Community Impact: ELX in Philadelphia
Community engagement and service-learning are integral to the TESOL M.S.Ed. specialization at Penn GSE. Service-learning fieldwork allows students to bridge the theoretical concepts learned in coursework with practical skills and experiences gained outside of the classroom. Our interactive map showcases TESOL student teaching and fieldwork sites in Philadelphia. To learn more about our work in the community, contact Jackie Lopez, our Fieldwork and Service-Learning Coordinator, at jlope@upenn.edu.
PEDAL: Practical English for Daily Living
In PEDAL, TESOL students create and instruct communicative English lessons. As part of the TESOL program's dedication to experiential learning, all first-year TESOL students work as PEDAL assistant teachers during the course EDUC 542: TESOL Classroom Fundamentals. Second-year TESOL students can apply to be lead teachers in the PEDAL classrooms to gain more experience and fulfill their EDUC 528 and EDUC 563 practicum requirements.PEDAL lessons focus on the types of communication that English language learners encounter when navigating daily life in and around Philadelphia. Virtual classes allow us to open our Zoom classes to adult learners anywhere in the world who want to practice and improve their daily English language skills.
