Education

We strive to prepare knowledgeable, creative, culturally responsive teachers who foster the development and growth of learners by engaging them in worthwhile learning experiences framed by inquiry and meaningful assessment.

The Education department offers:

Featured course

Jump to level: All Education courses

by level: 100 • 200 • 300 • 400

EDUC-368 Motivation in School and Society
Motivation - a popular touchstone in successful classrooms, in the workplace, and in life. In this course, we explore concepts and theories of motivation through TED talks, best-selling popular psychology books, and peer-reviewed educational and psychological research articles. We examine motivation through multiple theoretical and cultural frameworks. Students develop and evaluate interventions to support motivation in settings ranging from the classroom to the workplace.
EDUC-377 Education Policy & Politics
Charters. Choice. Testing. Standards. Equity. Over the past three decades public opinion has coalesced around the idea that our public schools are failing and desperately in need of reform. How much truth is there in these assertions? This course explores the implications of public school reform policy choices, focusing especially on the way reformers have framed the debate to their advantage. Special attention is paid to teacher quality, urban education, school choice, testing, and other issues raised by reform advocates.
EDUC-264 Education for Social Change
This course explores how schooling has made us the people that we are today, and asks if formal education has prepared us for the challenges that we face in this age of globalization. The course assaults the status quo nature of education and challenges us to imagine a pedagogy that is central to social change. This interrogation of education is not meant to raze the entire historical edifice to the ground, but rather to lead us to critically reflect on the far too frequent manifestations of dull educational processes that produce conformists, rather than inspire us to creatively overturn structures of inequities.

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Education Department Spotlight

Anthony Angelini ’06

Currently works as a teacher at New Oxford Middle School

“What I love about teaching more than anything else is the daily opportunity to have a lasting impact.”

When the dismissal bell rings at New Oxford Middle School, Anthony Angelini ’06 does not go home and relax after a full day of teaching social studies and language arts to seventh graders. Instead, he makes a twenty-five minute commute to Gettysburg College to inspire future teachers as an adjunct professor in the Education department.

After graduating from Gettysburg College in 2006 with a degree in history and education, Angelini taught for two years at Gettysburg Area High School before establishing a more permanent career at New Oxford Middle School. In this position, he works with students in both language arts and social studies—aiming to create interdisciplinary lessons that challenge students to think deeply. In addition to his teaching duties, Angelini also serves as the chair of his department and sits on the Pennsylvania State Education Association's Council of Instruction and Professional Development.

In 2015, Angelini was awarded the Milken Educator Award—known to those in the education community as the “Oscars of teaching.” This prestigious honor targets early-to-mid career education professionals who have already accomplished much in their careers and are positioned to continue this achievement in the future. The award is supplemented with a $25,000 check and access to powerful networking and development tools.

“What I love about teaching more than anything else is the daily opportunity to have a lasting impact,” said Angelini.

praxis exams
Our Praxis II pass rate—Praxis II is the content-area exam all prospective teachers must pass prior to initial certification—is 100%.

Read More Outcomes

Douglas Weir ’14

Currently works as a principal in Shanghai, China

A recent alum, Douglas Weir ’14 is already immersed in an environment that many lifelong career professionals never have the opportunity to experience.

Weir was recently promoted from assistant principal to principal at St. Paul American School’s STEM Program in Shanghai, China. “My minor in secondary education, as well as the mentorship of professors such as Dave Powell and Kaoru Miyazawa, helped me to feel confident in the classroom, secure my pedagogical philosophy, and eventually feel capable enough to pursue a leadership role in school administration,” he said.

In addition to this administrative role, Weir serves as the lead social studies teacher, specializing in both United States and World history. “The most rewarding part of my career is working so closely with students from all over the world,” Weir said. “The diversity of their skills, goals, and learning styles makes my job so interesting every day.”

Weir frequently travels to places such as Seoul, South Korea, Beijing, China, and the Philippines to meet with other school leaders. His students come from countries such as Korea, China, Costa Rica, Mexico, Spain, the United States, Botswana, and the Philippines—and Weir is exposed to cultural diversity each day. He credits his passion for global learning and his ability to navigate cultural nuances to Gettysburg’s renowned study abroad experience.

“The way the College made studying abroad so painless and useful definitely aided in my decision to work abroad,” he said. “Without such an experience, I would have never been able to find the courage to move somewhere halfway around the world for my career.”

Katie Durr ’14

Art Therapist

Durr currently works as an art therapist at the Center for Autism in Philadelphia,PA.

At the Center for Autism in Philadelphia, Katie Durr ’14 makes a difference in the lives of children who are visibly suffering each day. She has witnessed non-verbal children learn to speak and violent children learn to safely request attention—actions that were previously considered impossible by medical professionals. “I have gotten so many crying phone calls of people thanking me because their child has learned to look at them, or say thank you to them, and a million other little things in between,” Durr said. “Those moments make the hard parts worth it.”

In addition to her full-time job at the Center for Autism, Durr also works at the Creative Healing Center, where she is a primary art therapist for teens suffering from trauma and other mental health difficulties.

Being an art therapist was a dream that came true because of the interdisciplinary studies program at Gettysburg College. Her personalized major, “Therapeutic Visual Arts Studies,” gave her exposure to classes she would take in post-undergraduate education. “I believe that Gettysburg gave me a leg up over my [graduate school] classmates, some of whom had never written a research paper before,” Durr said. “I am not sure I can even put into words how grateful I am to Gettysburg for making me the person I am today.”