Preparing to Teach Abroad, Certificate

The Certificate in Preparing to Teach Abroad offers undergraduate students interested in teaching outside the U.S. an opportunity to learn the basic principles of culturally responsive lesson design, teaching techniques, and strategies of reflection and modification. Students will consider the complexities involved in entering beyond-U.S. pedagogical settings, including power-knowledge relations in different sociocultural and political contexts. They will also gain confidence leading group instruction.

The program offers all undergraduates, both domestic an international, the opportunity to practice teaching in different community-based settings and focus their studies depending on the age, subject area, or region (within or outside the U.S.) where they wish to teach. While students do not earn a teaching license, completing this certificate makes them more competitive for future employment abroad and may strengthen applications for Fullbright ETA, Peace Corps, international internships, or study abroad programs.

The certificate is also a gateway for post-undergraduate study opportunities in the discipline of education. Its content is not restricted by state-based teacher education requirements and thus assists in preparation for graduate programs and teaching assistantships in the educational field more broadly.

The Certificate in Preparing to Teach Abroad requires five courses and a minimum of 15 credits. At least 8 credits must be completed in residence. Students must complete two required courses, CURRIC 366 and CURRIC 418, 6 credits of electives, and a required capstone course, CURRIC 419. Electives are chosen from a list of over 50 approved courses.

Completion of the certificate requires a minimum GPA of 2.0 in certificate coursework.

Students will be assigned advisors across multiple departments to help them along the way. The diversity of instructors and advisors reflects the topic and themes of the program.

Additional Course Information

All current UW–Madison undergraduates are eligible to complete the Certificate in Preparing to Teach Abroad. To declare the certificate, students should meet with the certificate advisor and then visit the School of Education’s Certificate Programs page to complete the declaration form.

1. Analyze issues of coloniality, power, and difference as they relate to teaching, learning, and curriculum in non-U.S. settings.
2. Examine key cultural, social, and historical relationships to educational knowledge to consider before entering a pedagogical space abroad.
3. Identify curriculum and teaching practices that produce difference and exclusions, focusing on the intersection of transnational and local contexts.
4. Develop culturally responsive practices and pedagogies focused on teaching abroad.
5. Use experiential knowledge of practicum teaching to reflect on pedagogical practices and contextual differences in non-U.S. contexts.