Overview

According to the American Educational Research Association, “[e]ducation research is the scientific field of study that examines education and learning processes and the human attributes, interactions, organizations, and institutions that shape educational outcomes. Scholarship in the field seeks to describe, understand, and explain how learning takes place throughout a person’s life and how formal and informal contexts of education affect all forms of learning. Education research embraces the full spectrum of rigorous methods appropriate to the questions being asked and also drives the development of new tools and methods.”

Per the 2017-18 handbook for Villanova’s Masters in Counseling program, “[t]he training of professional counselors in the Villanova University Counseling program reflects the faculty's view of the ultimate goals of counseling in a pluralistic society: enhancing the cognitive, affective, and social/interpersonal development of individuals and groups, fostering independence in decision-making, and developing effective problem-solving strategies. The realization of these goals is achieved directly through counseling and consulting, and indirectly through the coordination of ancillary services.”

“Villanova University's Counseling program emphasizes counselor skill development and personal growth, which are considered prerequisites to helping others. The program reflects a humanistic orientation, with an emphasis on developing counseling relationships that are open, accepting and non-judgmental, yet reality-based. Consequently, the counseling program provides experiences and training that generate such behaviors.”

While this description is drawn from the graduate student handbook, the same philosophy is reflected in faculty research and undergraduate course offerings.

For undergraduates, the department offers:

  • a B.A. in Secondary Education. “Villanova University's teacher education program has been approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) to recommend candidates for Level I Certification in order to teach in Pennsylvania's public schools” and all students choose an area of disciplinary within the major.
  • a minor in education
  • a minor in educational policy and leadership
  • a minor in counseling

The department also supports teacher certification in Social Studies for students in Villanova’s Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies program.

The department supports the following graduate programs:

  • M.S. in Counseling with a concentration in either Clinical Mental Health or PK-12 School Counseling.
  • M.A. in Education with a concentration in either Education, Teacher Leadership or Higher Education.
  • M.A. in Education with PA Teacher Certification
  • Post-Baccalaureate Graduate Certificate in Education or Teacher Leadership

Finally, the department offers a joint B.A/M. A program in Education and offers one-credit workshops that can be counted by practitioners towards Act 48 credit, an M.A. in Education, or a Post-Baccalaureate certificate.

The Library's education and counseling collections primarily support the research and instruction of education and counseling students and faculty. Resource selection and retention is largely driven by faculty research interests and the curriculum. Faculty selections and course readings are prioritized.

Departments/programs/subject areas supported

The main areas of interest in education at Villanova include: scholar-practitioner philosophy of teaching; justice issues in teaching and learning; Catholic secondary education; special education; disability studies; the history of American education and youth; student engagement, student voice and youth organizing for social change; multicultural education; assessment; higher education administration and history;  philosophy of education, comparative and international education; queer theory; children’s and young adult literature; and literacy as social practice.

The main areas of interest in counseling at Villanova include: counselor competencies; counselor training, including effective pedagogical practices for multicultural counselor training; family counseling; homelessness and school counseling; school counselor leadership and advocacy; first generation college students;  racial and ethnic identity development; multicultural counseling; attachment, mentalization, and pregnancy; group dynamics; maternal mental health; addiction; rational emotive behavior therapy; and play therapy.

Resources Collected

NOTE: Electronic format is preferred for all Library holdings unless otherwise noted.

  • Scholarly monographs in electronic and print format (academic and trade press preferred)
  • Academic journals in electronic format (peer-reviewed preferred)
  • Academic databases in the social sciences

Resources and materials collected selectively or by request

  • Audiovisual materials
  • Academic journals in print format (only if electronic is unavailable)
  • Reference data, handbooks, dictionaries, and other material (electronic strongly preferred)
  • Juvenile works

Resources not collected

  • Microform
  • Non-Villanova theses and dissertations
  • Conference proceedings (selectively)
  • Ephemera
  • Preprints
  • Print government documents
  • Software manuals
  • Instructor’s materials

Collaborations within the library

The education and counseling collections have crossover and collaboration with other social science disciplines, particularly psychology, sociology, and communication.

Subject Librarian

Laurie Ortiz Rivera

Last updated: 8/25/2022