Options for Those Not Seeking Licensure
If you are not sure that you want to earn a teaching license at Grinnell College, but are interested in teaching in some other venue or are interested in other education-based careers, such as school psychology, educational philosophy, policy, or law, you have several options open to you through our education department. We offer several courses of interest to the general student at Grinnell. Our introductory course, Educational Principles in a Pluralistic Society (EDU 101) addresses current topics in education using a philosophical and historical frame. At the 200 level, we offer several policy/philosophy courses that may interest you: EDU 211, The Politics of Educational Assessment, explores the historical and present day uses of testing and assessment to effect school change. EDU 212: Critical Pedagogy and School Reform, focuses on critical pedagogical approaches to reforming schools; EDU 213: The Nature of Science and Science Education, looks at how we understand our physical world and explores challenges to learning science; and soon, our faculty will develop a fourth 200 level course in the politics and policies in bilingual education/English as a Second Language instruction.

Internships:
Students interested in education can participate in school-based internships or internships that introduce one to the policy/administrative aspects of education. http://www.grinnell.edu/offices/cdo/students/index6.shtm . In recent years, students have conducted internships in curricular reform, after-school programs, drop-out prevention, museum education and place-based pedagogy. If you are interested in an education focused internship, you should contact either an education department faculty member or someone in the Career Development Office to discuss your ideas.

Other Teaching Options
If you are interested in teaching at the college level, for the Peace Corps, Grinnell Corps http://www.grinnell.edu/offices/SocialCommitment/grinnellcorps or in areas such as environmental education, you could prepare yourself by taking a methods course in your discipline. The methods courses are theory based courses that help students make a theory to practice connection through peer teaching and a short teaching experience in the schools. To enroll in any of our methods courses, you will need to have taken at least EDU 101 and EDU 221:Educational Psychology.

Research Options:
Students who are interested in graduate work in education should consider participating in an independent study or Mentored Advanced Project with an education professor http://www.grinnell.edu/offices/dean/MAP. Sometimes, a semester of independent study can lead to a good MAP project. In recent years, students have worked with Professors Voyles, Lycke and Ketter on a variety of projects. In many cases, students have presented their MAP research at regional or national conferences, and such an experience is invaluable for anyone contemplating graduate work in education or other related disciplines.