The upper division Human Values course offers you at least three prospective extrinsic rewards. It can count as a Religion seminar; Social Science seminar and toward the forty unit upper division graduation requirement. (I will add that I had the good fortune to study under Dr. Fannie Shaftel at Stanford. Dr. Shaftel authored the book, Role Playing for Social Values, and is one of the authorities in this area. I think you will find my inclusion of the techniques I learned from Shaftel both educational and enjoyable.)

For those of you who have not yet taken Man and Society you may want to take this opportunity to complete this General Education requirement. A new addition to this course will be an anthropological case study of a German school. The course will introduce you to the Social Science areas of Psychology, Social Psychology, Sociology, and Anthropology.

The Education 561 course, The Teaching-Learning Process, is a required course in the Teacher Education sequence for those working, or considering working, on a California Teaching Credential. It also helps you meet the forty required units of upper division work. And coupled with Education 562 meets the Social Science seminar requirement. This course is essentially an Educational Psychology course and will be an excellent background not only for school teachers, but those of you who will go on into personnel and personnel training, or who will be involved in Church educational programs.

The Education 562 course, School and Society, is my very favorite course to teach and almost always the favorite of students who take me for more than one course. If you ever take a particular course just to experience the professor's specialty, this is that course for me. It also helps you meet the forty required units of upper division work and coupled with Education 561 meets the Social Science seminar requirement.

Even if you do not currently think you want to become a teacher, there are advantages to leaving that as an option should you later reconsider. (I first considered teaching the last quarter of my senior year.) First, if you are able to take the 24-28 units of Education work as a part of your electives, it is almost like getting a teaching credential free. Second, teaching can be a very rewarding profession as a career, but also as a first career. It is a good place to start with a position of recognized responsibility. Third, it pays better than you probably realize. For 180 days work and only a B.A. you would likely start at $18,000 base salary. That figure does not include the benefits package that will also contain a medical/dental/life/vision plan worth another $3500 and a retirement program worth about $3500 more. A beginning teacher's salary is really more like $25,000 and with graduate units and coaching stipends it can be even more. There is also a big demand for Seaver teaching graduates. Fourth, even if you are not in a major that qualifies you for a teaching credential, you can take a National Teacher's Exam in an area like Math, or Physical Education, or Social Studies and still qualify to enter a Teacher Preparation program. If you made a belated decision to enter teaching, took and passed the National Teacher's Exam in a subject area, you would still need to take the 24-28 units in Education. Most of that could be taken in your fifth year, perhaps even while you begin a paid teacher placement. But if you made such a decision, it would have been very helpful if you had already taken the two foundations courses-- Education 561 and 562 --which, as it turns out, are both available to you while we are in Germany together.

I am certainly not trying to convince you, just let you have the best information possible to make an informed decision about which of the courses I am offering you might want to take. I look forward with great anticipation to our year together. I wish you the very best in the meantime.

Sincerely,

Michael Gose

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