Department of Education

The journey to becoming a teacher is at once intellectual and personal. The Department of Education at Lake Forest College offers a rigorous program of coursework and field experiences that gives pre-service teachers a way to hone their instructional skills, intellectual strengths, and personal commitments. Guided by faculty and cooperating education professionals who provide individualized advising, mentorship, and assessment, students learn to become confident in their classrooms, responsive to their students, deeply knowledgeable about subject matter, and committed to their own growth as lifelong learners.

The Department of Education is entitled by the State of Illinois to prepare students for certification in elementary school (grades K-9) and high school (grades 6-12). The College also offers certification programs at the secondary level in mathematics, English, history, politics, chemistry, biology, and physics and K-12 programs in Visual Art, Spanish, and French.

Education majors get many opportunities to observe and work with students from all kinds of cultural and socio-economic backgrounds. During their junior year, students intern at a local high needs school district, where they incrementally assume full control of their own classes and build confidence for student teaching.  Student teaching placements are generally made in local suburban school districts. For students with an international focus, the Global Student Teaching program offers the chance to teach abroad.  In all, students are required to obtain a minimum of 600 classroom hours.

Teachers who learn at Lake Forest quickly distinguish themselves as leaders in their schools and districts. Some pursue graduate degrees in Education; others transition into school administration. Given the mandatory double major and broad liberal arts education, students also have the flexibility to pursue careers in other fields.

 

image

 

Department Contact:
847-735-5169