Teaching can prove to be an exciting and demanding job, and requires a variety of personal and professional qualities and characteristics. Teachers need to be able to relate well to othersand possess the skills of empathy and understanding in their interactions with learners. They must themselves enjoy learning and share this enthusiasm by providing an exciting and stimulating environment for young learners.
With a Foundation Program in Primary education at Penn State Erie you will, in your first year, typically have focused on the investigation of learning in relation to students and then children as learners, involving ‘hands-on’ experience while exploring learning in the contexts of work, community, family and school. Later you will have focused on the investigation of teaching and curriculum in relation to children’s learning, curriculum, pedagogy and research together with practical application in schools.