Teacher Education has been at the heart of Indiana Wesleyan University since our founding in 1920. We continue to prepare educators and administrators who serve and lead with a dual purpose - to deliver exceptional education while impacting the lives of students, families, and communities across a wide range of educational contexts.
Are you feeling called to become a teacher? At Indiana Wesleyan University, we believe teaching is an admirable career path already, so when combined with our Christ-centered and rigorous curriculum, it becomes transformational. Innovative classroom instruction, extensive practice teaching placements in P-12 schools, and a comprehensive assessment system ensures our graduates lead their classrooms with confidence and clarity.
Allow our intentional faculty to pour into your passion for teaching and get ready to make a difference in the lives of others with a degree from IWU!
John A. McCracken
PROFESSOR | PH.D.; M.A.
Dr. McCracken's passion for developing the world's future educators stems from his belief that educating children is a noble vocation. As a member of Indiana Wesleyan University's School of Teacher Education, Dr. McCracken brings a rich Christian perspective to children's literacy.
Discover your God-given gifts and begin impacting the world in Jesus' name with a degree in Teacher Education from IWU!
Student teaching at Indiana Wesleyan University is the capstone semester that is the culmination of the courses, assessments and field experiences that comprise the Teacher Education Program.
Students engage in a semester-long student teaching experience, sometimes spent in a single placement and sometimes in two, eight-week placements. In either arrangement, student teachers begin by observing and acclimating to the classroom, then gradually begin taking over individual classes until they have assumed the full-time role of classroom teacher.
Student teachers are observed six times by university faculty over the course of the semester. This collaboration is designed to support student teachers as they make the transition from student to professional educator.
An increasing number of IWU student teachers are taking advantage of the opportunity to broaden their experiences by student teaching in overseas locations.
Following a rigorous screening process, the IWU School of Teacher Education annually selects 15 or more students to complete one phase (eight weeks) of the student teaching experience abroad. These student teachers serve in accredited international and/or Christian schools around the world. Recent placements have included schools in South Korea, Austria, Macedonia, Bolivia, Puerto Rico, England, Russia, China, Hungary, Switzerland, Ecuador, Taiwan, Spain, Germany, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, Australia, New Zealand and the Dominican Republic.
In addition to full-time in-school instructional responsibilities, student teachers in overseas locations serve outside the school community in a variety of capacities. Because of the overt commitment to instructional excellence, Indiana Wesleyan University student teachers are consistently asked to return to the cross-cultural student teaching sites as full-time employees.
Pre-student-teaching practicum experiences are essential components of professional teacher training. Research and best practices indicate that the process of developing a teacher who will ultimately be successful in the classroom takes many hours over an extended period of time.
In addition to multiple classroom-based school experiences, formal practicum experiences in the Indiana Wesleyan University School of Teacher Education begin during May term following the freshman year with a two- to three-week period of observing and participating in a public- or private-school classroom related to the student's degree field. This experience is followed by additional practicum experiences during the sophomore and junior years that enable students to begin practice teaching in conjunction with the methods of teaching classes that are part of their degree programs.
IWU students develop lessons, teach them in their school placements, and are observed and mentored by the classroom teacher and School of Teacher Education faculty, thus beginning the process of developing the skills necessary for successful student teaching.
As a content-specific teacher in training, the IWU student is able to participate in four levels of field experience:
The Indiana Wesleyan University Teacher Education Program is accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP), a specialized accrediting body that helps to ensure quality in educator preparation and is the top teaching education program accrediting board.
Teacher candidates from CAEP-accredited institutions will be better prepared for new, more demanding initial licensing expectations in many states and for board certification through the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.
Because the IWU School of Teacher Education is accredited by CAEP, and because the state of Indiana has reciprocity agreements with the other 49 states in the Union, graduates will find that the initial Indiana teaching license will transfer smoothly and with minimal additional requirements when they move out of state.
The Educator Preparation Programs at IWU provide data for Annual Reporting Measures for both initial and advanced state licensure.
These programs report annually providing information about program completers, including data regarding their impact on P-12 learning and development, teacher effectiveness, the satisfaction of completers and employers, Title II data, and other measures.
