Educate and Engage

Our experiential curriculum will help you grow and apply what you learn. We embed diverse, real-world learning in our programs through Educate experiences (for licensure candidates) and Engage experiences (for non-licensure students).

We’re proud to provide these local, national and international experiences to you at no or a very low cost. It allows us to enrich your education and aligns with our dedication to collaboration with schools, communities and organizations to promote learning, research, service and leadership around the globe.

Educate Local

Educate Local experiences are for teacher candidates in:

  • Early Education
  • Elementary Education
  • Middle Grades Teaching and Learning
  • Physical Education
  • Special Education

They’ll help you gain experience and build your professional portfolio by volunteering, observing and participating in campus, community and educational settings.


Engage Local

Engage Local offers opportunities to apply what you learn throughout northern Illinois. For example, athletic training students provided triage services to runners in the Chicago marathon, while others ran an exercise program at a DeKalb retirement center. You can also work with K-12 students in our Jerry L. Johns Literacy Clinic.


Educate U.S.

Educate U.S. allows you to participate in weeklong classroom experiences in school districts across the country. You’ll have opportunities to observe classrooms, prepare lessons and implement co-teaching strategies, as well as participate in extracurricular and community events with students and community members.


Engage U.S.

Engage U.S. offers opportunities to see how your profession is practiced across the country. For example, kinesiology students visited the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado, and sport management students traveled to Indiana, where they toured the NCAA Hall of Champions and heard from NCAA professionals.


Educate Global

Educate Global offers you the ability to engage in hands-on multicultural teaching. By partnering with school districts around the world, we’re able to provide you with firsthand experiences of different cultures, international colleagues and a support system for both your teaching and the exploration of your host country.


Engage Global

Engage Global also offers opportunities for multicultural learning. Our first trip was to Sri Lanka where non-teacher licensure graduate students from the Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education joined faculty for a close look at a different country's take on teaching personal and social responsibility through sport.

Recent News

Contact Us

Dean's Office
General Information
815-753-1949
cedu@niu.edu
Graham Hall 321
Student Success
815-753-8352
coestudentsuccess@niu.edu
Gabel Hall 138
Back to top