Specific additional course work may be necessary to fulfill these requirements. Some content areas also require additional methods courses specific to the field of study, especially in the P-12 areas. Professional Education Core Teacher-education students begin developing their professional knowledge base by taking Foundations of Education. Curriculum and methods courses involve extensive field experiences coordinated with the course work. An important goal of the overall program is to provide all graduates with firsthand experiences in applying classroom knowledge and skills with diverse student populations.
Student teaching is for a full semester of fifteen weeks.
This may be fulfilled through a year-long internship if available. During that time, teacher education students are placed in a classroom under the close supervision of a teacher with a minimum of three years in-field experience. A college or RESA supervisor also makes planned observations and provides feedback to the student teacher. Student teachers gradually assume total responsibility for full-time teaching and other responsibilities of the classroom. This experience provides teacher education students with the opportunity to synthesize the knowledge and demonstrate the competencies they have acquired for developing human potential.