Prepare for a rewarding career tackling the educational challenges of the 21st century with Widener’s early elementary education and special education undergraduate program.
Widener’s Education program will prepare you for certification in early elementary education and special education, allowing for a greater range of job opportunities. Our experienced faculty are dedicated to helping you succeed from the start.
You will receive hands-on experience from your very first education course, by taking part in field experience at our cooperating schools.
View the Loading... for curriculum and coursework requirements.
Our program prepares you to apply for Instructional I certification in Elementary Education grades Pre-K–4 and Special Education through the State of Pennsylvania.
Teacher candidates in the Pre-K-4/Special Education program participate in the Community Engaged Teacher Education (CETE) program beginning in the fall semester of their senior year and the following semester, continue on to complete student teaching, providing students with a full year of public school residency and teaching before graduation.
The culminating experience in preparing students seeking certification is a full-time, 14-week, student teaching experience during the senior year. This experience builds on the Community Engaged Teacher Education (CETE) program and is designed to provide candidates with the opportunity to put into practice all the principles and techniques learned throughout their coursework.
Our undergraduate program in early elementary education and special education gives you a solid foundation for entering the teaching profession with confidence and experience under your belt.
At Widener, we give you hands-on experience from your very first education class, where you’ll work with children at local schools. You will also have the opportunity to do fieldwork at the Widener Child Development Center and Widener Partnership Charter School.
We are committed to helping you become a capable teacher, to close the opportunity gap for students in diverse urban settings. Our CETE program places you in a Stetser Elementary School classroom—and with a community mentor in the city of Chester—with the intent of developing cultural proficiency and culturally-relevant pedagogy.
Our professors' leadership and research are shaping the education field. Get to know our early elementary education and special education faculty.
"My teaching focuses upon cognitive processing and application. In this regard, critical literacy complements the cognitive learning process. Critical literacy is the ability to actively read a text that promotes an understanding of social concepts and human relationships."
"My interests include brain development, literacy development, and applications of technology in research and instruction. My greatest excitement in teaching comes from the way that working with graduate students spills over to my teaching of undergraduates and vice versa."
"I believe classroom culture should include opportunities to create community through social justice values, respect, and equality for everyone. Teachers must include students' needs and interests, their knowledge from personal experiences, interactions, opportunities to explore hands-on activities, social-emotional regulation through positive behavior supports, and self-constructed inquiry and knowledge through questioning."
"Learning to be a teacher requires discipline and hard work. Learning to be great teacher requires passion and a deep dedication to the many and diverse children that we serve."
"I have authored or co-authored 15 publications in top-tier education journals and am honored to be a highly rated online professor of Widener students."
A series of science fairs hosted by Widener elementary teacher candidates shows the creativity and resiliency of the students, their teachers, and a community-focused program.
When COVID-19 forced the closure of K-12 schools in mid-March, Widener student teachers found themselves embarking on a new partnership with Agora Cyber Charter School.
Widener’s undergraduate and graduate special education programs provide aspiring teachers with the tools they need to find success in a growing and evolving field.
With a Widener degree, you will have the inside track to a noble career as a teacher. You will shape the education and growth of future generations.
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