Equity Education Certificate

Our Equity Education Certificate is designed to develop teaching practices in ethics, equity literacy, culturally relevant/sustaining pedagogy, and critical studies in education. Students will learn how societal inequities can impact teaching and learning in schools. They will also learn about scaffolding curriculum and pedagogy to meet the needs, interests, skills, and abilities of diverse learners within their sociocultural, political, and community contexts. Ultimately, the Equity Education Certificate program prepares educators and citizens to be agents of transformative, social change in schools and communities.

The program is not exclusive to School of Education students.

Required Courses

• LTFL 102 Ethics, Education, and the Teaching Profession
• LTFL 203 Social Justice in Community-Engaged Educational Settings with Field Placement
• GFDE 503 Curriculum for Social Change
• LTEL 201  Meeting the Needs of English Language Learners
• GCNE 549 Multicultural Issues and Strategies in Counseling
• EDUC 421 Equity Education Capstone

Program Level Goals

• The Equity Education Certificate will open up enrollment opportunities for all undergraduate students at Duquesne University. 
• The Equity Education Certificate will create pathways for students considering graduate degree programs in the School of Education.
• The Equity Education Certificate will foster intergenerational learning across departments; and between undergraduate and graduate-level degree programs.

Academic and Professional Competencies

The academic or professional competencies on which our program focuses (e.g., the specific knowledge, skills and abilities the program will help learners to develop) are the following:

• Students will acquire skills in moral and ethical deliberation.
• Students will develop critical knowledge, particular to students' rights, opportunities, and resources related to their vulnerable status in schools.
• Students will develop culturally competent, responsive, and sustaining practices for diverse learners.
• Students will learn the practice of critical self-reflection for self-correction.
• Students will develop competencies in cultural critique of systemic inequities to create empowering and transformative practices in diverse K-12 school and community settings.

Benefits and Opportunities of the Program

• K-12 schools, nationally and locally, are increasingly diverse. Subsequently, culturally relevant and equity-minded skillsets are indispensable to pedagogy, curriculum, instructional practice, policy, and community engagement. This certificate program is an SOE endorsed, micro-credential, acknowledging said earned skillsets, attractive to employers in diverse learning settings. Upon completion of the program, the certificate will be noted on your baccalaureate transcript.
• The certificate program enables education majors to obtain credit from three existing courses (out of six offered), foundational to all undergraduate degree programs in the School of Education.
• Undergraduate students outside the School of Education have an opportunity to earn an added credential to their professional skillset.
• Students will have an opportunity to take two graduate courses offered in the program, during their junior and senior year. This structure introduces students to courses in our graduate curriculum - potentially encouraging future graduate enrollment opportunities. If applicable, these graduate courses can count toward a graduate degree program.
• This program fosters an interdisciplinary learning environment. Different education majors from different departments in the School of Education and other majors from different schools, across the university, can apply to this program.

Are you interested in learning more?

This certificate program is housed in the School of Education. However, students do not have to be an education major. Any Duquesne University sophomore who maintains a minimum 3.0 GPA and meets eligibility criteria as reflected in the application process is welcome to apply. This is a School of Education-endorsed certificate.