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Social Sciences Major with Teacher Licensure (9-12) Concentration, Bachelor of Arts

REQUIRED MAJOR HOURS
 33
REQUIRED MINOR HOURS 32
TOTAL PROGRAM HOURS 65
PRESCRIBED COURSES ATTAINABLE IN GEN ED: POLS 202, ECON 203, HIST 101, HIST 102, HIST 245,  SSCI 205

Social Sciences Major with Teacher Licensure (9-12) Concentration at Gardner-Webb University is state-approved by the North Carolina State Board of Education.

General Education Requirements

*General Education Courses
Students seeking teacher licensure in Social Studies need to earn credit for the following courses:

Foundational Experiences, History category:  take HIST 101

Exploratory Experiences

Human Experience category:  take HIST 102. POLS 202 should be taken as a Political Science option in the major; ECON 203 should be taken as the Economics option in the major. 

Global Community category:  take SSCI 205

If not taken as General Education requirements or as an option in the major, these courses must be taken as free--not major--elective courses. 

Major Requirements

Methods Course (choose one)

Choose one of the following courses. Students should take the methods course as early as feasible (preferably in the sophomore year).
HIST 200Introduction to Historical Study

3
POLS 210Research Design

3
SOCI 311Social Research Methodology

3

Economics (3 hours)

Choose one of the following. ECON 203 is strongly recommended. 
ECON 201Free Enterprise

3
ECON 203Principles of Economics I (Economics and the Free Market System)

3
ECON 204Principles of Economics II

3
ECON 302Money and Banking

3
ECON 303Intermediate Microeconomics

3
ECON 304Intermediate Macroeconomics

3
ECON 311Labor Economics

3
ECON 401International Economics

3
ECON 402Managerial Economics

3
ECON 403National Income and Employment Analysis

3
ECON 404Economic Development

3
ECON 405Environmental and Natural Resource Economics

3
ECON 480Contemporary Economic Problems

3
NOTE: Economics courses beyond ECON 203 typically have prerequisites. Consult the course description for specific information.

Political Science Electives (6 hours)

Choose POLS 202 and one additional three hour course from the following.
POLS 201Introduction to Political Science

3
POLS 202American Government

3
POLS 302International Relations and Comparative Politics

3
POLS 304State and Local Government in the United States

3
POLS 314The Courts

3
POLS 316Public Opinion

3
POLS 320Constitutional Law I: Structure and Institution

3
POLS 322Foreign Policy of the United States

3
POLS 323American Political Parties

3
POLS 324Constitutional Law II: Bill of Rights and 14th Amendment

3
POLS 325Southern Politics

3
POLS 333The President and Congress

3
POLS 340International Political Economy

3
POLS 351Politics of Developing Areas

3
POLS 352African Politics

3
POLS 353Middle East Politics

3
POLS 354European Politics

3
POLS 355Asian Politics

3
POLS 356Latin American Politics

3
POLS 430Special Topics

3
POLS 450International Experience

3
POLS 451International Experience

3
POLS 490Political Science Seminar

3
POLS 495Independent Study

3
POLS 497Internship in Political Science I

3 each semester
POLS 498Internship in Political Science II

3 each semester

History (6 hours)

