Bachelor of Education - Definition and Overview

A Bachelor of Education is an undergraduate academic degree which qualifies the graduate as a teacher in schools (e.g. US) or primary school (e.g. United Kingdom).

In North America the degree is awarded for courses taken that generally lasts two years. To gain the qualififcation the student is required to have a previous or substantial progress towards a bachelor's degree, usually in the field that the student wishes to teach in, as well as a good repertoire with young children or teens. There are several streams to a Bachelor of Education, each corresponding to the particular level of instruction. For the US, this includes elementary school education, middle school education, and high school education.

Students take a majority of their courses (usually 7/8) in pedagogy.

In the United Kingdom, where both the university system and school system are very different, the degree is awarded after a four year course which is specifically tailored to primary education (for secondary education a post graduate education degree (PGCE) is required).

A graduate of a Bachelor of Education, receives the designation B.Ed.