Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Teacher Education Program 

The Educational Studies Department offers the following accredited majors leading to New York State Initial Teacher Certification:

• Childhood 
• Inclusive Childhood 
• Adolescent 
• Inclusive Adolescent
• TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages)
• Art

In all HWS teacher certification pathways, students learn to teach by teaching, and complete a major in the Educational Studies department which corresponds to their desired certification area. Those seeking adolescent certification or certification to teach art must also major or minor in the subject area in which they wish to be certified (e.g., mathematics, chemistry, art, English, Spanish). 

A hallmark of our Teacher Education Program is the number of hours our teacher candidates spend being coached by professional educators in the field. All of our certification majors include three semesters of field practica where you’ll get the chance to practice all of the skills and knowledge you’ve been learning about in your coursework. You’ll do this under the guidance of classroom teachers, as well as an HWS faculty member and TEP advisor. With over 120 hours of experience assisting in local classrooms, you’ll be ready for a semester of full-time student teaching, where you’ll really hone your skills in becoming a professional educator. While student teaching, not only will you receive extensive training from your cooperating teacher, you’ll also have weekly observations and lesson plan discussions with your HWS faculty instructional coach. You’ll feel supported and confident as you take these final steps toward a career in teaching. And while many of our students complete their teacher certification with their undergraduate major, we also have a one-year graduate program that awards a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) for highly qualified candidates.