Students on the ESL track take Theoretical Foundations of TESL . Oral and Literacy Skills Development and Methods and Materials of Teaching English as a Second Language . The program is open to students seeking teacher certification who have been approved to participate. This interim course helps students begin to understand the complexity and importance of education with a multicultural and global emphasis. An interdisciplinary course, Dimensions includes work in history, geography, philosophy, ethics, sociology, economics, literature and the arts, and relies on original source materials.
Students spend half of each day in a multicultural classroom setting.
Afternoons are spent in activities, discussion and reflections on personal experience to help students develop an awareness of history, geography and the significance of their own cultures. The program serves candidates for bilingual or ESL certification, foreign students seeking experience with American students or with those from their own ethnic backgrounds, and students interested in learning about cultural diversity. A student teacher in front of a mural in the predominantly Mexican-American Pilsen neighborhood.