Taylor University’s Transition to Teaching (T2T) Program aims to equip Christian teachers joining the field from all ages, stages and backgrounds.
April Dickey, director of Transition to Teaching & Online Licensure Programs, said, “We want good Christian educators out in the field, and our program views education as missional. It’s faith and learning integrated, but also really practical, applicable and flexible.”
About 20 years ago, the state of Indiana announced that any university offering Educational undergraduate degrees needed to offer a Transition to Teaching program to help meet the needs of the teacher shortage.
Eventually, Indiana ended the mandate, but Taylor’s program was successful and continues to train teachers in five different pathways. These include: elementary, secondary, all grades, mild intervention (special education), and TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages).
“If you have a bachelor's degree, then we can work and help you license in one of those five tracks,” Dickey said. “In the end, they get the same license as someone who does our traditional undergraduate program. They just do it through a non-traditional pathway.”
Of the 308 students enrolled in the T2T program, Dickey says students range from being recent graduates from Taylor and other universities to those later in their careers who are ready for a change and want to make a difference.
Most students can complete this online, 18 to 24-credit-hour program in about 18 months and will receive Indiana licensure, which is reciprocal with most other states.
Because of the teacher shortage, the state of Indiana has allowed T2T students to teach their own classrooms on T2T permits.
“A lot of schools need to fill positions,” Dickey says. “If they hear that (students are) in a T2T program, they'll try to get them in their school, so a lot of our students are doing this program while they're already teaching.”
T2T classes are offered at $450 a credit hour, and for students not on financial aid, they may start and finish the programs at their own pace. For those using financial aid, following federal regulations, classes need to be taken in traditional semesters, but maintain their online format.
The classes are offered in an open enrollment model, and taught by people who have all been licensed teachers and include some who are retired Taylor faculty who want to keep a foot in the classroom.
Even though students are online, Dickey says they work to make sure no one feels like an island.
“They have me, they have responsive instructors, so we get feedback that it's very supportive,” Dickey says. “They appreciate the flexibility because it needs to fit their busy lives, and they can take as many classes at a time or as few as they want because they can do it right where they are.”
