Practical Experience

With over 45 years of experience, Ecole is internationally recognized as a leader in effective language training.

As an MA TESOL student, you have the unique opportunity to hone your teaching skills in The New School’s long-standing Outreach Program. Taking place during the Summer Intensive, the Outreach Program allows you to gain valuable classroom teaching experience while addressing the dire need for free English language classes for immigrants in New York City. Gaining hands-on experience enables you to apply what you are learning in the MA TESOL classroom, experiment with new ideas and teaching techniques, and be observed by your professors. You also get the chance to witness first-hand how learning English can empower and assist underserved communities. This teacher training experience ensures that you fully develop as a teacher and gain the necessary skills to ensure that you keep developing and experimenting after graduation.

Teaching non-English-speaking adults to become proficient in English enables them to enhance their opportunities for employment, become self-sufficient, self-confident, and achieve success. It is the mission of the Outreach Program to remove the language barrier, which hampers progress. For adults who are also parents, difficulties in using English can also take a toll on their confidence and self-esteem. They feel disenfranchised once their children’s English skills surpass their own. This can cause not only conflict within the family but also reliance on children to serve as interpreters and even act as advocates for their parents.

Since its founding in 2007, The New School’s Outreach Program has grown into a respected community-engaged organization, offering classes year-round throughout New York City. Many new immigrants do not have the financial means to pay for language classes. The teachers in our Outreach language classes are New School MA TESOL teachers-in-training, program alumni, New School faculty, and volunteers.