School of Education & Social Policy
Student Teaching Internship

 

The student teaching internship is a complete University quarter’s experience of full-time classroom work that proceeds under the daily direction of one or more classroom mentors appointed by the school
Skilled mentors such as high school physics teacher Mark Vondracek help to develop student teachers' abilities in classroom teaching.		 The student teaching internship is a complete University quarter’s experience of full-time classroom work that proceeds under the daily direction of one or more classroom mentors appointed by the school. In order to meet certification requirements and University expectations, the following conditions must be met:
  • Secondary teaching candidates will student teach courses in the subject area (discipline) in which he/she will be certified and any other classes agreed upon by the mentor teacher and Northwestern University.
  • Secondary Teaching candidates pursuing the middle school endorsement must student teach in all core subjects (language arts, math, science and social studies).
  • The student teacher is expected to assume full-time charge of all assigned classes for a minimum of four weeks during the 11-week student teaching experience.

How Is Placement for the Student Teaching Internship Determined?
After submitting to the field office a current one-page resume, personal statement, and transcripts of previous college and university work, the prospective teacher candidate confers with the field coordinator for teacher education about placement sites. It should be noted that although the coordinator tries to honor site preferences, this is not always possible.

Usually, one of the practicum school sites is also the student teaching site. Midway through the practicum, the field coordinator for teacher education will explore options for continuing at a school for student teaching. If the mentors, department chair and teacher candidates find it feasible, continuing the field experience in a practicum site is beneficial for all elementary, middle school and secondary student teachers.

When a placement is confirmed, the teacher candidate is expected to schedule meetings promptly with the assigned mentors to arrange for orientation and to plan the internship activities.  Some schools have a general agenda that interns are required to follow, while others expect the student teacher intern is to take the planning initiative.