The student teaching program at University of Northwestern – St. Paul is based upon the principle that theory is most effectively learned when it is linked with practice; therefore, the methods courses are generally accompanied with pre-student teaching in the respective methods areas. Student teaching, the culmination of a gradual induction into teaching, is full time for the assigned weeks in the student teaching semester.
In addition to keeping the same schedule as that of the cooperating teacher(s), the candidate is expected to participate, if permitted, in all professional activities in which the cooperating teacher(s) engages. It is hoped that the intense, practical nature of student teaching in public and private schools will give the candidate a realistic picture of the teaching profession. All of the candidate’s pre-student teaching and student teaching experiences combine for a broad, varied, and practical experience in terms of maturity levels, racial and ethnic backgrounds of the students, approaches to curriculum organization, and alternative instructional strategies. Field experiences across a candidate’s program are designed to provide him/her with wide exposure to examples of “best practice” in the profession.