FASTFACTS

  • The PC Teacher Education Program is accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP)and approved by the South Carolina State Department of Education.
  • Employer survey data indicate a high degree of satisfaction with the abilities of PC teacher graduates and programs.
  • Approximately 95 percent of PC educators remain in the teaching profession after three years, compared to the national average of 50%.

What You’ll Study as a Middle School Social Studies Major

When you become a middle school social studies teacher, you’ll introduce students to some of the greatest lessons and events in human history. You’ll also open their eyes to the world around them. To prepare you, you’ll take courses in American history, geography, and political science. 

As a middle school social studies major, you’ll also take courses such as Middle School Philosophy & Organization, Teaching Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students, and Adolescent Development to prepare you for instructing this age group. 

You can observe real classroom settings before student teaching during the final semester of your senior year. You’ll do everything that is expected of a middle school social studies teacher, but you’ll have guidance too. Your cooperating teacher and a faculty member in PC’s Department of Education will meet with you regularly to help you along the way.

As a capstone to the major, you conduct a comprehensive project or original research in middle school education. During this process, you will learn to read and interpret research articles, plan a research study, collect data, analyze data and present research findings to your peers, PC faculty, and your family.

MORE INFORMATION

CO = Co-requisite
POI = Permissions of Instructor
PR = Pre-requisite
RE = Recommended
XL = Cross-listed

CAREER OUTCOMES

Middle school social studies teachers work in public, private and charter schools. According to PayScale, the average salary of a middle school language arts teacher is $47,804. Those who go on to earn a graduate or doctoral degree also have the opportunity to teach at the college or university levels.

Eighty-two percent of PC education graduates begin their teaching careers right after they graduate. PC education students are well-prepared for the national licensure examinations and experience a high pass rate. Our graduates are employed in rural, urban and suburban areas across the United States. Some go abroad to teach. 

PC education majors become school teachers, principals, district office administrators and school board members. Majoring in education doesn’t mean you can only teach after you graduate. You may choose to pursue a career outside the classroom. In recent years, some PC education majors have become IT professionals, school counselors, and speech-language pathologists.

CAREER PROFESSIONS

FACULTY

Dr. Patricia Jones

Professor of Education & Director of Teacher Education

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Dr. Julia Wilkins

Associate Professor of Education

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