TESL Accelerated Master’s Program Represents Ideal Step for BVU Senior
Rachel Mouw seeks to grow her skills through BVU's BAC+1 program with a focus in teaching English as a second language. Her goal through her education is to effectively communicate with English language learners and their families.
Rachel Mouw gears up for final examinations in what may likely be her last “traditional” semester as a Buena Vista University undergraduate. Mouw, a senior elementary education major, will student-teach throughout the second semester, beginning in January 2021.
She then hopes to land her first teaching job while continuing her BVU education by earning a master’s degree in the Baccalaureate Plus One Program (BAC+1). The goal is for Mouw to earn her master’s with a focus in teaching English as a second language (TESL) within one year after earning her bachelor’s degree, hence the +1 component.
“I’m using skills from our education program in my own home. I plan to develop those skills even more as a teacher in my goal to effectively communicate with English language learners and their parents. I want to be the best bridge I can be for my future students and their families.”
Rachel Mouw
“I always knew I’d want to get a master’s degree, but I didn’t know a master’s in TESL was a possibility,” says Mouw. “My advisor, Dr. Brittany Garling (BVU Interim Dean, School of Education) asked me a couple of years ago if I wanted to get a master’s and she showed me that I could take several classes as an undergraduate that would also count toward my master’s degree in this field.”
The area of study fascinates Mouw, a senior from Sioux Rapids, who wed BVU student Kalab Kibret ’20, a native of Ethiopia, who is fluent in English and Amharic. The two met while serving as tutors in BVU’s popular Center for Academic Excellence.
“Kalab’s mother and brother live with us now and their English is limited, but they’re learning,” Mouw says. “I’m using skills from our education program in my own home. I plan to develop those skills even more as a teacher in my goal to effectively communicate with English language learners and their parents. I want to be the best bridge I can be for my future students and their families.”