Minor
An 18-credit minor that covers exceptional-child education, curriculum and instruction, classroom management, and SEI methods — plus a subject-area teaching course and a developmental psychology choice.
Subject-Area Methods
SED 313-319 — teaching in your discipline
Classroom Management
EDU 415 — the working craft of the classroom
SEI Methods Credential
Required by AZ classrooms
ACU’s Secondary Education Minor is built for students preparing to teach grades 6–12 in their content area — particularly Christian school teachers and those pursuing certification through a non-traditional pathway. The 12-credit core covers the foundations of secondary teaching: Introduction to the Exceptional Child (EDU 314), Curriculum and Instruction (EDU 317), Classroom Management (EDU 415), and Structured English Immersion Methods (SEI 490).
The 3-credit subject-area elective takes you into the methods of your specific content area — SED 313 (English), SED 314 (Math), SED 315 (Business), SED 317 (Science), SED 318 (History), or SED 319 (Political Science). And a 3-credit developmental psychology elective rounds out the minor: choose Human Development (CHD 312) for a broader lifespan view or Adolescent Development (CHD 314) for a focused secondary-grade view.
Pairs especially naturally with content-area majors — English, Mathematics, Biology, History, Political Science, Christian Ministries — that align with your intended teaching subject.
Apply Curriculum and Instruction
Study how curriculum is designed and instruction is delivered in real grades 6–12 classrooms.
Manage a Classroom
Build the working skills of secondary classroom management — routines, expectations, discipline, classroom culture.
Reach Diverse Learners
Develop the foundational knowledge to recognize and respond to students with diverse learning needs.
Teach English Language Learners
Earn the Structured English Immersion methods credential Arizona public and Christian schools assume.
Teach Your Subject Area
Specialize in teaching methods for your content area through SED 313–319.
Understand Adolescent Development
Study adolescent or broader human development — central to secondary teaching where students are still becoming.
A Biblical Worldview takes adolescents seriously as image-bearers in a formative season — meaning secondary teachers carry real responsibility for the students in their care.
Adolescents as Image-Bearers
Every secondary student — the engaged learner, the struggling student, the kid working through difficult things outside class — carries the dignity of being made in God's image during a season of life when so much is still becoming. The minor treats secondary teaching as work that requires patience and respect.
Grounds your classroom posture in care for each student's developing identity.
Teaching as Mentoring
Adolescents spend hours every week with their teachers, often more than with parents during the day. That access is responsibility, not just opportunity. ACU's secondary education curriculum treats teaching as mentoring — sustained relationships that shape character alongside content.
Equips you to teach with the conviction that the students matter more than the test scores.
Truth Across the Disciplines
If all truth is God's truth, then math, history, literature, science, and every other content area reveals something real about the world He made. The subject-area methods electives reflect that — teaching becomes an act of helping students discover real things.
Helps you connect your content area to bigger questions students are already asking.
Secondary Education opens doors across grades 6–12 teaching, with the minor especially useful for Christian school teaching where state certification is sometimes not required.
Christian School Secondary Teacher
Step into grades 6–12 teaching at Christian schools where the content-area knowledge from your major plus this minor's teaching methods are the working credential.
Public School Secondary Teacher (with Additional Certification Work)
Use the minor as foundation for non-traditional certification pathways — pair with state-specific requirements to enter public-school teaching.
Substitute Teacher
Build the foundational teaching credentials sub-teaching pools assume.
Educational Support and Tutoring
Move into tutoring, learning-center, and classroom-aide roles in schools, ministries, or community programs.
Curriculum Development and Educational Materials
Apply secondary teaching methods to curriculum design, educational content writing, and teacher-resource development.
Christian Ministry and Youth Education
Bring formal secondary education methods into youth ministry, parachurch, and Christian camp education work.
The Secondary Education Minor at ACU is built specifically for non-Education majors heading toward content-area teaching, with subject-area methods and developmental psychology built into the structure.
Subject-Area Methods Included
SED 313–319 lets you specialize in teaching English, Math, Business, Science, History, or Political Science — methods specific to your content area.
Classroom Management in the Required Core
EDU 415 Classroom Management is mandatory — the working craft most new teachers feel least prepared for.
SEI Methods Credential
SEI 490 gives you the Structured English Immersion methods preparation Arizona classrooms require.
Adolescent or Lifespan Development
Choose CHD 314 Adolescent Development for focused secondary-grade view, or CHD 312 Human Development for broader lifespan understanding.
Same Faculty as the BS Secondary Education
Secondary Education Minor students sit in the same courses with the same professors as ACU's secondary education majors.
The Secondary Education Minor builds on EDU 317 as the gateway — IVP fingerprint clearance is required, and EDU 317 unlocks the rest.
Talk With Your Academic Advisor
Map the 18 credits into your degree plan and identify which SED 313–319 subject-area methods course aligns with your content major.
Get Your IVP Fingerprint Card
Arizona requires an Identity Verified Prints (IVP) card before EDU 317 and the SED 313–319 methods courses.
Take EDU 317 Sophomore or Junior Year
EDU 317 Curriculum and Instruction unlocks EDU 415, SEI 490, and the SED 313–319 methods courses. Schedule it before junior year.
View EDU 317Add Your Subject-Area Methods Course
Take SED 313 (English), 314 (Math), 315 (Business), 317 (Science), 318 (History), or 319 (Political Science) — whichever aligns with your major. Junior or senior year.
The Secondary Education Minor pairs the foundations of secondary teaching with content-area methods specific to your subject — strong preparation for Christian school teaching and non-traditional certification pathways. Apply or reach out today.