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The Certificate in Preparing to Teach Abroad is a great opportunity for undergraduate students interested in teaching abroad to learn the basic principles of culturally responsive lesson design, teaching techniques, and strategies of reflection and modification. Students will consider the complexities involved in entering beyond U.S. pedagogical settings, including power-knowledge relations in different sociocultural and political contexts while gaining confidence in leading group instruction.

The program offers all interested undergraduates the opportunity to practice teaching in different community-based learning settings and focus on young and more mature populations, different subject areas, and/or specific regions.

The program includes three required courses, CURRIC 418 Preparing to Teach Abroad, CURRIC 366 Internationalizing Educational Knowledge, and CURRIC 419 Preparing to Teach Abroad Capstone, and two electives that can be chosen from a range of 50 electives across different departments. Students will also have advisors from different departments assigned to them to help them along the way. The diversity of instructors and advisors reflects the topic and themes of the program.

The certificate is for all domestic and international undergraduate students who are interested in developing skills in analyzing cultural contexts, planning instruction, designing curriculum, and teaching content in professional communities beyond U.S. locations. While you will not earn a teaching license, completing this certificate will make you more competitive for future employment abroad and strengthen applications for Fulbright ETA, Peace Corps, International Internships, and study abroad programs.

The certificate is also a gateway for post-undergraduate study opportunities in the discipline of education. Its content is not restricted by state-based teacher education requirements and thus assists in preparation for graduate programs and teaching assistantships in the educational field more broadly.

How to Get in

All current UW-Madison undergraduates are eligible to complete the Certificate in Preparing to Teach Abroad. To declare the certificate, students should meet with the Certificate advisor and then visit the School of Education's Certificate Programs page to complete the declaration form.

Requirements

The Certificate in Preparing to Teach Abroad requires the following course distribution for a minimum of 15 credits. At least 8 credits must be completed in residence. Completion of the certificate requires a minimum GPA of 2.0 in certificate coursework.

Required Courses

CURRIC 366 Internationalizing Educational Knowledge3
CURRIC 418 Preparing to Teach Abroad3
CURRIC 419 Preparing to Teach Abroad Capstone3

Electives

The 6 credits of electives can be taken concurrently with required certificate classes. Students can choose to concentrate their electives on the following themes, but are not required to do so. In selecting courses we will encourage students to consider courses both relevant to the areas of interest, but also issues raised in the certificate’s required courses. Course selection can be guided in consultation with the certificate advisor.

Focus on School of Education-Oriented Topics

Courses in this section include special education, bilingual education, educational psychology and educational policy studies.

RP & SE 300 Individuals with Disabilities3
RP & SE 330 Behavior Analysis: Applications to Persons with Disabilities3
CURRIC 292 Globalizing Education3
CURRIC 312 Foundations of ESL Education3
CURRIC 676 Bilingualism and Biliteracy in Schools3
ED PSYCH 301 How People Learn3
ED PSYCH 320 Human Development in Infancy and Childhood2-3
ED PSYCH 321 Human Development in Adolescence2-3
ED PSYCH 326 Mind, Brain and Education3
ED PSYCH 331 Human Development From Childhood Through Adolescence3
ED PSYCH 509 Embodied Cognition & Education3
ED POL/​HISTORY  107 The History of the University in the West3
ED POL/​INTL ST  220 Human Rights and Education3
ED POL 237 Wealth, Poverty and Inequality: Transnational Perspectives on Policy and Practice in Education3
ED POL 240 Comparative Education3
ED POL 260 Introduction to International Education Development3
ED POL 274 Education Studies--Study Abroad/Global Education1-3
ED POL/​INTL ST  335 Globalization and Education3
ED POL 675 Introduction to Comparative and International Education3

