FIELD EXPERIENCES

Field Experiences in the M.A. TESOL Program takes the teacher candidate into the Pre-K-12 or adult ESL classroom and school.  It provides early pre-student-teaching exposure to the realities of ESL classroom teaching.  Teacher candidates gain invaluable experience working with students and observing practicing teachers.  Involvement in the classroom may include any of the following:

• Assisting the classroom teacher with various (non-clerical) classroom tasks
• Working with small groups within the classroom
• Assisting individual ESL students who need specialized attention
• Teaching portions of classes
• Developing materials for future classes
• Completing guided observations of practicing teachers

PREK-12 STUDENTS (PROGRAMS 1 AND 2)

The field and clinical experiences are carefully designed to provide teacher candidates with maximum exposure to the realities of teaching diverse student populations.  Our close association with schools in the New York City area offers opportunities to teacher candidates to work with experienced educators in the most interesting urban elementary and secondary schools.  Throughout the field and clinical experience, teacher candidates have the guidance of field supervisors and seminar leaders to facilitate their understanding of how to meet the educational challenges of teaching. These field experiences meet New York State field experience requirements for all teacher candidates seeking certification.

ADULT TRACK STUDENTS

Teacher candidates in the Adult Track may complete their field experience hours in any of a wide variety of adult ESL programs in Manhattan, Queens, Bronx, or Brooklyn.  These programs include Intensive ESL Programs (IEPs) and continuing education Adult ESL programs.  Students who do their field experience in these programs may complete all of their hours in a single program or divide them among several different ones.  Specific field-based assignments are tied to individual courses, and are explained by the instructor of the course.

The following courses have a Field Experience requirement:

STUDENT TEACHING AND PRACTICUM

PRE-K-12 STUDENT TEACHING/PRACTICUM (PROGRAMS 1 & 2)

Student teaching is one of the most important aspects of the TESOL Program.  It provides an opportunity for teacher candidates to apply the theories and methods discussed in their coursework to diverse student populations across the range of ages, levels of proficiency, and language backgrounds.  The more actively teacher candidates participate, the better prepared they will be.

The Hunter College TESOL Program has a two-semester student teaching  (for those who are not yet teaching) or practicum (for those who are already teaching) requirement, one semester at each age level (PreK-6 and 7 – 12).  To ensure that teacher candidates are well prepared, students in Programs 1 and 2 complete their student teaching/practicum requirement in their last two semesters in the TESOL Program.  Hunter College has established has strong relationships with schools, administrators and cooperating teachers to ensure the best student teaching/practicum experience for our teacher candidates.  The Director of Clinical Experiences at Hunter College places all student teachers.