Successful candidates graduate with a B.S.Ed. in English, a recommendation for Standard Professional License I to teach grades 9-12 in English language arts, and the content and pedagogical preparation they need to survive the rigors of the first few years of teaching. 

Teaching candidates have access to rich, diverse hands-on experience; professional education sequence courses are supported by field experiences throughout the program through the School University Teacher Education Partnership (SUTEP) and culminate in a year-long internship in a high school English classroom. This partnership, in conjunction with WCU students' strong preparation in literature, writing, and grammar, helps to prepare students for the classroom.
 
To be effective practitioners in English Language Arts, students develop knowledge of language development, language analysis, language composition, written discourse, reading and literature, media, assessment, and research and theory in the content and pedagogy of English.  Candidates are also grounded in technology, posting lessons and units online via portfolio software, creating their own interactive websites, and producing and posting online an individual growth plan as well as their teacher work samples.

We are also working to improve our candidates’ experience with diversity of ability, race, culture, gender, socioeconomic status, sexuality, and religion through coursework, case studies, field experiences in diverse settings, and such CEAP initiatives as the Rural-Urban Exchange. 

Dr. Catherine Carter, director of the English education program, has eighteen years’ teaching experience and is licensed in secondary English education in North Carolina. She’ll be happy to talk with you about any aspect of English education; you can contact her by phone at 828-227-3931, or by e-mail at ccarter@email.wcu.edu.