教师的工作总是在变化. Remember that old image of the schoolmarm in the one-room schoolhouse, guiding youngsters of all ages through the worlds of reading, 写作和算术? That went away when one-room school houses disappeared. Today’s educators need to be many things and occupy many roles, 不只是在教室里, 但是在学校里, 即使是社区. 

威尼斯游戏大厅’s education department moves briskly to keep abreast of trends so that students are well-prepared for the ever-changing workplace they’ll encounter. That means new courses, certificates, even master’s programs. And it means recognizing that not all those who study education end up in a classroom.

Think about it: there are plenty of places where learning occurs, and there are plenty of people other than traditional classroom educators doing the teaching. 除了, many people outside 在教室里 make decisions or otherwise influence educational policy.

来自自然中心的扬声器, 致人力资源主管, to municipal office holders such as school board members, 社区组织者，甚至神职人员, 无数的人从事教育, 博士指出. Kim White, associate professor and chair of the education department.

To meet these diverse needs, Carroll now offers both an undergraduate major and a minor in educational studies as well as a graduate certificate in community and civic engagement and a master’s in adult, 社区及专业教育.

“We know that people can have a calling around service and teaching but discover that the structure of a K-12 classroom wasn’t the right fit for them,怀特说. “The fit was really the calling, and they can do that in many settings other than a classroom.”

The revised educational studies major provides insights into human development, educational psychology and the history and philosophy of education. 像这样, the skills and knowledge it provides will help prepare students for careers in wide variety of occupations in 业务, government positions and community and non-profit organizations. Students in the major will explore issues facing education, understand a variety of factors that can impact an individual’s educational opportunity and develop an awareness of cognitive, 社会, emotional and physical development and diversity in education.

The major offers a capstone research project and an internship that can be targeted to career interests. 重要的是, 这个专业只需要34个学分, so that it is easier to pair with another major related to a student’s career interests.

这也是为读研做准备. 例如, students pursuing a career as a school psychologist would find either the educational studies major or minor useful. Even the minor can be targeted to line up with career aspirations.

这门辅修与艺术专业很相配, 业务, 刑事司法, 音乐疗法, 护理, 政治科学, 心理学与公共卫生, 等. Knowledge of child development and educational psychology would be useful for parole officers, 例如, 谁和青少年或年轻人一起工作.

The new certificate in community and civic engagement can be taken as a stand-alone program or combined with a certificate in adult learning for a master’s in adult, 社区及专业教育.

The courses in the certificate will encourage frequent engagement with the student’s own community, 以及对他人的探索. That means stepping outside one’s own bubble and encountering different viewpoints. Students will identify and tackle issues in their communities and develop public work projects, experientially learning civic engagement and developing essential community-building skills.

其中最主要的是公众审议, the development of channels through which meaningful dialog can occur. Listening leads to understanding, which leads to agreed truths. Which leads, it is hoped, to a more productive democratic process.

It’s no accident that the certificate arrives in the midst of a fractious time in our nation’s politics. It’s been hard to miss the changing tone of politics in the past year. 游行, 集会, online petitions and 社会 media campaigns have flourished in the contentious soil of national politics. The result is a democracy that sometimes seems bruised, if not fractured. If it’s all made you wonder how you can best participate in the political process and how we can get along better, 你并不孤单. People on both sides want to reach across the aisle and talk. People are realizing they do have more agency in democracy. Relying on the political professionals to hand down government is only part of the answer. 人们正在寻求更多的发言权. The courses in the certificate are designed to empower citizens.

“教育 is embedded throughout our communities,” White noted. “这个项目认识到了这一点. 这不一定是为了学位而教育. 这就是专业发展. 这就是自我的发展.”

It is also recognition of the fact that education in America has always been closely tied to civic life, 这是健康的, functioning democracy is dependent on well-informed citizens. This program is driven in part by a recognition that today’s citizens need support to better engage in civic activities.

And, like the educational studies major and minor, it moves teaching beyond the classroom. “教育 is a function of society,” notes White, “not just of schools.”