This program is designed for students who may be interested in pursuing teaching as a career choice.  Students will study theories of learning and development, and explore issues of privilege and equity in education today.  Students will learn about pathways to teacher certification and about teaching contexts in public schools and in other settings.

The class will examine teaching careers from many angles.  We will investigate questions such as: How can you become an effective social justice educator? How might you build upon your unique educational history to strengthen yourself as a teacher? Do the creative burdens and opportunities of teaching match up well with your creative impulses? In what teaching context would you have the most to offer?

So You Want to Be a Teacher will study the realities of teaching in the current educational climate, whether in public or in private schools.  While we will spend most of our efforts on understanding the demands of public school teaching, we will also look at other contexts, such as early childhood, Waldorf, Montessori, and democratic models of education.  Students in this program can expect to visit classrooms and/or talk with practicing teachers.  We will study models of learning, and students will learn to plan and implement short lessons built upon those models.  Students will also study teachers who enact social justice goals in their work.

Program activities will include interactive lectures and workshops, seminars, weekly writing, small group investigations, and a long-term project exploring a particular approach to schooling. Participants' work in the program will be assessed through written papers, participation in all activities, projects, and a final portfolio.