In your first year, you’ll take a course on the Great Commandment, where you’ll explore what it means to love God and love others—alongside your fellow education majors. You’ll get to know your education professors and your academic advisor, who will work with you to create a personalized plan to help you stay on track and graduate on time.

You’ll also start building your knowledge in your chosen subject area by taking general education courses that relate to the license you’re working toward.

In your second year, you’ll dive deeper into what it means to be a teacher through hands-on experiences and foundational education courses:

• EDU 241: Foundations of Education and Field Experience
• EDU Instructional Design
• EDU 214: Educational Technology

These classes will give you a solid understanding of how students learn, the history of education, and how technology fits into the classroom. You’ll also spend time observing in PreK–12 classrooms to see how everything you’re learning applies in real life.

In the spring, you’ll take the next big step by going through interviews and officially applying to the teacher education program.

In your third year, you’ll build on what you’ve learned by taking teaching methods courses specific to your licensure area and beginning your clinical field experience. You’ll also continue core education classes required for all education majors.

Courses include:

• EDU 232 Educational Pyschology
• EDU 315: Assessment for Learning
• EDU 316: Educating Diverse Learners
• EDU 318: Culturally Responsive Classrooms

These experiences will help prepare you for the real-world classroom.

Your senior year is all about getting ready to lead your own classroom. You’ll finish your final education core and methods courses while taking on a bigger leadership role during your time in local classrooms, focusing on both teaching and classroom management.

In the fall, you’ll complete clinical placements where you’ll choose a current learning theory to explore. You’ll turn this into an action research project—creating a research question, testing it in the classroom, and then presenting your findings to faculty, fellow education majors, and guests.

Courses include:

• EDU 406: Classroom Environment
• EDU 456: Senior Seminar

In your final semester, you’ll begin student teaching with the support of a college supervisor and a cooperating teacher. Your placement is split into two parts: one 12-week and one 4-week experience, both aligned with your licensure area or areas. 

The teacher education program values practical field experiences. You’ll spend time in both public and private schools, observing and teaching in different classroom settings.

By the time you graduate, you will have completed 875 hours of clinicals and student teaching, working directly with students. Throughout this time, faculty, supervisors and cooperating teachers will be there to support you, give you feedback and help you grow as a teacher.

You’ll learn about teaching all kinds of students, including those with disabilities, English Language Learners, and students from different backgrounds in your core education courses:

• EDU 316: Educating Diverse Learners
• EDU 318: Culturally Responsive Classrooms

You’ll also get chances to gain real experience in special education classrooms and schools with a wide range of students from different backgrounds.

At Crown College, you will have a faculty advisor to help guide you through your teacher education program. Your advisor will support you as you navigate college life, set your career goals and work toward completing your degree.

Your faculty advisors act as mentors, supporting you every step of the way. They care about your success and are there to help you with both personal and academic challenges.

During your clinical experiences and student teaching, college supervisors and cooperating teachers—experts in your licensure area—will coach and guide you to help you succeed.

Crown College works hard to make the teacher education program the best it can be, and keeps improving it by using new research, student and alumni feedback, and input from school and district leaders.