The world doesn’t need another average teacher. It needs teachers like you. You’re smart, curious, and passionate about helping others. Maybe you’ve served as a volunteer, worked as a camp counselor, or been a tutor or coach. Perhaps you’ve personally experienced the difference a good teacher can make in someone’s life.
Whatever life experiences have made you consider becoming a teacher, the IU School of Education can help you become a great one. Here, you’ll get the knowledge and experience to become a reflective, compassionate, and socially conscious teacher—with the power to create real, long-term change in the communities where you live and work.
“Teachers should never underestimate the power of their impact. The reality is, what educators do in their classroom today really does determine our future.”
—Melanie Park, 2012 Indiana Teacher of the Year, IU School of Education graduate
What Kind of Teacher Do You Want to Be?
At the School of Education, you’ll have plenty of options. Choose from a range of content areas. Focus on elementary, secondary, or all-ages education. You can even choose to study abroad through one of our cultural immersion projects.
If you’re in secondary education, you can also take part in our Community of Teachers program, an ongoing seminar where students at different points in their educations share their experiences and work toward developing a portfolio of professional skills.
No matter where your journey takes you, you’ll have constant support from the advisors and staff in our Teacher Education Office. We’ll help you choose the courses you need, make sure you have time to participate in the programs that matter to you, and prepare you to earn your initial teaching license.
Take Your Place at the Front of the Class
Our student-teaching philosophy is simple: the more time you spend in real classrooms, the better.
Through our early field experiences program, you’ll have the opportunity to work beside exceptional educators in their own classrooms as early as your second semester, depending on your particular degree program. There, you’ll observe teaching in action, reflect on different teaching and management strategies, and learn more about which age groups you want to teach.
Later, as a student teacher, you’ll work full time for a full semester under the supervision of a mentor teacher. You can also choose to gain additional student teaching experience in the Chicago public school system, an American Indian reservation, or overseas.
