Middle School-Junior High School, BSE - Speech/Theatre Concentration

What you will study

Your journey to become a speech communication and theatre teacher will start on UCM’s Warrensburg campus. Learn from our faculty who have all worked in middle-level education and are committed to helping you become a capable and thoughtful educator. They’ll also guide you and provide feedback as you balance coursework while gaining teaching experience in a middle school or junior high classroom. This will begin in your sophomore year and continue throughout the program, so you’ll be proficient and comfortable in leading your own classroom as a student teacher.

Speech communication and theatre teacher coursework

Get to the root of your desire to become a speech communication and theatre teacher with a wide array of topics in speech and theatre. Courses cover communication, acting and stagecraft, among others designed for our middle-level education program. 

We also offer a minor specifically designed to complement this BSE program. The Speech Communication and Theatre minor for BSE will help you sharpen your focus and extend your learning to broaden your teaching skills.

 

 

Unique learning opportunities for UCM’s Speech and Theatre Teacher degree

At the University of Central Missouri, we ensure you’ll be able to connect what you learn in our classrooms to your own classroom. That’s why we dedicate generous hours to field learning and offer other ways to get involved in teaching, performing and socializing. After all, the best teachers practice what they teach. Opportunities include:

• Mainstage, studio theatre and black box experimental productions
• Dance productions and American College Dance Association
• Central Missouri Repertory
• Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Players
• United States Institute for Theatre Technology
• Southeastern Theatre Conference
• UCM education honor societies — Kappa Delta Pi or Phi Kappa Phi
• Theta Alpha Phi, a national honorary theatre fraternity
• Student Teacher Missouri Teachers Association
• Collegiate Middle Level Association

 

What can you do with a Speech and Theatre Teacher degree from UCM?

The University of Central Missouri’s Middle School-Junior High Education program has experienced a 99% employment rate. We attribute this to extensive teacher preparation, the high demand for middle school and junior high teachers and relationships we maintain with area school districts. In fact, school administrators often begin their search for teacher job candidates at UCM, knowing you’ll be ready for the classroom on day one

Your career prospects as a speech and theatre teacher

Your UCM degree will license you to teach students in grades 5 through 9, which includes high school freshmen. Our faculty will work with and advocate for you to help you understand your teaching career options closer to graduation. However, you can get a glimpse of your future in the classroom when you use the interactive tool below today.

 

 

Financial assistance options for your UCM Speech and Theatre Teacher degree

Completing your Speech Communication and Theatre Teacher degree is an investment in your future and ultimately that of your students. As you plan your own education, you may also be looking for financial assistance. The University of Central Missouri is committed to affordability with information on loans, grants and work study.

In addition to general scholarship opportunities, many scholarships are available exclusively to Education majors. Here are a few specific to the Speech and Theatre concentration:

• James L. Highlander Theatre Scholarship: Available to a junior or senior pursuing a degree in Theatre Education from UCM
• Loneta Pearce Scholarship for the Promotion of Theatre Arts: Available to a junior or senior who has been actively involved in UCM live theatre productions
• McKean Family Scholarship: Available to a full-time junior or senior pursuing a BSE in Speech Communication and Theatre at UCM

You can learn more about program-specific scholarships at the UCM Scholarship Finder.