History of the Department of Education
The School of Pedagogy was started in 1912 which courses of studies in Education was created which aimed at preparing graduates of the University of Santa Clara for capable service in the field of high school education. There were 8 classes taught and this school continued until 1922.
In 1925 there were education electives under the College of Liberal Arts as well as class in education for only Jesuits who would be good high school teachers. And in 1929 education became only a minor.
Additional changes occurred in 1951 when the University decided to employ a full-time instructor (Dr. Edwin Brown) to offer the necessary professional education courses for a California state teaching credential. Previously, adjunct faculty had offered courses in the history of U.S. schools and in educational psychology to interested students and to prospective teachers. The Department of Education remained a small teacher preparation unit until 1964 when guidelines were established for a credential and Master of Arts in School Counseling. At that time, three full-time faculty became responsible for an expanded fifth-year teacher preparation program and for the newly created Master of Arts degree and credential program in school counseling.
In 1970, the teacher preparation program was expanded to include elementary teacher training. In 1973, the University began offering a master's degree in special education with a credential program in teaching the learning handicapped. In 1977, a group of Santa Clara County superintendents, who had been meeting regularly to recommend various program improvements for the Department of Education, recommended the development of an advanced-degree program in school administration. That program began in 1979 and was followed by an administrative internship program in 1982.
The counseling psychology programs at Santa Clara, also begun in 1964 as a part of the Department of Education, experienced a period of rapid growth in programs, faculty, and enrollments when a decision was made in 1970 to train counselors for the license in Marriage, Family, and Child Counseling, a new specialty in counseling psychology.
In 1981, the Department of Education became the Division of Counseling Psychology and Education. The Division offered six master's degree programs, seven credential programs, and professional enhancement workshops through a continuing professional education program. The Division also designed and implemented grant proposals to provide training programs for school administrators, teachers, and paraprofessionals in the field of education.
The School of Education, Counseling Psychology, and Pastoral Ministries was created in 2003. The first dean was Fr. Sonny Manuel, S.J. It included the Department of Education, The Department of Counseling Psychology and the Graduate Program in Pastoral Ministries. A new office of Graduate Services was created to streamline the admissions and records procedure to meet the needs of all students. There are currently over 1000 active students in the school.
E-mail this page