Florida Southern's education programs are built around a clear progression. You start by observing, move to assisting, then to co-teaching, and finish by leading your own classroom full time. Each stage adds responsibility as your skills grow.
Classroom observation and hands-on experience start with your first education courses. Professional Preparation for Education Majors and Foundations of Education prepare you for your first field placement, and Elementary Education majors pair Foundations of Reading with Clinical Experience for Literacy. Much of that practice happens at The Roberts Academy, our on-campus school.
Your first formal field placement begins. In Clinical Experience I, you are in a real classroom observing and assisting an experienced teacher, while courses like Foundations in Special Education and Foundations ESOL connect what you see to what you are learning.
In Clinical Experience II, you take on more, planning and delivering lessons under the guidance of a cooperating teacher. Methods courses in mathematics, literacy, history and assessment sharpen the craft you are practicing in the field.
Your final year brings it all together. Clinical Experience III and the methods courses lead into a full-semester Senior Internship, where you take charge of a classroom in a local school, supported by seminars that help you reflect and refine as you go.
Florida Southern is one of the few colleges where future teachers practice their craft at lab schools right on campus. You gain supervised, hands-on experience with real students, just steps from your own classes.
Our on-campus preschool serves children ages three to five, giving education students a setting to observe and work with young learners in their earliest school years.
The Roberts Academy is a transitional school for children with dyslexia, integrated into the College. Education majors have the opportunity to work directly with these students, building specialized skills in literacy and learning differences that few new teachers bring to their first job.
Beyond our campus, Florida Southern partners with area schools so you can complete placements and your senior internship in real district classrooms. These relationships connect you with practicing teachers, mentors, and, often, your first job.
During your final internship semester, you have the option to participate in Florida Southern's Paid Internship Program. Qualified candidates may serve as the teacher of record in a classroom while completing their internship requirements, allowing them to gain the same rich clinical experience while earning a full-time salary and benefits. Working under the guidance of both school and college mentors, paid interns assume the responsibilities of a classroom teacher while continuing to receive support from Florida Southern faculty. This unique opportunity allows you to launch your teaching career before graduation, build confidence as an educator, and transition seamlessly into the profession.
You are never on your own in the clinical setting. Cooperating teachers host you in their classrooms, faculty supervisors observe and coach you, and seminar courses give you space to reflect with peers who are going through the same milestones. Reach out with questions.
Director of Field Study and Evening Education Programs