ESL Certificate program professor and students in classroom

English as a Second Language Program Specialist (Minor)

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The English as a Second Language (ESL) minor is designed to prepare students with coursework that aligns with the Pennsylvania Department of Education competencies for the ESL Program Specialist Certification.

Degrees & Offerings
  • Minor
Location
  • Bloomsburg
  • Lock Haven
  • Mansfield
Department
College
Program Contact
Associate Professor
Illustration of Mountain

Students gain important knowledge and skills necessary to design standards-aligned instruction and assessment for culturally and linguistically diverse individuals attending Pennsylvania pre-k-12 public schools. Opportunities are provided for students to gain first hand teaching experience through a sixty hour field experience. Students are also prepared to modify curriculum, communicate with families of English language learners, adhere to state and federal regulations concerning the education of ELLs, and provide professional development opportunities for faculty and staff. 

Students interested in the English as a Second Language (ESL) Minor should consult their advisor for information on course requirements. More information will be added to this page when available.
 

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Courses and Curriculum

  • Competency 1: Demonstrate Ethical and Professional Behavior.
    • make ethical decisions by applying the standards of the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics, relevant laws and regulations, models for ethical decision making, ethical conduct of research, and additional codes of ethics within the profession as appropriate to the context; 
    • demonstrate professional behavior; appearance; and oral, written, and electronic communication; 
    • use technology ethically and appropriately to facilitate practice outcomes; and 
    • use supervision and consultation to guide professional judgment and behavior
  • Competency 2: Advance Human Rights and Social, Racial, Economic, and Environmental Justice.
    • advocate for human rights at the individual, family, group, organizational, and community system levels; and 
    • engage in practices that advance human rights to promote social, racial, economic, and environmental justice.
  • Competency 3: Engage Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ADEI) in Practice
    • demonstrate anti-racist and anti-oppressive social work practice at the individual, family, group, organizational, community, research, and policy levels; and 
    • demonstrate cultural humility by applying critical reflection, self-awareness, and selfregulation to manage the influence of bias, power, privilege, and values in working with clients and constituencies, acknowledging them as experts of their own lived experiences. 
  • Competency 4: Engage in Practice-Informed Research and Research-Informed Practice
    • apply research findings to inform and improve practice, policy, and programs; and 
    • identify ethical, culturally informed, anti-racist, and anti-oppressive strategies that address inherent biases for use in quantitative and qualitative research methods to advance the purposes of social work. 
  • Competency 5: Engage in Policy Practice
    • use social justice, anti-racist, and anti-oppressive lenses to assess how social welfare policies affect the delivery of and access to social services; and 
    • apply critical thinking to analyze, formulate, and advocate for policies that advance human rights and social, racial, economic, and environmental justice. 
  • Competency 6: Engage with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities
    • apply knowledge of human behavior and person-in-environment, as well as interprofessional conceptual frameworks, to engage with clients and constituencies; and
    • use empathy, reflection, and interpersonal skills to engage in culturally responsive practice with clients and constituencies. 
  • Competency 7: Assess Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities
    • apply theories of human behavior and person-in-environment, as well as other culturally responsive and interprofessional conceptual frameworks, when assessing clients and constituencies; and 
    • demonstrate respect for client self-determination during the assessment process by collaborating with clients and constituencies in developing a mutually agreed-upon plan. 
  • Competency 8: Intervene with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities
    • engage with clients and constituencies to critically choose and implement culturally responsive, evidence-informed interventions to achieve client and constituency goals; and
    • incorporate culturally responsive methods to negotiate, mediate, and advocate with and on behalf of clients and constituencies. 
  • Competency 9: Evaluate Practice with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities
    • select and use culturally responsive methods for evaluation of outcomes; and 
    • critically analyze outcomes and apply evaluation findings to improve practice effectiveness with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
       

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