Focus on Historical, Cultural and Social Contexts

AFRICAN/​AFROAMER/​ANTHRO/​GEOG/​HISTORY/​POLI SCI/​SOC  277 Africa: An Introductory Survey4
AFROAMER 271 Selected Topics in African American Culture3
ASIAN 203 Lost in Translation: Western Experience in Asia3
ASIAN/​HISTORY/​POLI SCI  255 Introduction to East Asian Civilizations3-4
ENGL 415 Introduction to TESOL Methods3
GEOG 307 International Migration, Health, and Human Rights3
GEOG 318 Introduction to Geopolitics3
GEOG/​ENVIR ST  339 Environmental Conservation4
GEOG 340 World Regions in Global Context3
GEOG 355 Africa, South of the Sahara3
GEOG 358 Human Geography of Southeast Asia3
GEOG 359 Australia: Environment and Society3
HISTORY 120 Europe and the Modern World 1815 to the Present4
HISTORY 139 Introduction to the Modern Middle East3-4
HISTORY 142 History of South Asia to the Present3-4
HISTORY/​ASIAN/​GEOG/​POLI SCI/​SOC  244 Introduction to Southeast Asia: Vietnam to the Philippines4
HISTORY/​AFROAMER/​ANTHRO/​C&E SOC/​GEOG/​LACIS/​POLI SCI/​SOC/​SPANISH  260 Latin America: An Introduction3-4
HISTORY/​ASIAN  341 History of Modern China, 1800-19493-4
HISTORY/​ASIAN  342 History of the Peoples Republic of China, 1949 to the Present3-4
HISTORY 348 France from Napoleon to the Great War, 1799-19143-4
HISTORY 349 Contemporary France, 1914 to the Present3-4
HISTORY 359 History of Europe Since 19453-4
HISTORY 410 History of Germany, 1871 to the Present3-4
HISTORY 424 The Soviet Union and the World, 1917-19913-4
HISTORY/​SCAND ST  432 History of Scandinavia Since 18153
HISTORY/​ASIAN  458 History of Southeast Asia Since 18003-4
INTL ST 266 Introduction to the Middle East3
INTL ST/​GEOG  311 The Global Game: Soccer, Politics, and Identity3
INTL ST/​A A E  373 Globalization, Poverty and Development3
INTL ST/​A A E  374 The Growth and Development of Nations in the Global Economy3
INTL ST 401 Topics in Global Security3-4
INTL ST 402 Topics in Politics and Policy in the Global Economy3-4
INTL ST 403 Topics in Culture in the Age of Globalization3-4
INTL ST 501 Study Abroad Topics in Global Security1-6
INTL ST 502 Study Abroad Topics in Politics and Policy in the Global Economy1-6
INTL ST 503 Study Abroad Topics in Culture in the Age of Globalization1-6
INTL ST 601 Topics in Global Security1-4
INTL ST 602 Topics in Politics and Policy in the Global Economy1-4
INTL ST 603 Topics in Culture in the Age of Globalization1-4
LACIS/​CHICLA/​HISTORY/​POLI SCI  268 The U.S. & Latin America from the Colonial Era to the Present: A Critical Survey3
LACIS 440 Topics in Latin American, Caribbean, and Iberian Studies1-4
SLAVIC/​GEOG/​HISTORY/​POLI SCI  253 Russia: An Interdisciplinary Survey4
SLAVIC/​GEOG/​HISTORY/​POLI SCI  254 Eastern Europe: An Interdisciplinary Survey4

 Certificate Completion Requirement

This undergraduate certificate must be completed concurrently with the student’s undergraduate degree. Students cannot delay degree completion to complete the certificate.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Analyze issues of coloniality, power, and difference as they relate to teaching, learning, and curriculum in non-US settings.
  2. Examine key cultural, social, and historical relationships to educational knowledges before entering a pedagogical space abroad.
  3. Identify curriculum and teaching practices that produce difference and exclusions, focusing on the intersection of transnational and local contexts.
  4. Develop culturally responsive practices and pedagogies focused on teaching abroad.
  5. Use experiential knowledge of practicum teaching to reflect on pedagogical practices and contextual differences in non-US contexts.