The MAT degree program is designed for initial teacher certification and incorporates a baccalaureate undergraduate degree with a major in an area other than education along with specified courses and field experiences in education. After earning an undergraduate degree, Wofford students may complete at least one additional year of graduate study and any related requirements to satisfy requirements for both the MAT degree and professional teacher certification.
Wofford College and Converse College have entered an agreement allowing Wofford undergraduate students to transition into a Converse program of graduate study working toward initial teacher certification through the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) degree. The agreement was signed in October 2018.
The agreement creates a pathway for a “4 + 1” program of study, allowing students to receive a four-year baccalaureate degree from Wofford then to complete at least one additional year of graduate studies and any related requirements to satisfy requirements for both the MAT degree and professional teacher certification, including student teaching. This program is available to Wofford students who have completed all or are within six hours of completing all requirements for the Wofford baccalaureate degree and who have completed a minimum of nine hours of the Wofford core education course component.
Dr. Ed Welchel, associate professor and chair of the program, taught advanced placement United States history in South Carolina public schools before coming to Wofford. He loves working with the future teachers who will teach the citizen-leaders of tomorrow. Welchel has written several books about teaching, learning and the country’s educational system, including his most recent, “Reading, Learning, Teaching Howard Zinn.”
Regan Hood, a 2020 graduate from Fort Mill, S.C., is a seventh-grade social studies teacher and girls basketball coach at Carver Middle School in Spartanburg. She was a government major with concentrations in education and American politics. She eventually wants to move into school administration and curriculum development.
Education 200 | Foundations of Education |
Education 220 | Teaching Diverse Student Populations |
Psychology 240 | Child and Adolescent Psychology |
Education 310 | Foundations of Literacy |
Education 330 | Educational Psychology |