About the Program

Minor

The School of Education offers a minor in education for undergraduates currently enrolled at Berkeley. The minor in education provides an opportunity to systematically examine an institution that occupies a unique position in society and profoundly influences virtually everyone. This program is designed to enable students to develop a critical understanding of the relationship of education to the development of societies and individuals. Its focus is on the potential as well as the reality of diverse forms of education. The minor offers an opportunity for intellectual inquiry to broaden and complement students' work in their major fields of study. In the process, students will encounter the wide array of professional possibilities in the field of education, enabling those considering a career in the field to make an informed choice.

There is no undergraduate major in Education.

Applying to the Minor

In order to apply to the Education minor, students must:

1. Attend one of the Education Minor Information Sessions. These sessions, conducted by the Education Minor adviser, give background information about the minor, review requirements and guidelines, and answer questions. Information sessions are held several times during the fall and spring semesters and last from half an hour to an hour. If students are unable to attend the information sessions, they are welcome to meet with the minor advisor during office hours.
2. Submit an online application form, available on the School of Education website. Apply only after attending an information session or meeting with the Education Minor adviser. When completing the online application form, students will be asked to provide a list of courses and fieldwork they have already taken and/or plan to take to complete the requirements of the minor. This is only a plan. Students will not be required to take or use those courses for the minor.

After submitting the online application, the minor adviser will automatically be notified and will review your application for completeness. Unless there are questions, the student will then be considered an Education Minor candidate. The student's email address will be added to the education minor email list so the student can be notified of opportunities in the field of education, as well as Education Minor program and course updates.

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Minor Requirements

Students who have a strong interest in an area of study outside their major often decide to complete a minor program. These programs have set requirements and are noted officially on the transcript, but they are not noted on diplomas.

General Guidelines

1. All minor requirements must be completed before your degree date.
2. All course work to satisfy the minor requirements must be taken at UC Berkeley.
3. Three of the five required courses for the minor must be upper division. 
4. All courses used to fulfill the minor requirements must be taken for a letter grade, with the exception of the field work course(s).
5. A minimum overall grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 is required for courses used to fulfill the minor requirements.
6. One Education Minor course may overlap with a student's major or other minor.

Requirements

Fieldwork

There are 2 main options for completing fieldwork:

(1) EDUC 197, Field Studies, includes a number of programs from which to choose. Please consult the list available on the School of Education website. All of the sections of EDUC 197 are described in the Quicklist and Descriptions PDF available on the School of Education website.  To obtain the class number for the program/section in which you are interested, contact the site coordinator for that program.  45 hours of fieldwork per semester is equivalent to 1 academic unit.

(2) EDUC W144, Practicum in Education, our web-based field course, serves the Ed Minor mission of developing students’ critical habits of mind and reflection in educational research and practice.

Students may enroll in 1, 2 or 3 units of fieldwork within one semester and may take units over multiple semesters.  Students may take all 3 units in the same field studies program or may enroll in two or three separate programs.

Electives

Elective courses must be taken for at least 3 units.

A maximum of two graduate-level courses in education may be used to meet the elective requirement.

Students who have completed or plan to complete an education course as part of a UCB Education Abroad program may be able to have it count toward the education minor elective requirement. The course must be in the Department of Education at the University and equivalent to 3 semester credits. Notify the minor adviser if you would like to take advantage of this option.

From time to time, a course may be offered on campus that has significant educational content but is not on the minor approved course list. If you have found such a course and would like to have it considered for one of your electives for the minor, please contact the minor advisor about petitioning the course. A syllabus will be required.

Summer Minor Requirements

Declaring an Online Education Minor

To apply:

• UC Berkeley students apply through the applying page of the main Ed Minor website.

• All others, including students at other UCs, apply here.

Educating for the 21st Century

Students intending to pursue the online Education minor, “Education for the 21st Century”, should contact the Education Minor advisor: edminor@berkeley.edu or 510-643-9303 to answer any questions.  

Requirements

To receive the online Minor in Education, “Educating for the 21st Century”, students must complete the required core course (EDUC W190), three electives, and three practicum units through EDUC W144 . There is no sequence, so students may complete these courses in any order.

• The core course and all electives must be taken for a letter grade.  EDUC W144 may be taken P/NP.
• EDUC W144 may be taken for 1, 2 or 3 units per semester, depending on if you intend to spread out your field requirement over multiple semesters.  The course is repeatable in order to complete the required 3 units.
• A practicum experience is included as a part of EDUC W140A, so students who choose this elective will only need to complete two additional practicum units through EDUC W144.
• A minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 is required for courses used to fulfill the minor requirements.
• For UC Berkeley students only:
  1. Minor requirements must be completed prior to the last day of the semester in which you plan to graduate.

  2. No more than one course may be used to simultaneously fulfill requirements for a student's major and minor programs

Courses 

Educating for the 21st Century: Teaching English to Multilingual Students

Requirements

Faculty and Instructors

Faculty

Dor Abrahamson, Associate Professor. Mathematical cognition, design-based research, mixed-media design for mathematics learning environments, embodied interaction.
Research Profile

Patricia Baquedano-Lopez, Associate Professor. Immigration and diaspora from Latin America to the U S , Latinos and education, race and language, language socialization processes.
Research Profile

Michael Dumas, Assistant Professor. Urban education, urban political economy, cultural politics of education, Black cultural politics, critical social and cultural theory, Black education, critical childhood studies, photoethnographic methodology and practice.
Research Profile

Lisa Garcia Bedolla, Professor. Politics, immigration, race, gender, inequality.
Research Profile

Susan Holloway, Professor. Japan, development, education, cognition, child development, early childhood education, families, young children in diverse societies, thoughts, values and expectations of parents, socialization and education of young children.
Research Profile

+ Glynda Hull, Professor. Language, culture, society, education, literacy, writing in and out of schools, multi-media technology, new literacies, adult learning, work, and community, school, university collaborations.
Research Profile

Erin Murphy-Graham, Associate Adjunct Professor. Educational equity, cultural studies, gender equity, diversity, international education, alternative schooling, democratic education, ethnic issues.
Research Profile

Na'ilah Nasir, Professor. Race, culture and schooling, African American achievement .

Zach Pardos, Assistant Professor. Education Data Science, Learning Analytics, Big Data in Education, data mining, Data Privacy and Ethics, Computational Psychometrics, Digital Learning Environments, Cognitive Modeling, Bayesian Knowledge Tracing, Formative Assessment, Learning Maps, machine learning.
Research Profile

Daniel Perlstein, Associate Professor. Schooling, diversity, democracy, urban education, teachers unions, inequality education.
Research Profile

Janelle Scott, Associate Professor. Educational policy, charter schools, politics of education, race and education, school choice, desegregation, philanthropy and education, advocacy.
Research Profile

Harley Shaiken, Professor. Mexico, labor, globalization, education, United States, geography, work organization, issues of economic and political integration in the Americas, information technology, skill.
Research Profile

Laura Sterponi, Associate Professor. Language and literacy socialization, moral development, communication of and with children with autism.
Research Profile

Tina Trujillo, Associate Professor. Educational equity, urban schooling, educational leadership, high stakes accountability, school improvement, educational policy, educational management and administration.
Research Profile

Derek Van Rheenen, Associate Adjunct Professor.

Lecturers

Anthony A. Mirabelli, Lecturer.