Education Studies Minor
Minor Description
The Minor in Education Studies (EDST) helps students understand education and its relationship to society. Students will critically analyze educational institutions, practices, and theory—from early childhood through adulthood—using local, national, and global lenses. Foundational courses provide a background in the philosophy, history, and psychology of education, and further study illuminates aspects such as human development and cognition, pedagogy, curriculum design, methodologies, and sociocultural approaches. Rounding out their academic work, students in the minor will gain direct insight through a hands-on practicum experience.
Admission to the Minor
In order to declare the minor, students must first attend at least three events sponsored by the College, one of which must be academic in nature, and turn in a short reflection on each event. These reflections should be emailed to CES@wesleyan.edu. After review of the submitted reflections, students will be informed that they may declare the minor via their WesPortal.
Any student interested in Education Studies should join our Wesleyan Education Network email list where different members of the education studies community post events, opportunities, and more. You can subscribe to the list by emailing wesleyan-education-network-glist+subscribe@wesleyan.edu.
Minor Requirements
Students must take a minimum of 4.5 credits plus a practicum experience equivalent to at least .5 credit, for a total of 5.0 credits. Some courses can count toward different requirements, but students need to choose which requirement is being fulfilled by which course: an individual student cannot use the same course to fulfill multiple requirements toward the Minor. After declaring the minor students will meet with an advisor to map out their academic plan.
Students can use the same course to fulfill requirements in two academic programs (for example, a cross-listed course in ITAL and EDST could count toward both the EDST Minor and the ITST Major), if that is acceptable to the other department.
These are the requirements for the Minor in Education Studies:
- Core Course (1 credit)
- Category 1: Cognition, Development, & Science of Learning (1 credit)
- Category 2: Social and Structural Analyses of Education (1 credit)
- Category 3: Research Methods & Data Analysis (1 credit)
- Pedagogy (.5 credit minimum)
- Practicum (.5 credit or equivalent)
The courses may be completed in any order consistent with their prerequisites.
Course Petitions
Students can always petition to substitute a different course to meet any Education Studies requirement by completing this petition form. The petition form asks students to justify the substitution and, for non-Wesleyan courses, to upload a syllabus or other supporting information. Students will be notified if their petition requests are approved. Once approved, they can request the override in their Minor or Major Certification page in WesPortal.
Course Lists and Archive
The following course list is a representative, but not comprehensive, list of courses that may count towards the Education Studies Major. This list is intended to provide an example of the types of courses that fall into each category. For all current Education Studies courses and a comprehensive archive of all courses ever offered by the College, click the link above.
Courses that have specific prerequisites that must first be completed are indicated with an asterisk.
Core Course
Students must take one foundational course in Education Studies that broadly covers the field.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Foundations (1 credit) | ||
| EDST230 | Schools in Society (Foundations) | 1 |
| PSYC/EDST253 | Educational Psychology | 1 |
| SOC/FGSS244 | Feminist and Queer Theories of Social Reproduction | 1 |
Breadth Courses
Students must take one course in each of three core areas of Education Studies. There are multiple options across the curriculum for each category.
Category 1: Cognition, Development, & Science of Learning
Category 2: Social and Structural Analyses of Education
Category 3: Research Methods & Data Analysis
Pedagogy & Practicum
Students must complete two aspects of a practicum experience: pedagogy and practice.
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Students must take a minimum .5 credit course focused on pedagogy; there are several .5 and 1 credit courses with this focus offered at Wesleyan. Pedagogy courses are listed below.
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Students must also complete a teaching practicum/in-school experience with a minimum of 20 hours of student contact. The practicum experience does not need to be credit-bearing, as long as the 20 hour requirement is met.
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Students can meet both the pedagogy and practicum portions of the requirement separately, or they can meet them with a single 1-credit course (i.e., a service learning course that provides 20 hours of student contact and covers elements of pedagogy). Apart from service-learning courses, many options exist to fulfill the practicum requirement through JCCP programs, summer programs, teaching apprenticeships, and internships while studying abroad. Some ideas are listed below.
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If the practicum experience is something other than one of the approved courses, students must submit a petition to get the experience approved in advance. Keep in mind that the experience must be fully documented with at least 20 hours of student contact.