Why don't our student teachers have pre-placement, or a full-year of teaching?

The state of Michigan approves each program, at each institution, differently. Since our state certifies teachers rather than licensing them, course and hour requirements are not prescribed by the state.Rigorous national and state standards guide our curriculum. The Hope College Department of Education is committed to being a four-year program. In order to prepare our students in such a way (and still complete the program in the scheduled amount of time) it is necessary to begin placements with the first education course. These early field placements also coincide with our philosophy of learning. Since learning is a process, education students need the chance to practice the theories and methods as they are learning them. For this reason, the field placement is implemented, and used for practical application of even the most basic theories of education. Other institutions that may not be committed to a four-year program have a full-year of student teaching, but may not have the early field placements.