories and teaching applications of aesthetic and rhetorical conventions. 

Standard 3:  English teachers demonstrate the knowledge and use of the function, the influence, and the diversity of language.

  • Demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of and an ability to connect reading, writing, speaking, listening and viewing processes.
  • Demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of and an ability to use varied theories and teaching applications of the conventions of English appropriate to the purpose, audience, and context.
  • Demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of and an ability to use individual language acquisition and development, recognizing the impacts of cultural, economic, political, and social environments upon language.

Standard 4:  English teachers demonstrate the knowledge and use of the integrated practices of multimodal literacies.

  • Demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of and an ability to integrate a variety of instructional strategies and assessments to develop understanding of media, visual, aural, and critical literacies.
  • Demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of and an ability to use multimodality as a way to enhance or transform the meaning of composing, reading, and analyzing print and non-print communication.
  • Demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of and an ability to acquire, organize, evaluate, and creatively use multimodal information.

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