Multiple Subject Credential

The Multiple Subject Credential Program prepares students to teach kindergarten through eighth grade in multi-subject classrooms. The program is designed to allow students to teach in any classroom, but particularly those in urban schools; to think from a developmental and constructivist perspective; to work with colleagues and families for the promotion of student growth; and to grapple with the social, moral, and political dilemmas of teaching practice. We believe that elementary teachers attend to the positive development of the whole child by successfully integrating the aims of authority with caring, and the aims of academic rigor with playfulness and mindful joy.

This teaching credential program accomplishes these goals through the constant interplay of theory and practice, by offering fieldwork and course work simultaneously, and through the close personal attention that our intimate community of learners provides. The program prepares our students to be successful teachers in schools as they exist currently, and at the same time, to change them to better meet students' needs.

Graduates of the program are eligible to apply for a California preliminary teaching credential; this credential is reciprocal in most states.

Distinctive Features

• Cohort-based program: The program year begins with a late summer course in mathematical understanding in elementary school teaching. The program also includes a late summer retreat where you meet other new students and the faculty—the people who will become colleagues as you enter the teaching profession.
• Coherent curriculum: Course work reflects a group of core principles which have been developed by the faculty. Faculty meet regularly to ensure the principles are reflected in the program's course work and fieldwork components.
• Professional focus: Throughout the program, students have multiple opportunities to discuss the roles and ethical responsibilities of teaching, including the specialized body of knowledge that characterizes the work and a set of core ethical commitments that guides it.
• Inquiry stance: Learning is at the heart of good teaching. The program prepares students with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to base their teaching on what and how students learn.

Course Work

While the multiple subject credential program prepares students to teach in any self-contained K–8 classroom, it is recommended for those interested in teaching grades K–6. This work is generally completed in conjunction with a master of arts degree program with an emphasis on teaching.