Skip to main content
General Information

General Information

Future Proud Michigan Educator EXPLORE programs are intended for students in grades 6-12, and aim to:

  • Introduce students to educational strategies, systems and professions.
  • Support teachers with free curriculum and professional learning.
  • Offer flexible instructional delivery models.
  • Enhance “Grow Your Own” teacher recruitment.
  • Reduce barriers to higher education.
  • Promote positive messaging about teachers and the teaching profession.

Explore programs can be implemented in many ways, offering schools new flexibility.

  • Exploratory models run primarily face to face with an instructor, with limited clinical experiences. This is a great option if you want to begin a grow your own program or offer a feeder course for an existing program or partnership.
  • Clinically focused programs embed students in a classroom with a mentor, moving their formal instruction to a hybrid format. This option is popular in districts who would like to integrate this course into an existing model in the school, like a peer-to-peer elective, a leadership course, or a tutoring program.
  • Content focused models allow students to earn core credit while deeply investigating teaching and learning in one discipline. An example of this is the Future Urban Stem Educators (FUSE) program.
  • You can see a full comparison of the models on our website.

The EXPLORE curriculum was built to help students better understand themselves and the learners around them. It builds an understanding of the complex work of teaching and the path to a teaching career.

  • EXPLORE curricular resources are available at no cost to any districts.
  • EXPLORE curriculum has 6 main units of study and is aligned to the Michigan Professional Standards for Teacher Preparation.
  • Across these units there are 33 individual lessons that provide a student learning objectives, interactive modules, reflection questions and formative assessments.
  • The lessons can be complimented with teacher expertise, clinical experiences or additional content from an educator preparation provider.
  • While each module can be independently navigated by the student, MDE recommends several layers of support for student learning. This includes a teacher of record to give feedback and a clinical mentor to support practice.

To support EXPLORE instructors, MDE has developed several professional learning opportunities. To learn more, visit the instructor resources page.