Choose two of the following.
HIST 244Survey of United States History to 1877

3
HIST 245Survey of United States History from 1877 to the Present

3
HIST 311Medieval Europe

3
HIST 314Making America: Colonization, Revolution and the U.S. Constitution

3
HIST 318Civil War and Reconstruction

3
HIST 322/RELI 322Early and Medieval Christianity

3
HIST 323/RELI 323Modern Christianity

3
HIST 324/RELI 324American Christianity

3
HIST 325The History of the New South

3
HIST 327The Renaissance and Reformation

3
HIST 331Nineteenth-Century Europe

3
HIST 332Twentieth-Century Europe

3
HIST 345North Carolina History

3
HIST 380Modern Germany Since 1789

3
HIST 383The Second World War

3
HIST 401Slavery in the Atlantic

3
HIST 402The Long Civil Rights Movement

3
HIST 411Diplomatic History of the United States

3
HIST 414History of England to 1688

3
HIST 430Special Topics: European History

3
HIST 431Special Topics: American History

3
HIST 432Special Topics: Non-Western History

3
HIST 450International Experience

3
HIST 451International Experience

3
HIST 495Independent Study

3 each semester
HIST 496Independent Study

3 each semester
HIST 497Internship in History

3 each semester
HIST 498Internship in History

3 each semester

Sociology (6 hours)

Choose two of the following.
SOCI 201Introduction to Sociology

3
SOCI 202Social Problems

3
SOCI 203Marriage and Family

3
SOCI 310/PSYC 310Social Psychology

3
SOCI 311Social Research Methodology

3
SOCI 313Sociology of Deviant Behavior

3
SOCI 330Sociological Theory

3
SOCI 340Social Change

3
SOCI 356Sociology of Religion

3
SOCI 396/PSYC 396Introduction to Statistics

3
SOCI 400Minority Groups

3
SOCI 410Sociology of Gender

3
SOCI 411Criminology

3
SOCI 415Juvenile Delinquency

3
SOCI 421The Community

3
SOCI 430Special Topics: Sociology

3
SOCI 450International Experience

3
SOCI 451International Experience

3
SOCI 490Sociology Seminar

3
SOCI 497Internship I

3 each semester
SOCI 498Internship II

3 each semester

Social Sciences Electives (choose three courses, 9 credit hours)

Students must earn credit for three courses (9 credit hours) from among any 300 or 400 level HIST, POLS or SOCI courses.

Required Professional Education Minor Hours (32 hours)

Professional Education Minor

Students will not be permitted to complete more than 50% of the Professional Education minor (excluding student teaching) until they are formally admitted to the Teacher Education Program, as outlined in the College of Education’s section of this Catalog (entitled “Admission to the Teacher Education Program”). All candidates must be fully admitted into the Teacher Education Program a minimum of two full semesters prior to the semester in which they intend to student teach. Ideally, students should interview no later than the end of the first semester of their junior year.

PSYC 303Educational Psychology

3
EDUC 250Teaching in the 21st Century Schools

4
EDUC 316Teaching Reading and Writing in the Content Areas

3
EDUC 350Diverse Populations in 21st Century Schools

4
SSED 432Instructional Methods for Secondary Social Studies

3
EDUC 440Classroom Management

3
EDUC 450Student Teaching

12
Total Credit Hours:32

Total Credit Hours: 65

Additional Requirements for Transfer Majors

All students transferring under the Comprehensive Articulation Agreement must earn credit for HIST 101, HIST 102, ECON 203, POLS 202  and  SSCI 205 .

Other Requirements for all Students seeking Teacher Licensure

  • Gain admission to the Teacher Education Program. See the College of Education's section of this catalog for the specific requirements
  • Make a grade of “C” or better in all courses counted towards meeting any state-mandated content or professional competency
  • Maintain an overall 2.7 or better GPA

In addition to the major and minor, teacher candidates must also complete the following.

  1. If applicable at the time of program completion, achieve the minimum score on the Praxis II Subject Assessment exam. Teacher candidates are strongly encouraged to take the Praxis II exam before student teaching. For additional information, please refer to the Teacher Education Handbook.
  2. At the end of EDUC 450 Student Teaching, teacher candidates must provide evidence of achievement at the Proficient level or higher. Teacher candidates are assessed on all standards (NCPTS 1-5) in accordance with the Teacher Candidate Evaluation Rubric of the North Carolina Educator Evaluation System. The rubric includes a range of four categories: Emergent, Developing, Proficient, and Accomplished.

Consult the Secondary Social Studies Licensure Coordinator to stay current with licensure requirements.