Early Childhood Special Education P-3 and Early Childhood Education P-3 (Dual Endorsement)

Department of Education Leadership and Inclusive Teaching, Woodring College of Education

Inclusive Educators need to have extensive knowledge in four areas: they need to know about students and how they learn; they need to know about effective instruction; they need to know about the content of the lessons they will teach; and they need to know about the context (social, legal, and political) in which they will work. Therefore, training to become an Inclusive Educator will include work in each of these areas. The program includes coursework and extensive supervised practicum experiences in the public schools. The program is rigorous and the expectations are high. However, the rewards are also high. This program will prepare you to be an excellent teacher in whatever position you eventually choose. Our graduates are actively recruited by school districts to work in a variety of rewarding education settings.

This plan of study is designed to prepare personnel to work with children from birth through eight years who have been identified as at-risk for developmental delay or disability and with their families. The major combines studies in Early Childhood and Special Education and leads to recommendation for a Washington State teaching certificate with endorsements in Early Childhood Special Education and an Early Childhood Education (P-3) endorsement.

There are two definitions of Special Education. One is the education of students with disabilities. The other is the application of exceptional teaching. We in the Department of Education Leadership and Inclusive Teaching at Western Washington University believe very strongly in the second definition. We think that it is our mission to prepare exceptional teachers and, while students who have disabilities often require the services of such teachers, we also believe that there are many other students who can benefit from high quality instruction. We also think that there is much satisfaction to be gained from the acquisition of the highest levels of teaching skill and that the teachers trained in our program benefit professionally and personally from the acquisition of these skills.