Teacher Education Program

The courses in the Teacher Education Program provide a social, philosophical, psychological and historical framework in which students can develop a personal philosophy of teaching. The Indiana Wesleyan University Teacher Education Program's knowledge base model, “Teacher as Decision Maker,” emphasizes decision-making within eight domains: (1) Content/subject matter expertise; (2) Personal development (morals and ethics); (3) Professional development; (4) Rights and responsibilities; (5) Methodology; (6) Management of time, classroom and behaviors; (7) Communication; and (8) Global and multicultural perspectives.

Admission to the Teacher Education Program

Students are eligible to make application for admission to the Teacher Education Program at the completion of 29 semester hours, including one course completed at IWU. Additional requirements:

1. Cumulative GPA of 2.75 and a 3.0 in each teaching major, including teacher education courses. All professional education courses completed with a grade of C- or less must be repeated.
2. Meet basic skills competencies required by the Indiana Department of Education.
3. Formal application (available in the Teacher Education Office).
4. Gateway 1 Dispositions Assessment form.
5. Teacher Education Program portfolio.
6. Formal interview.

Students who are denied admission may follow the appeals process as outlined in the Teacher Education Program Handbook.

Admission to Student Teaching

The student teaching experience is a 16-week semester course in which students refine their skills gained throughout the Teacher Education Program. This capstone experience is composed of two eight-week placements (or one 16-week placement in special circumstances) in which students fully engage in teaching.

Cross-cultural Student Teaching Placements. With the approval of the Teacher Education Committee, students may opt for an eight-week experience in a local school and eight weeks in an overseas or cross-cultural placement. These student teaching placements are available, providing the pre-service teacher the opportunity for a more diverse global perspective on teaching.

Applications for student teaching must be submitted to the Office of Teacher Education by November 1 of the year prior to the student teaching semester (12-15 months in advance of the student teaching experience). To qualify for the student teaching semester, the student must be fully accepted into the Teacher Education Program, have attained senior status, have completed the prerequisite professional courses, and have completed at least three-fourths of the hours required for the major.

Student teaching admission requirements:

1. Cumulative GPA of 2.75 and a 3.0 in each teaching major, including teacher education courses. (NOTE: College of Arts and Sciences GPA requirements apply at program completion and graduation.)
2. Formal application (available in the Office of Teacher Education). The following documents must accompany the student teaching application.
3. Revised autobiography.
4. Revised philosophy of education.
5. Current degree audit and transcript.
6. Dispositions assessment forms.
7. Lesson plan.

Once the above qualifications are met, the candidates' names are submitted to the divisions for review and to the Vice President for Student Development. The application is then voted upon for approval. Students denied admission to the student teaching semester, may appeal the decision through a process as outlined in the Teacher Education Program Handbook.

Once admitted, the student must exhibit professional demeanor both in university courses and in clinical field placements, and remain a positive role model for both the University and the Teacher Education Program.

Teacher Certification

Content-knowledge tests are required for teacher certification in the state of Indiana. One hundred percent of students who completed the Teacher Education Program in 2011-2012 passed their Praxis II certification tests.

Documents for Indiana Teacher Certification should be filed with the Office of Teacher Education as soon after graduation as possible. Necessary information on the certification process is available in the Teacher Certification Office.

Integration of Faith and Learning

The eight domains of the Teacher as Decision Maker conceptual framework are integrated in the context of faith and learning as students discover the relationship between teaching and biblical principles.

The program integrates liberal arts education, content-specific coursework, and clinical field placements to provide the student with teaching situations that allow the theory presented within the university classroom to become applied knowledge within the world of the practitioner. All professors within the Teacher Education Program have had classroom experience and continue to work closely with current practicing teachers.

Field Placements

Field experiences for all education majors begin in the freshman year, with tutoring and mentoring activities in school-like settings. Sophomore-year experiences build on this foundation in area schools and classrooms. An observation and participation field experience is required of all elementary and secondary education majors in May of the freshman or sophomore year. (This experience is not a requirement of the Exceptional Needs major, the Elementary Education/Exceptional Needs double major, and the Physical and Health Education major.) Junior-year field experiences require students to teach and spend up to 180 clock hours in classrooms in area schools.