The Foundations of Education Concentration
The Foundations of Education Concentration is one of four specializations open to PPE majors. It consists of five courses that focus on aspects of education. This concentration is intended for students who may wish to pursue careers in teaching, school administration, or educational policy. It is not, however, a teacher-training program. Students who take the Foundations of Education Concentration do not receive teacher certification. Instead, they receive intensive preparation in important ideas and skills that most teacher training in the United States neglects. The students who take this concentration acquire the intellectual foundation they need to become the next generation of leaders in American education.

The King’s College recognizes that the vocation of teaching requires years of preparation. In most states, public school teachers must earn a master’s degree to receive permanent certification. While many colleges and universities offer full-scale undergraduate degree programs in education leading to temporary teacher certification, King’s has chosen a different approach. We believe the best undergraduate preparation for teaching is a solid grasp of the politics, philosophy, and economics of education, as seen through the lens of historical analysis.

The core curriculum and the general PPE program introduce students to the way schools shape values and foster citizenship. State-based educational systems carry out public policies that reflect political and economic realities. For most of our history in the United States, education was almost exclusively a local and state concern, but in the past half-century, the federal government has assumed a much larger role. The Foundations of Education Concentration equips students to analyze government policies at all levels and to assess the practical constraints as well as the philosophical ideals of the educational enterprise.

The first course in the Foundations of Education Concentration focuses on our national experience, identifying distinctive features of a nearly 400-year history of American education—from the Mayflower Compact to No Child Left Behind. The next two courses examine the history and philosophy of education, surveying the longstanding tradition of classical education—from which we derive the Western concept of “the liberal arts.” It begins in ancient Greece; travels through the Augustan age of Roman oratory; dwells on the formation of Christian education in the medieval period; surveys the work of Renaissance and Reformation thinkers; considers the influence of Enlightenment attitudes; and brings students up-to-date in the modern, even postmodern world. The fourth course surveys education policy.  The fifth course explores the challenges of the teaching career. Those who aspire to become teachers must develop both intellectual and psychological strategies to deal with unmotivated and distracted students, administrative straight-jackets, union politics, and numerous other obstacles. The teacher trained in foundations of education knows how to navigate this iceberg-laden sea.