Penn GSE, Urban Studies launch undergraduate minor in secondary education

Penn recently launched a minor in Urban Secondary Education that allows undergraduates to pursue a teaching license alongside their field of study.

The nine-course minor, jointly offered through the Graduate School of Education and Urban Studies Program, combines coursework in urban education, research, and policy with courses on a wide range of subject-specific teaching methods. The program includes a full-time student teaching placement in the spring of senior year, enabling enrolled students to take state licensure exams after graduation.

“We have long understood the desire among Penn undergraduates to pursue meaningful careers in education, and we are delighted that so many have expressed interest, and so quickly, in this new opportunity,” Penn GSE Dean Katharine Strunk wrote to The Daily Pennsylvanian. 

The new program differs from Penn’s existing Urban Education minor by offering a pathway to teacher certification. While the Urban Education minor focuses on education policy and theory, the Secondary Education minor is designed to prepare students for classroom teaching at the secondary level — grades 7-12.

“We are excited to create new pathways into teaching for Penn students,” Strunk added.

Co-Director of the Urban Studies Program Julia McWilliams explained that the program was developed in part to provide earlier exposure to teaching for students who may be considering careers in education but are uncertain about attending graduate school.

“Oftentimes students aren't sure about committing to that path,” McWilliams said.

McWilliams emphasized that the program reflects an effort to expand career pathways beyond the fields that are traditionally popular among Penn students.

“With the pre professionalization of Penn and the ways in which we encourage students to go into finance and consulting, this is a way that we can open up a pathway into public service without students taking on additional debt or time,” McWilliams added.

According to program materials, the minor is open to all undergraduate students, though education courses will count toward the four-course limit on classes taken outside the School of Arts and Sciences.

McWilliams explained that the initiative aims to strengthen Penn's relationship with Philadelphia schools, and supports the Urban Studies program's goal of creating “great urban leaders that understand interconnected urban systems.”

“Education is a big piece of that,” she said. “We see this as a way for Penn to contribute to the educational mission of the University and the city at large.” 

Program advisor and GSE Assistant Dean for Teacher Preparation and Undergraduate Education Patrick Sexton similarly wrote to the DP that the minor can help address a “persistent teacher shortage” in Philadelphia. Local students “need excellent teachers,” he added, emphasizing that the minor's new pathway can help meet that demand.

“Penn students are getting an opportunity that they have been looking for and Philly K-12 students are getting the benefit of a new pipeline of teachers,” Sexton wrote. “Everybody wins.”

Students must take teaching licensure exams — the Praxis exams, for Pennsylvania — in the state they intend to practice in. 

“We look forward to working with our partners across the University as we consider additional routes into the teaching profession for Penn undergraduates,” Strunk concluded.