Are you excited to open the paper everyday to find out what is new in politics? Are you interested in helping middle and high school students understand how important it is to vote in a public election, how laws come into being, and how to keep in contact with their representatives in the House of Representatives and the Senate? Do you want to encourage students to make a difference in their own communities? If so, you may make an excellent Social Studies teacher!
Preparing Social Studies teachers is a highly collaborative process between the Political Science & History departments in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences and the School of Education & Human Development at CU Denver as well as our highly experienced K-12 partner educators in the metro area. Through the Political Science & History department, you'll garner the essential content knowledge of a Social Studies teacher during the first 3 years of your bachelors degree. Then in your final fourth year, you will immediately begin "living the life of a teacher" as you quickly become a vital member of the teaching staff at one of our metro area urban professional development schools as a teacher candidate intern. At the same time you'll be simultaneously taking teacher education classes so that you can immediately apply what you learn in your internship classroom.
Our Urban Community Teacher Education program is nationally recognized for having one of the most innovative, collaborative teacher preparation models where top faculty work side by side with experienced K-12 partner educators to prepare you to have a profound impact on the lives of students in our most urban and diverse schools. In fact, our candidates enter their first year of teaching with the knowledge, skills, and confidence of 2nd and 3rd year teachers!