Child and Youth Development

Area of Education

Updated Fall 2012

The child and youth development major supports the following goals of Milligan College:

  • Students will demonstrate sound scholarship through their ability to read and think analytically and critically, to communicate clearly and effectively, to evidence knowledge and competencies in the liberal arts and the natural and social sciences, and to understand a significant body of material in their major fields of study.
  • Students will demonstrate social responsibility in numerous ways, such as serving in churches, on the mission field (domestic and foreign), and with social agencies; mentoring, nurturing, and protecting others; and displaying increased understanding of and experience with other cultures.
  • Students will gain an enriched quality of life through awareness of health issues, appreciation for both the arts and sciences, stewardship of resources, and preparation for graduate studies and a rewarding career or profession.

Milligan College offers a child and youth development major for persons who wish to prepare for careers in working with children from birth through seventeen years of age. The mission of the program is to prepare caring and reflecting professionals who integrate their Christian faith, social responsibility, and sound scholarship in order to contribute to a responsible and caring community.

Completion of the program prepares an individual for employment in a variety of settings including youth-serving organizations such as Boys and Girls Clubs, YMCAs, and military youth programs and private, governmental, and nonprofit early childhood programs such as Head Start, church preschools, military child development centers, and other settings that do not require public school licensure.

With the successful completion of the early childhood emphasis and additional courses, the program can lead to licensure for persons who wish to teach in PreK-3 or K-6. The child and youth development program includes general education courses, core courses for the major, and an emphasis in either early childhood administration, early childhood education, or youth program administration, and elective courses.

Students must complete the general education requirements, the core requirements, and the requirements for one of the five emphases.

The senior exit exam for the Child and Youth Development major is the Praxis II for licensure-seeking students or a faculty-created exam for non-licensure-seeking students.

Child and Youth Development major

General Education Requirements (31-34 hrs)

    • BIBL 123 Old Testament Survey (3 hrs)
    • BIBL 124 New Testament Survey (3 hrs)
    • BIBL 471 Christ and Culture (3 hrs)
    • COMM 102 Speech Communications (2 hrs)
    • COMP 111 Rhetorical Composition (3 hrs)
    • COMP 211 Inquiring Minds: Foundational Analytical Composition (3 hrs)
    • HPXS 101 Fitness for Life (1 hr)
    • HUMN 101 Ancient and Medieval Cultures (4 hrs)
    • HUMN 102 Renaissance and Early Modern Cultures (4 hrs)
    • HUMN 201 Eighteenth and Nineteenth-century Cultures (4 hrs)
    • HUMN 202 Cultures of the Twentieth and Early Twenty-first Centuries (4 hrs)
    • MATH 153 Fundamental Concepts (3 hrs) [math course]
    • PSYC 100 Introduction to College and Service (.5 hr)
    • PSYC 210 Introduction to Calling and Career (.5 hr)

Required core courses in the major (14 hrs)

    • BIOL 110 General Biology (4 hrs) [lab science]
    • EDUC 231 Psychology and Education of Exceptional Students (3 hrs)
    • EDUC 233 Child Guidance (2 hrs)
    • GEOG 202 Cultural and Ethnic Geography (3 hrs) [ethnic studies course]
    • PHYS 104 Earth and Space Science (4 hrs) [second science requirement]
    • PSYC 253 Child Development or 254 Adolescent Development (for K-6 licensure) (3 hrs)
    • PSYC 356 Cross-Cultural Psychology (3 hrs)
    • SOCL 201 Introduction to Sociology (3 hrs) [SL course]
    • SOCL 303 Family or EDUC 403 Parent Education and Involvement (3 hrs)

Non-licensure emphases

Early Childhood Administration (non-licensure) (16 hrs)

    • ACCT 211 Introductory Accounting I (3 hrs) or ACCT 315 Not-for-Profit Accounting (3 hrs)
    • BADM 210 Survey of Business (3 hrs) or CMIN 217 Foundation for Youth and Church Ministry (3 hrs) (BADM 210 for public sector administration; CMIN 217 for church-related administration)
    • EDUC 406 Early Childhood and Elementary Curriculum and Methods (3 hrs)
    • EDUC 440 Creative Activities for Young Children (2 hrs)
    • EDUC 443 Practicum (3 hrs)
    • EDUC 475 Early Childhood Administration (2 hrs)

