History Major for Teacher Certification (B.A.)

Basic Objectives

The History Education Major and Minor at Saginaw Valley State University are designed to provide prospective teachers with a firm grounding in history as an academic discipline in preparation for a career in education. Such a grounding includes substantial and diverse content knowledge in American, European and World History, analytical and interpretive skills, the writing and evaluation of historical argumentation, and the instructional skills needed to teach history on the secondary school level. The curriculum summarized below is directly aligned with the Michigan State Board of Education’s 2009 Standards and Benchmarks for History and reflects substantial coordination between the Departments of History and Teacher Education.

Program Description

Core courses: 27 credits
Elective courses: 21 credits
Methods course: 3 credits
Total credits in content major = 51

Students must also complete a certifiable minor and secondary education professional studies course work.

All history courses teach students to formulate historical questions and to construct narratives and interpretations. Issues of diversity, including race, ethnicity, class, and gender are not only addressed in individual classes on both the survey and upper division level, but also by the structure of the program which requires that students take courses across three regional/global content categories.