• Pre-Professional
• Teacher Education Prog
• Credentials
• Info Meetings
• Pre-Professional Forms

Pre-Professional

The Pre-Professional Education Program at the UC Santa Barbara is designed to provide field experience for graduate and undergraduate students interested in entering the teaching profession. A student considering teaching as a profession works as a volunteer in a classroom under the supervision of a credentialed teacher (a teacher who is certified to teach the grade level and content that is being taught). This classroom experience provides an opportunity for the student to learn first-hand about the duties and responsibilities of classroom teachers. UCSB students are able to examine the role of the teacher from a different perspective. The Pre-Professional Education Program expects them to step out of their role as a student and try out the teacher role.

The Pre-Professional Education Program is a requirement before entering the teaching credential program at UCSB and most universities.

A typical preprofessional will volunteer in a classroom for 4 to 6 hours each week. (UCSB requires a minimum of 60 preprofessional hours, and recommends 80 to 100 hours.) Pre-professionals are encouraged to take Education 121 and/or 122, the Pre-Professional Education Seminar and Fieldwork. In the ED 121 weekly seminars students discuss issues in education and learn new observational skills for the classroom. ED 122 requires 30 hours of volunteer work and a portfolio of classroom work aligned to the California Teaching Standards. Students receive 3 units of university credit for 121 and 2 units for ED122.

Possible Duties for Pre-Professionals

The activities listed below suggest a few ways the Pre-Professional Education Program Student can be involved in a classroom:

* Observe the teaching-learning process
* Lead small instructional groups
* Tutor individual students
* Lead small group projects
* Utilize bilingual skills to assist bilingual students
* Help students at a computer
* Share a special talent or skill with students, such as music, art, or drama
* Plan a lesson in cooperation with a teacher on a selected topic
* Respond to papers and prepare classroom materials
* Design bulletin boards or learning centers
* Other activities to meet the needs of a particular teacher, class, or the Pre-Professional Student.