The following pre-major is recommended for students who are considering completing a Bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education in a Humanities, Behavioral / Social Sciences, or Arts field after transferring to a four-year institution. It is designed for students who have not decided upon a specific four-year college or university. Education pre-majors are strongly encouraged to choose a transfer school as soon as possible. Once a transfer school is selected, students are encouraged to follow the specific notes for that school, consult the Education Department Co-Chair and the Office of Advising, Transitions, and Student Success at Oakton, as well as the College of Education at the desired transfer school.
A grade of “B” or better is required by Colleges of Education in EDN courses and PSY 201. An overall GPA of 2.75 or higher is required for admission to most Colleges of Education. Students are highly encouraged to ensure they have the required minimum ACT or SAT scores set by their transfer College of Education, prior to graduating from Oakton. Students complete at least 45 pre-clinical hours in local K-12 schools as part of their Education courses at Oakton. Students are encouraged to use summer/winterim/interim sessions in order to spread out the work load. Maintaining the sequence of courses is recommended.
For more information on course selection or program-specific advising, contact the department co-chair. Part time students should also consult the Office of Advising, Transitions, and Student Success for part-time pre-major recommendations. Students placed in developmental English or Math are encouraged to maintain the recommended sequence of courses over more semesters. General Education courses should be selected from the list of IAI General Education Courses.
| First Year | ||
|---|---|---|
| Semester One | Hours | |
| EGL 101 | Composition I | 3 |
| EDN 101 | Introduction to Education (includes 15 pre-clinical hours) | 3 |
| EDN 104 | Pre-Clinical Observation in Education (optional) | 1 |
| Select one of the following: | 3 | |
| Ethics | ||
| World Religions 1 | ||
| Asian Philosophy 1 | ||
| Modern and Contemporary Philosophy | ||
| Select one of the following (all 3 required by many Colleges of Education): | 3 | |
| Introduction to Social and Cultural Anthropology 1 | ||
| American Government | ||
| United States History to 1877 or United States History from 1877 | ||
| Select one Humanities/Fine Arts course | 3 | |
| Hours | 15-16 | |
| Semester Two | ||
| EGL 102 | Composition II | 3 |
| EDN 180 | Diversity in School and Society | 3 |
| MAT 131 | Elementary Statistics (or another Mathematics course) | 4 |
| Select one of the following: | 3 | |
| Introduction to Global Literature 1 | ||
| Multicultural Literature in the U.S. 2 | ||
| LGBTQ+ Literature 2 | ||
| Women and Literature 2 | ||
| Introduction to African-American Literature 2 | ||
| Introduction to Native American Literature 3 | ||
| Western Culture and the Arts: Beginnings through the Middle Ages | ||
| Western Culture and the Arts: Renaissance through the 20th Century | ||
| Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies 2 | ||
| Introduction to LGBTQ Studies 2 | ||
| Women and Creativity 2 | ||
| Asian Humanities 1 | ||
| Select one course in your area of study (see Note 2) | 3 | |
| Hours | 16 | |
| Second Year | ||
| Semester One | ||
| SPE 103 | Effective Speech | 3 |
| EDN/PSY 201 | Educational Psychology (includes 12 pre-clinical hours) | 3 |
| Select one Life Science course with lab: | 4 | |
| Introduction to Life Science (lab) | ||
| Introduction to Environmental Science (lab) 1 | ||
| Select one of the following (all three required by many Colleges of Education): | 3 | |
| Introduction to Social and Cultural Anthropology 1 | ||
| American Government | ||
| United States History to 1877 or United States History from 1877 | ||
| Select one course in your area of study (see Note 2) | 3 | |
| Hours | 16 | |
| Semester Two | ||
| EDN 280 | Educating Exceptional Learners (includes 20 pre-clinical hours) | 3 |
| Select one Physical Science course: | 3-4 | |
| Introduction to Earth Science (lab) | ||
| Physical Geography | ||
| Environmental Geology | ||
| Select one of the following (all 3 required by many Colleges of Education): | 3 | |
| Introduction to Social and Cultural Anthropology 1 | ||
| American Government | ||
| United States History to 1877 or United States History from 1877 | ||
| Select one course in your area of study (see Note 2) | 3 | |
| Select an Art, Performing Arts, or Modern Language course(s) | 2-4 | |
| Hours | 14-17 | |
| Total Hours | 61-65 | |
- 1
Course fulfills the Global Studies requirement. At least one Global Studies course is required for degree completion.
- 2
Course fulfills the U.S. Diversity Studies requirement. At least one U.S. Diversity Studies course is required for degree completion.
- 3
Course fulfills both the Global Studies and U.S. Diversity Studies requirements.
Note 1: Pre-major is a recommended sequence and selection of courses. See Associate in Arts (A.A.) page for degree requirements.
Note 2: Secondary Education students major in the area they plan to teach, once they transfer to a College of Education (e,g, high school English teachers major in English, History teachers major in History, etc.). In addition, students will complete the required Education methods courses and student teaching at the transfer institution. To determine which courses to take within the area of study, students should consult their intended transfer institution and the Oakton pre-major in that discipline, if available. Some transfer institutions limit the overall number of credits they will accept as transfer toward a particular degree (e.g. a limit of 3 History courses allowed to transfer toward a BA in History). If the student has reached that limit and has not yet completed 60 credits toward an AA degree at Oakton, the student should choose general elective credits related to their field instead of credits in their discipline of study.