Social Studies
To become eligible for North Carolina Level A Licensure for Grades 9-12, you must successfully complete those courses required by Duke in General Studies, courses required for your major, and certain courses in the area of professional knowledge. Your Long Range Plan should indicate courses you will use to meet the requirements for General Studies and the major. This checklist outlines courses necessary for teacher licensure in social studies.
The Secondary Social Studies Teacher Preparation Program is designed to help candidates master certain Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositions in addition to the Duke University Teacher Preparation Knowledge, Skills, and Disposition for all candidates (described here).
Students must meet the requirements of their major.
Choose one of these three ways to meet the requirement of a Social Science/Civilizations major:
- A major in cultural anthropology, economics, history, political science, psychology, public policy, religion, or sociology OR
- An interdepartmental concentration in two of the above fields, OR
- An interdisciplinary major in the Comparative Area Studies Program
Including your major, you need a total of at least 16 courses in the area of Civilizations and/or Social Sciences. Among these must be 4 courses in history, including at least one in European and one in US, and at least one course each in anthropology, economics, political science and sociology. Of the aforementioned courses, at least one should be concerned with an American ethnic group and one with a non-Western culture.
Students must meet the requirement for general studies
- Curriculum 2000 requirements, including: 3 or more courses in Arts and Literatures, Civilizations, Natural Sciences and Mathematics, and Social Sciences. All requirements for Curriculum 2000 must be met.
- One course in Psychology (e.g., Developmental or Adolescent)
Students must meet the following professional studies requirements
- Foundations of Education (EDU 100; must be taken before Senior Fall)
- Educational Psychology (EDU 118; should be taken before Senior Fall)
- Teaching High School Social Studies (EDU 199, senior fall)
- Secondary School Issues: Pedagogy, Culture, and Methods (EDU 190R, senior spring)
- Seminar in Secondary School Teaching - (EDU 215S, senior spring)
- Secondary Education Internship (EDU 216, student teaching; offered only in senior spring, counts for two course credits)
Coursework and field experiences in the professional knowledge area are sequenced; please discuss the sequence with an adviser. For example, students complete the Seminar in Secondary School Teaching (Edu 215S) in the spring semester of their senior year as part of the student teaching block. Edu 190R and Edu 215S are accelerated during the spring semester to provide students an opportunity to engage in student teaching for ten weeks.
A course may meet more than one requirement; for example, some Education courses count as Social Science electives. Candidates must acquire professional knowledge and specialty area competencies required by the state of North Carolina. Requirements may be met through advanced placement, Duke course credit, independent study, or other means approved by the Director of the Program in Education.
Secondary Social Studies Teacher Preparation Program Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositions
All Secondary Social Studies TPP Candidates will:
1. Master a broad knowledge of content
2. Know content appropriate to their teaching specialty
3. Connect social studies with the broader curriculum
4. Know relevant applications of content
5. Plan appropriate instruction
6. Use appropriate teaching methods
7. Use appropriate tools for assessment
8. Successfully teach diverse population of students
9. Develop as leaders in their school and community
10. Grow and develop professionally
11. Advocate for the inclusion of social studies in the basic curriculum
Adapted from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction
Program Approval Standards
Any questions?
Contact Dr. Susan Wynn (919) 660-3075 or swynn@duke.edu