Teacher Certification Program

How to become a school teacher

In order to become a school teacher, a teacher´s license is required. A teacher´s license for teaching at junior high school, high school, kindergarten, elementary school, and schools for special needs education can be acquired at this university by satisfying the prescribed conditions.
A teacher´s license for junior high school and high school requires enrollment in a faculty and department and obtaining the credits they require for graduation. In addition, the credits required by the Teacher Certification Program must be earned. When these conditions are satisfied, the license can be obtained. However, this does not apply to the Department of Art Studies in the Faculty of Letters or to the Department of Global and Transcultural Studies in the Faculty of International Studies.
A teacher´s license for kindergarten and elementary school can only be obtained by students in the Department of Education and Child Development in the Faculty of Psychology.
A teacher´s license for schools for special needs education can only be acquired by students in the Department of Social Work in the Faculty of Sociology & Social Work and in the Department of Education and Child Development in the Faculty of Psychology. However, this presupposes that a teacher´s license has already been obtained either in the Department of Social Work in the Faculty of Sociology & Social Work for junior high school or high school, or in the Department of Education and Child Development in the Faculty of Psychology for elementary school.

Teacher Certification Program

You can become a teacher by earning the credits required by the Teacher Certification Program, even if you do not earn them in a Faculty of Education or Department of Education. This is called the open licensing system. By studying in the Teacher Certification Program, you acquire the knowledge and skills needed by teachers, including the fundamental theories and methods of education and techniques for guiding and advising students. At the same time, you will also acquire the knowledge and methods needed to teach the subjects of English language, social studies, geography, history, and civics.
However, study in the Teacher Certification Program is not only for the purpose of acquiring a teacher´s license. You may wonder what the point of taking classes in the Teacher Certification Program might be, then. The point is in the following three points: (1) The pedagogy and psychology that are the foundation of the Teacher Certification Program are also fields of learning that have to do with human understanding and human inquiry. These offer a good opportunity for studying how people are to live in the confusion of present-day society.
(2) This study involves realizing that your view of things up to now has been from the position of being taught, and adopting sometimes the view of things from the position of teaching, as well. This also involves a relatively large proportion of participatory classes. It offers a good opportunity to switch away from a one-sided way of seeing and thinking, and learning instead a multifaceted way of seeing and thinking.
(3) Classes in the Teacher Certification Program differ from departmental classes in that here there are students from a variety of different departments enrolled in them. Through these classes, you also have exchanges with students from other departments, making this an opportunity to have a more meaningful university life.