<p>Hi everyone,
I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on Mount Holyoke's education program. On their website, they say they offer minors in both Education and Educational Studies, but when I click on those links, they lead me to the Department of Psychology and Education, and it concerns me a bit that the Education department is grouped with another. Also, when I click on the course listings for education, it only lists five courses, which again concerns me (by comparison, Smith lists at least 15 courses). So, would Mount Holyoke be a good place for a prospective education student?</p>
<p>I am an alum from the Class of 89. Massachusetts did away with strict “Education” majors many years ago, because the state wanted more well-rounded teachers. Mount Holyoke was actually ahead of the state, in preparing teachers rigorously by demanding that students who wish to become teachers pursue an inter-disciplinary major in Psychology and Education for Elementary certification, Early childhood, etc. At MHC, you don’t get the typical courses in “How to teach math” or “how to teach social studies” for an entire semester, like some schools offer. Those topics and practices will be covered within courses with much greater depth. I learned more as an undergrad at MHC than I did in my graduate program in Curriculum and Instruction elsewhere! I was hired for my first teaching job in New Canaan, CT, one of the top paying and top performing districts in Connecticut. If anything, many questioned why I spent money to attend Mt. Holyoke, when attending the state college would have been fine for getting teacher certification. However, Mt. Holyoke was less expensive than the state school after all aid, and I knew as a student, and really know now after 20 years of teaching and seeing younger teachers prepared at many different colleges and universities, that my preparation was far superior than just preparing me to teach. It prepared me to do ANYTHING I might choose to pursue, from teaching in a classroom, to running an educational institution or working for an educational publisher. You will take many psych courses at MHC that teach you to understand the brain, child development, and how people learn and work together, etc. You will learn about how to encourage and develop higher order thinking skills in your students, because your own education at MHC will be demanding and top quality, not dumbed down. You could not choose a better place to prepare for a career that should demand high quality from you. There are many, many MHC alums teaching…it isn’t the most popular major at MHC, or the most popular field MHC woman pursue with so many options available, but it is a very strong department with top notch professors. Good luck!</p>
<p>^^^^ Perfect response! I could not have stated better the case for educating our classroom teachers in true “content” areas moving away from tons of hours in generic curriculum and instruction courses. You have 20 years to show that the content coursework focus works. I hope the young lady reads your response to her question several times-- lots of goodies within it.</p>
<p>.02 David</p>
<p>Thank you, bn12gg. I am a very proud alum. After graduating, I returned to MHC each year for about 4 years to guest lecture to elem. ed. student teachers, and then spent a semester as a supervisor of student teachers at MHC. With the required MTEL test now part of teacher preparation in Mass., I hear stories from many young people who are at other schools and have to take the various tests two or more times to pass! My gut tells me that doesn’t happen very often to MHC students who sit for the MTEL…because that test is very heavy on content as opposed to the methods.</p>