"Student Opinion on the Current Education Program"
Issue date: 2/18/09 Section: News
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Rotunda Reporter
Longwood University continues to make changes not only with new construction endeavors but also with the re-examination of department programming. As the semester passes, more innovative efforts from the university are becoming apparent. Recently, a committee from the College of Education and Human Services (CEHS) met to re-examine the efficiency of the current program. Dr. David Locascio, a committee member and assistant professor of education, said that the committee has met just to do a periodical re-examination of the program, but that no efforts of change in the program will be made at this point.
The CEHS is currently using a four-year education program option. From a committee member's standpoint, the education program, like any other program, needs to have its criteria re-examined periodically. "In the educational climate as it is now in the state, and in other states, there is a certain level of appeal in looking at programs that culminated in a five-year master's degree, either in master's in teaching or some other master's degree. Some of that discussion occurred within the committee, but again nothing has been finalized," said Locascio. The committee has only been developing ideas and researching the subject of change at this point in the process. "It was a fact-finding mission charge more than anything," he said.
Several students offered their opinions about the four-year versus five-year programs. Lee Flanagan, a senior, is a K-8 education major with a concentration in middle school education, focusing on science and history. He said about the current program, "The big advantages I find is that you do two practicums, then partnership and student teaching, opposed to other schools that just have student teaching. So it's a big advantage to have those extra classroom hours. The disadvantages are that you may have to take unnecessary classes." Flanagan said that he had heard nothing of the re-examination process but that there was some talk among students of the program changing into a five-year program.
Kaylan Morris, a senior elementary and middle school education major with a concentration in English and science, offered opinions from both sides of the spectrum. "The good thing about the four-year program is, if you don't want to stay in school longer than four years you have the option of having a degree and getting a job. Especially if financial aid [is] an issue it's beneficial, but the disadvantage is there is no option of getting your master's while you're still in school." As far as gaining a five-year program, Morris said that for "those that want to get their master's degree before having experience teaching, it's good. But, for those who want that option, it's a disadvantage because not everyone wants to get their master's, because not everyone knows what their teaching specifications will be."
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