Are you interested in:

• Teaching students in elementary school

Becoming a teacher at Meredith College is a win-win process: you choose and study in a major and you take courses in a licensure program. So becoming a teacher at Meredith College involves choosing a major, taking specific courses for your general education requirements, and taking professional education courses in the licensure program. Study in your major and general education courses will equip you with the content knowledge that you need to teach. Your professional education courses prepare you to teach English/language arts, mathematics, social studies, science, and the arts, and to work effectively in schools with colleagues. You will learn to understand your students’ learning and to reach all students in your class. You can begin taking the required licensure courses as a sophomore. After taking one education course, you can apply to the teacher education program.

Types of jobs:

• Elementary school teacher in public, private, or charter schools
• Tutor

Attend graduate school for:

• Elementary education
• Reading specialist
• Special education
• Academically and intellectually gifted education
• English as a second language
• Curriculum and instruction specialist
• School administration (with teaching experience)

Options for the major:

• Earn a B.A. or B.S. in the major of your choice – choose your passion and develop a deep understanding of that discipline
• Join Meredith Educators, a group that organizes speakers and sponsors special activities for students interested in teaching
• Read books to children in schools and give students the opportunity to talk about the books as a MeredithReads volunteer
• Take the first-year critical thinking seminar called “Education Under Fire!” as an elective for an opportunity to debate important issues in education and to visit schools
• Attend the information session for first-year students who are interested in teaching (March)
• Attend the Orientation to Teacher Education in the fall of your sophomore year
• Participate in child center and school-based field placements
• Teaching during your semester-long student teaching internship
• Kappa Delta Pi, the education honor society

Professional associations:

• National Association of Teachers of Mathematics www.nctm.org/
• National Council of Teachers of English www.ncte.org/
• National Science Teachers Association www.nsta.org/
• National Council for the Social Studies www.socialstudies.org/
• Council for Exceptional Children www.cec.sped.org/
• National Association for Gifted Children www.nagc.org/
• Teachers of Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) www.tesol.org/
• North Carolina Association of Educators www.ncae.org/
• Professional Educators of North Carolina www.pencweb.org/
• National Association of Elementary School Principals www.naesp.org/
• Kappa Delta Pi www.kdp.org/

Career outlook:

Kindergarten and elementary school teacher

Additional information:

Requirements for elementary education licensure »

The faculty and staff in the Department of Education work closely with public school teachers and administrators. This helps us design programs to prepare you for real classrooms. We see you as a future teacher-leader!