Undergraduate Teacher Education Programs

Being committed to cultivating teachers who are reflective practitioners, the Greensboro College Teacher Education Program is designed to help prospective teachers become more literate, articulate, intellectually independent, and professionally competent.  Active learning, critical reflection, and disciplined inquiry are central to this program as candidates gain understanding about the thoughts and accomplishments of humanity.  Theory and practice are combined to facilitate the development of professional educators who are prepared to meet challenges, celebrate diversity, and respond compassionately to their students.

Initial licensure is offered in the following areas: Birth through Kindergarten, Elementary (K-6) Middle Grades (6-9), English (9-12), Social Studies (9-12), Mathematics (9-12), Biology (9-12), Art (K-12), Music (K-12), Physical Education (K-12), Spanish (K-12), Special Education (K-12) General and Adapted curriculum, Theatre (K-12), and Preschool Add-on licensure for elementary and special education license holders.  All areas offered by the College are designed to fulfill the requirements for initial licensure in the state of North Carolina and are generally reciprocal with many other states. 

Admission to Teacher Education

Traditional degree-seeking candidates should apply for formal admission into the Teacher Education Program no later than the beginning of the junior year.  Transfer candidates of junior status should seek admission during the first semester in residence.  All candidates, including licensure-only, lateral-entry, and provisional licensure candidates should seek admission prior to entry into 3000-level professional courses.  Entering licensure-only candidates should immediately contact an education advisor to evaluate their program.

For transfer candidates, candidates holding degrees from accredited institutions, and former Greensboro College candidates, admission into the Teacher Education Program requires a thorough review of previous coursework.  During the evaluation process, particular attention is directed toward professional and specialty areas.  For candidates whose previous work is 10 or more years old, this review process may result in an updating and repeating of professional and specialty courses identified by the advisor in consultation with the registrar and appropriate faculty in the discipline.  The Course Equivalency Subcommittee will document these program adjustments which will then be submitted to the Teacher Education Committee for approval.  Detailed information regarding the teacher education program is found in the Undergraduate Orientation Handbook available in the Teacher Education Office and James Addison Jones Library.

Fieldwork Experiences

The Teacher Education Program has a required sequence of field experiences sequentially planned to move the prospective teacher from simple observation and assistance to more complex participation in the classroom.  These pre-student teaching field experiences constitute a commitment to preparing teachers to work effectively in culturally diverse public schools.  Candidates are responsible for arranging and providing their own transportation to and from fieldwork assignments.

Fieldwork components are required for all candidates seeking teacher licensure.  Detailed information regarding early fieldwork is found in the Fieldwork Experiences Handbook available in the Teacher Education Office and James Addison Jones Library.

Student Teaching Program

The Teacher Education Committee has approved the following requirements for admission to the Student Teaching Program.  Material necessary for consideration for student teaching must be submitted to the Teacher Education Office during the first month of the semester before student teaching.  Precise deadlines for student teaching materials will be posted each semester.  Basic requirements and materials include:

Responsibility for student teaching placements is a collaborative endeavor between the local schools and the Teacher Education Office.  Candidates may not be employed (part-time or full-time) during their student teaching semester.  Hardship cases will be reviewed on an individual basis by the Standards Subcommittee of the Teacher Education Program and approved by the Teacher Education Committee.  Candidates must contact the Director of Teacher Education and submit a letter requesting an exception to initiate this process.

Student teaching is a full-semester experience involving the process of gradually acquiring the skills, abilities, and strategies necessary to assume teaching responsibilities.  This is accomplished through a shift from observation to total participation and back to observation near the end of the student teaching assignment.  Thus the student teaching program is structured to reflect the process of phasing "into" and "out of" the total instructional experience.  During the initial stage of student teaching, the student teacher observes, records, reflects, and discusses the methods, curriculum, discipline, and philosophies of the cooperating teacher and the school.  During the second phase of student teaching the candidate begins to instruct groups of students in some content areas until he/she has assumed full control of the cooperating teacher's responsibilities.  During the final phase the student teacher slowly relinquishes the instructional responsibilities to the cooperating teacher.  At this time, when the student teacher is not teaching, he/she observes the cooperating teacher, other master teachers, model programs, special schools, or other important facets of the school or system.  Detailed information regarding student teaching is found in the Student Teaching Handbook available in the Teacher Education Office and James Addison Jones Library.

Teaching Portfolio

All candidates are expected to complete a teaching portfolio as a part of the requirements for successful completion of their program.  The portfolio is a developmental collection of work products from student teaching/clinical practicum and from various professional and specialty area courses.  One of the functions of the student teaching seminar is to guide students through the final stages of developing an acceptable portfolio.

The artifacts in the teaching portfolio are linked by rationale statements to the 10 INTASC Standards and demonstrate the various competencies relevant to the Teacher Education Program conceptual framework and to the various state standards for licensure.  The portfolio is built using the LiveText suite of on-line tools and is assessed by the supervising faculty and the cooperating teacher for student teachers.

Licensure

The attainment of an initial license involves obtaining minimum, or higher scores on the PRAXIS II specialty area tests with cut scores established by the State Board of Education; submission of an approved Teaching Portfolio, and successful completion of the Teacher Education Program.  Degree-seeking candidates must also complete all major and degree requirements and graduate from Greensboro College.