Educational Studies
A degree in Educational Studies from RWU opens the door to a variety of rewarding teaching careers outside of the classroom, such as family and child services, program development, community outreach and educational publishing. Through coursework, internships and service projects, you’ll examine the roles that teaching, learning, education policy and community organizations play in our society and culture.
In the Educational Studies major, students are prepared for productive careers and future study in a field committed to serving the larger community. Students in the Educational Studies major have a wide range of career and advanced education options in non-profit, corporate, as well as educational settings. Students combine strong content background through required coursework and a core concentration with flexibility in participation in community service and internships, research, and intercultural exploration through education and other electives. For example, a student may choose the Modern Language and Culture Concentration which affords immersion in global and multicultural perspectives. The student may also choose among electives in educational research, content, pedagogy, and service that draw from a range of interdisciplinary areas. Students are not prepared for a teaching certificate in this major.
A statement on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
We uphold the inherent dignity of youth. In doing so, we believe equity is central to the endeavor of educating, and that representation AND justice must work in tandem to improve outcomes for marginalized learners.
As a Department of Education, we seek to prepare up-and-coming teachers who:
- are committed to active social justice and anti-racism
- engage in humane interactions with all youth, in service of their well-being
- collaboratively work towards equity in our communities by listening, engaging, and exhibiting humility and courage in equal measure.
Degree Requirements
Student Learning Outcomes
By the end of this program, students will:
- Understand and utilize disciplinary research practices that are grounded in educational theory and philosophy;
- Apply and practice cognitive and social learning theories in the varied social contexts of experiential education/praxis;
- Demonstrate a cognizance of the impact of diversity, inclusion, and equity on uneven access to support and services as these occur within their chosen pathway or within internship experiences;
- Synthesize, analyze and create artifacts that represent depth and breadth of lines of inquiry within the individual program of study in an appropriate form.
A Different Kind of Educator
Clarice Contente, RWU Class of 2019A degree in educational studies is quickly becoming recognized as a degree that opens doors to a wide variety of rewarding education-based careers outside of the classroom. It's why, for example, Clarice Contente - who hopes to start a career as a pediatric health care professional - chose it as her major.
Read full storyWhere are RWU Educational Studies Graduates?
- Teaching internationally (El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Bermuda)
- Working as child life specialists in hospitals
- Working in non-profits
- Working in early childhood education
Juris Doctor/Bachelor's 3+3 Accelerated Program (J.D.)
Earn your bachelor’s and juris doctor degrees in six years through RWU’s Three-Plus-Three Law program. You’ll get a jump-start on your J.D. by integrating law courses into your undergraduate studies and completing undergraduate requirements in your first year of law school. Accepted students will take first-year courses in the School of Law along with legal electives to fulfill undergraduate fourth-year requirements. Interested students must indicate their intent to pursue a 3+3 pathway early in their undergraduate studies for curriculum planning and advising.