Program Overview

Greenville University was founded in 1892 by the Free Methodist Church with the intent to provide a distinctive, Christ-centered university education for men and women. Faith and community are pillars of the learning process at Greenville University. Transformations in students occur as they experience meaningful change–both in and out of the classroom. Greenville University provides a quality liberal arts education for over 1,100 students. We offer over 30 undergraduate majors as well as adult and graduate programs that are available online.

The School of Education at Greenville University holds a long tradition of preparing educators to teach God’s children in a culturally-diverse world. In the School of Education, we are serious about preparing future teachers to create classroom environments that promote cooperation and responsibility, support self-worth, affirm the dignity of all students, and stimulate learning. We focus our programs on robust, practical classroom experiences. In our undergraduate programs, these experiences begin during freshman year and are intentionally paired with the student’s coursework until his or her senior year. In our graduate programs, we connect education theory to application throughout the student’s coursework, especially in the Action Research Capstone at the end of the program.

Preparing teachers to address character education and the social and emotional learning needs of their future students is a significant marker in our program. This preparation is accomplished without consistent faith and learning integration, which is connected to the Social Education Learning that is essential in today’s classroom.

In order to equip our graduates for serving in diverse environments, the School of Education develops candidates’ knowledge base of content, students, and pedagogy. This knowledge base incorporates strategies for differentiation in response to diverse learners, including students with linguistic, cultural, and ethnic diversity as well as students with a broad range of abilities and background knowledge. It requires candidates to thoughtfully analyze student data and use this data, along with knowledge of research-based practice, to plan for instruction and accommodations.

We also recognize that educational systems are undergoing significant change. We want to inform our students of the importance of critical thinking and problem solving, creative thinking and invention, interdisciplinary learning, collaboration and teamwork, and the use of technology as a tool for research and communication. We believe that teachers need to feel equipped to use technology in transformative ways that will enhance students’ learning and prepare them to become effective and thoughtful members of a digital society.