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Secondary Education Major

 

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About the Major

South鈥檚 secondary education programs prepare students to teach English language arts, mathematics, science and social studies to students in grades 6-12 through rich experiences both on the college campus and in local classrooms under the guidance of mentor teachers.

Jobs in Secondary Education

  • English language arts teacher (including English, drama, journalism)
  • Mathematics teacher
  • Science teacher (including general science, biology, chemistry, physics)
  • Social studies teacher (including history, government, economics, sociology)

Related Programs

South Experience Leads to France

Raven McShan

Raven McShan, the daughter and granddaughter of Mobile school teachers, started her career as a reading intervention teacher at Hankins Middle School in Theodore, Alabama.

She lived at home, so it was easy to talk shop with her mom, who鈥檚 a literacy coach.

鈥淢y dad is like, 鈥極K, I guess you鈥檙e going to talk about your students for the next two hours,鈥 and that鈥檚 what we do,鈥 McShan said. 鈥淚鈥檒l tell her about a student with problems, and she鈥檒l say, 鈥榊ou ought to try this.鈥 And then I鈥檒l come home the next day and say, 鈥業t worked.鈥欌

At South, where her older sister and younger sister also enrolled as students, McShan was a member of the Honors College. She spent a lot of time in the historic Seamen鈥檚 Bethel, the college鈥檚 headquarters. Her honors thesis was a poetry collection called 鈥淲riting Nooks and Reading Crannies.鈥

After graduating from South in 2019, she traveled to Europe through the French Embassy鈥檚 Teaching Assistant Program in France. McShan spent a school year teaching English in Domfront, a town of about 3,000 people in Normandy.

 

"It鈥檚 all about stories and helping people get comfortable with learning.鈥

 

鈥淵ou鈥檇 be surprised,鈥 she said, 鈥渂y the similarities between Southern people in America and countryside people in France.鈥

Speaking French was part of teaching English. Local slang included 鈥渂ah oui,鈥 which, depending on the situation, means 鈥渙h, yeah,鈥 鈥渙h, no鈥 and several other things.

McShan is vegan, as well as lactose intolerant, so enjoying the local cuisine was problematic.

鈥淵ou can鈥檛 escape cheese 鈥 it鈥檚 part of every meal, every course, practically,鈥 she said. 鈥淢y apartment was down the street from a Camembert factory.鈥

When McShan returned to Mobile and began teaching, she used her experience in France with those struggling to read.

鈥淭he beauty of spontaneous conversation,鈥 she said. 鈥淚f I started with nouns and verbs, I would get stares, but if it was a news clip, boom, we鈥檙e having a conversation. It鈥檚 all about stories and helping people get comfortable with learning.鈥


Did You Know?


  • Secondary education majors at South spend more time in local classrooms getting mentorship from teachers than those at any other secondary certification program in the state.
  • Online courses in the program combine synchronous and asynchronous learning so students get face time with instructors and classmates even in the digital environment.
  • Students who complete a secondary education program at South graduate with a double major in education and in their content area of focus.

 

Contact:

Dr. Susan Ferguson
Associate Professor, Program Coordinator
Leadership and Teacher Education Department
(251) 380-2797

Curriculum and Degree Requirements

 

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