"Everyone at Western is friendly, and the professors really care about their students."
Brandi, Birth-Kindergarten and Special Education Double Major
Choice #1: Professional Education or Early Childhood?
Choice #2: Liberal Studies or "Core 44"?
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Choice #1: Professional Education or Early Childhood?
Professional Education
Students who choose the professional education option are interested in possibly teaching kindergarten or public school pre-k. They take & must pass the Praxis I and they do two semesters of internship. The course work between the professional education concentration and the early childhood concentration differ greatly. The internship for professional education is 18 credit hours.
Early Childhood
Students who choose early childhood are not certified to teach in the public schools. They are generally interested in working with young children & their families in settings other than public schools. There is no internship for the early childhood concentration. Students are required to complete 9 credit hours of action research, in which they need to be in an early childhood setting.
This is not a choice you must make immediately. In fact, we recommend you take some time to consider your personal situation and your career goals before making this decision. However, by the end of your first year you will need to have made a decision.
Choice #2: Liberal Studies or "Core 44"?
Liberal Studies
This option is where you take the general studies courses you have taken at the community college & transfer them course-by-course to WCU for the specific liberal studies requirements. This option often has "glitches," such as the upper-level perspectives requirement, that make it difficult for many transfer students from community with A.A.S. degrees. Talk with your advisor before making this choice.
"Core 44"
In this option, you complete the 44-hour general education "core" of courses at the community college and this transfers in a "block" to in place of the liberal studies requirement. You have an advisor at the community college that helps you determine which courses to take for the "core 44." This option is generally better for transfer students with A.A.S. degrees because you aren't subject to the specific requirements of liberal studies, such as the upper-level perspectives requirement.
*** If you have an A.A., A.S., or a four-year degree, your Liberal Studies are waived at WCU. However, if you have one of those degrees, you may still need to take the courses that WCU assumes you have had as an early childhood student at the community college, since the cohort concept is based around students with A.A.S. degrees in early childhood. Those courses are EDU 144, EDU 145 & EDU 234 (in place of BK 366) or PSY 244 & PSY 245 (in place of BK 363), EDU 146 (in place of BK 462), EDU 259 (in place of BK 470), and EDU 221 (in place of SPED 240).