Guided Electives:
Professional Education Concentration: 13 hours
2+2 Professional Education Concentration: 0 hours
Early Childhood Concentration: 16 hours
2+2 Early Childhood Concentration: 0 hours
Suggested courses: Courses approved by the BK program.
Additional Requirements:
Birth-Kindergarten majors must maintain an overall GPA of 2.75 or better and passing grades of “C” in all courses required in the major, regardless of concentration. If a student earns a grade below a “C” in a required course or a student’s grade point average in the major falls below a 2.75, the student will not be permitted to enroll in any BK or BKSE course.
All students must complete Liberal Studies or the equivalent before starting internship courses or action research courses.
2+2 Concentrations:
The 2+2 concentration is for prospective students who have completed the Associate in Applied Science Early Childhood Education degree program in the North Carolina Community College System and are allowed to transfer in sixty hours. The overall total is comprised of both lower-division general education and early childhood education courses. This curriculum reflects the distribution of discipline areas commonly included in institution-wide, lower-division general education requirements for the baccalaureate degree. With an A.A.S. degree, Western Carolina University liberal studies requirements will not be waived. General education transfer courses will be evaluated course by course. Students are responsible for fulfilling all liberal studies requirements and must meet the 120 credit hour requirement.
Background Checks:
All students must submit to a background check for program admission through the system currently used by the college. Any legal incidents after the background check has been done must be reported to the Office of Field Experiences within 72 hours of its occurrence. A second background check is required as part of the application for Internship/Action Research.
All students must complete the Professional Dispositions Contract.
Teacher Education Program:
The Birth-Kindergarten Professional Education Concentrations are part of Western Carolina University’s Teacher Education Program. Teacher Education Program policies and procedures apply.
Admission to the Professional Education Concentration:
Students seeking admission to the Professional Education Concentration must declare their major and meet the requirements for admission to the Teacher Education Program. Admission to the Professional Education Sequence Students in the Professional Education Concentration must be admitted to the Teacher Education Program and are subject to all of the teach education requirements. BK 250 is the only course in the professional education sequence that may be taken prior to admission to teacher education.
Continuation in the B-K program:
The requirements of continuing in the program are as follows:
- A GPA of at least 2.75 on hours attempted
- Behavior which adheres to the code of ethics of the profession and the North Carolina BK standards
- Satisfactory participation in the required professional field experiences, which is prerequisite to internship.
An evaluation of each field experience assignment will become a part of the student’s professional record. Students will also be evaluated on candidate dispositions by BK faculty. In addition, students in the Professional Education Concentration must meet the requirements for continuation in the Teacher Education Program.
Professional Education Concentration Internships:
Students can take nine hours with BK 473 Internship in Early Childhood Assessment and can take one class in addition to BK 483 Internship II and BK 496 Seminar.