Robyn Page
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Major/minor project
week 4, class 2


A major and minor field of study are the areas in which college students focus their learning. For education students, this allows us to be certified in those two fields. The major and the minor provide in-depth knowledge of the fields and requires that the students have an extremely good grasp of the ideas contained within the field in order to complete the major or minor. Upon graduation my major will be french, and my minor will most likely be social studies.
In the Academic catalogue, there are descriptions of both the French and Social Studies majors and minors. Social Studies is a minor that is offered only as a part of the education department. The description of the social studies program says that “the purpose of social studies education is to develop the knowledge, intellectual skills, and civic values necessary for fulfilling the duties of citizenship in participatory democracy,... offers students an opportunity for their personal preparation as global citizens, the teaching of social studies,or graduate study of the teaching of social studies.”
French is a major that is not dependant on the education department like the social studies major and minor. The description of the French program includes such statements as: “In studying foreign languages, students aquire not only a linguistic skill, but also an understanding of other peoples’ literature, histories, and cultures,... The French program emphasizes listening, reading, writing, and speaking,... Faculty members... counsel students regarding career choices in foreign service, music, high school and college instruction... French majors at Kalamazoo College have traditionally done well in obtaining French government teaching assistantships for teaching English in France.”
The french department here at Kalamazoo College will meet and work with students who help make sure that students are prepared for teaching assistantships. They have a history of helping students prepare for both high school and graduate instruction and also have had students who have been able to obtain government teaching assistantships to allow them to teach in France. To ensure that they have the best candidates for teaching, a department representative (ie. the student’s advisor), will meet with the student to discuss their readiness and make sure that they have taken the necessary courses, and that they will be knowledgeable about the language when teaching it. In advanced level French courses, students are expected to make presentations to the rest of the class explaining a part of the litterature that we have just read. This is an example of how the students are prepared for a teaching situation. We need to present our thought and ideas in front of a class, and we get feedback from the teacher as to how well we did, and on what we could improve upon.
The social Studies department is part of the education department . It has a history of allowing students to get the required courses to fulfill the requirement for the certification in social studies, which allows for those who receive it to teach seventh through 12 grade for up to six years. Being tied to the education department, this helps to make sure that the students are prepared for their teaching assistantships. Because of it connection to the teaching department, students are very likely to be placed into a teaching position. This department makes sure that all the courses that are required are present and that the students have the opportunity to take the classes that they need, and being tied to the education department helps them to provide strong teaching candidates. This minor requires that the student takes courses in many different fields, including history, economics, and political science. It also requires that the student take several education courses, providing a way to connect the courses with some ideas about teaching.
The college’s expectations prepare candidate for licensure because the required courses cover the needed areas for certification. The deparments are willing to work with the studethe nts to provide the best possible teacher candidates, they are willing to meet with students in order to ensure that the state requirements have been met as well as the colleges requirement for the major.
The requirements of the state and those of the college are very similar, both require that the student has a background in the subject area and require that you can show your knowledge. The college has made it so the courses required for a French major will coincide with the courses that you would need in order to be certified for teaching, and the social studies minor is connected to the education department, so it includes all areas of study necessary for state assessments.