[top]

Early Childhood Education (non-licensure) (17 hrs)

    • EDUC 150 Introduction to Teaching (2 hrs)
    • EDUC 355 Literacy Development (3 hrs)
    • EDUC 406 Early Childhood and Elementary Curriculum and Methods (3 hrs)
    • EDUC 440 Creative Activities for Young Children (2 hrs)
    • EDUC 443 Practicum (4 hrs)
    • ENGL 354 Children’s Literature (3 hrs)

[top]

Youth Program Administration (non-licensure) (19 hrs)

    • BADM 361 Principles of Management (3 hrs)
    • COMM 151 Introduction to Theatre (3 hrs)
    • EDUC 440 Creative Activities for Children (2 hrs)
    • EDUC 443 Practicum (3 hrs)
    • HXPS 307 Recreational Leadership and Outdoor Education (2 hrs)
    • PSYC 260 Sports Psychology (3 hrs)
    • PSYC 357 Introduction to Counseling of Children and Families (3 hrs)

[top]

Students may also obtain Tennessee state licensure to teach in pre-kindergarten through third grade or in Kindergarten through sixth grade by completing the Child and Youth Development major with the licensure option.

PreK-3 and K-6 licensure emphases

(Requires admission to the professional level of teacher education)

The coursework below is in addition to General Education Requirements and Core listed above.

Emphasis in Early Childhood Education with PreK-3 Licensure (15 hrs)

    • EDUC 440 Creative Activities for Young Children (2 hrs)
    • ENGL 354 Children‘s Literature (3 hrs)
    • GNSC 350.  Basic Applications of Scientific Principles (2 hrs)
    • HIST 209 United States History Survey I (3 hrs)
    • HPXS 440 Health and Physical Education Methods (2 hrs)
    • MATH 253 Fundamental Concepts (3 hrs)

Educational Studies (33 hrs)

    • EDUC 150 Introduction to Teaching (2 hrs)
    • EDUC 152 Technology in Education (1 hr)
    • EDUC 301 Introduction to Early Childhood and Elementary Education (3 hrs)
    • EDUC 321 Assessment for Instruction (3 hrs)
    • EDUC 355 Literacy Development (3 hrs)
    • EDUC 356 Reading Processes with Assessment and Intervention (3 hrs)
    • EDUC 406 Early Childhood and Elementary Curriculum and Methods (3 hrs)
    • EDUC 452 Student Teaching: Early Childhood (12 hrs)
    • EDUC 460 Capstone Seminar (1 hr)
    • EDUC 475 Early Childhood Administration (2 hrs)

Verification of CPR and/or first aid competency that is current is required for student teaching.

[top]

Emphasis in K-6 (18 hrs)

    • EDUC 440 Creative Activities for Young Children (2 hrs)
    • ENGL 354 Children‘s Literature (3 hrs)
    • GNSC 350.  Basic Applications of Scientific Principles (2 hrs)
    • HIST 209 U S History Survey I (3 hrs)
    • HIST 210 United States History Survey II (3hrs)
    • HPXS 440 Health and Physical Education Methods (2 hrs)
    • MATH 253 Fundamental Concepts (3 hrs)

Educational Studies (31 hrs)

    • EDUC 150 Introduction to Teaching (2 hrs)
    • EDUC 152 Technology in Education (1 hr)
    • EDUC 301 Introduction to Early Childhood and Elementary Education (3 hrs)
    • EDUC 355 Literacy Development (3 hrs)
    • EDUC 356 Reading Processes with Assessment and Intervention (3 hrs)
    • EDUC 321 Assessment for Instruction (3 hrs)
    • EDUC 406 Early Childhood and Elementary Curriculum and Methods (3 hrs)
    • EDUC 451 Student Teaching: Elementary (12 hrs)
    • EDUC 460 Capstone Seminar (1 hr)

Verification of CPR and/or first aid competency that is current is required for student teaching

[top]