Other than the obvious issues that I have with the education program at Ohio State (see other blog posts), I wish that as students were better informed about potential teaching experiences pertaining to our degree. In the discussion that we had today with the woman who came to talk about Teach for America, one third of the class said that they had never heard of the program. For those of us who did know about the program, few people actually knew specifics about the program. While Teach for America may not be ideal for everyone, there are still many opportunities available to us other than the Master's program. The only opportunity that we are given to go into other schools and teach at this university is FEEP and many students do not take advantage of that. I feel that we are not given enough opportunities to practice the skills that we learn in our courses and implement them in a classroom unless we take it upon ourselves to do so. Before class, I only knew that Teach for America worked in low income areas across the United States. I wasn't aware that during the two years you were teaching in the area you were placed, you received your teaching license, which is an alternative plan other than going to grad school here. There is also an organization called City Year which is based in Columbus that essential does the same thing as Teach for America. Unfortunately you do not get your license, but it is another way to get experience. It incredibly unfortunate for graduating seniors with a major in HDFS, that we were not given the opportunity to participate in the education license program at Ohio State. I find is upsetting that it has taken to long for them to even create an education major, when there is one available at all of the branch campuses. It supports my argument that, education is a business. We are forced to attend school for a fifth year and pay money for graduate school, when it should be unnecessary to.
http://www.cityyear.org/CityYear/Home_New_2011/Home_A_2011.aspx
This is link to the city year program in Columbus (there are other programs in other cites around the country). They offer many benefits if chosen to participate. It also gives individuals experience working in inner city school and children from low-income families.
I agree! I feel like it is extremely important that before you chose education as your career path, or even after you have already done this, you should be actively exposed to the environment that you will be working in on a day-to-day basis. Luckily, I took advantage of opportunities in high school as well, but I would love to be able to actually have some opportunities to use what I will learn in my college experience and classes and apply it to the classroom in which I plan to work in and for! Also, Ohio State just opened up a 4 year Bachelor program, so now coming into the university you have this as an option as well, which I'm sure you probably knew about!
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