Spring Break
Education major proposed
by Miranda Neubauer
Senior Writer
News | 11/13/07
Posted online at 12:59 AM EST on 11/13/07
A proposal for a new nine-course Education Studies major passed its first reading at last Thursday's faculty meeting.
Prof. Marya Levenson (ED) presented the proposal to the faculty. "The major that we are recommending is a liberal arts major," she said. "It is not a pre-professional major. The teacher education track offered to the Education department's minors would not be a part of the major, she said.
Levenson emphasized that the proposal was drafted after student demand. "This major came into being because students came to me and asked for it," she said.
She explained that the major would examine education on a large scale as a social and historical force and also on the smaller scale of individual development.
All students would have to take two core courses under the proposed major: ED155a, "Education and Social Policy," and a second course looking at education from the perspective of another discipline, such as "Economics of Education" or "Sociology of Education." The proposal also requires students to complete six electives and a senior year seminar. Future education majors would have to take at least one elective from the two categories of educational policy and education in terms of human development.
There are 27 students who have declared an Education minor, Levenson said. The Teacher Education track and the major are geared toward "two different groups of people," she said. The latter, she explained, would be attractive to students more specifically interested in educational policy.
Caroline Cadel '09, an Undergraduate Departmental Representative for the Education minor, said the major would allow students to pursue their true interest. "It's another avenue for people to pursue," she said. Offering just a minor in Education forces students to look into different career paths, pushing them away from teaching, she said.
Cadel compared the major's focus on education policy to Health: Science, Society, and Policy's focus on Health Policy, adding that the program could be a good choice for students pursuing a graduate degree in education. She said that in order to be an effective teacher, it's important to know what educational policy is, who makes that policy and to know more about the broader world of education.
Student reactions to the possibility of an Education major have been very positive, she said. "I went to the Sophomore Year Experience night … representing the department, and a lot of students came up to me saying: 'I'm interested in Education. I heard there's going to be a major. Is it going to happen? How can I register for it?'" she said.
Cadel added that there "aren't so many schools of Brandeis' caliber that offer great Education programs or even offer Education programs at all."
Prof. Marya Levenson (ED) presented the proposal to the faculty. "The major that we are recommending is a liberal arts major," she said. "It is not a pre-professional major. The teacher education track offered to the Education department's minors would not be a part of the major, she said.
Levenson emphasized that the proposal was drafted after student demand. "This major came into being because students came to me and asked for it," she said.
She explained that the major would examine education on a large scale as a social and historical force and also on the smaller scale of individual development.
All students would have to take two core courses under the proposed major: ED155a, "Education and Social Policy," and a second course looking at education from the perspective of another discipline, such as "Economics of Education" or "Sociology of Education." The proposal also requires students to complete six electives and a senior year seminar. Future education majors would have to take at least one elective from the two categories of educational policy and education in terms of human development.
There are 27 students who have declared an Education minor, Levenson said. The Teacher Education track and the major are geared toward "two different groups of people," she said. The latter, she explained, would be attractive to students more specifically interested in educational policy.
Caroline Cadel '09, an Undergraduate Departmental Representative for the Education minor, said the major would allow students to pursue their true interest. "It's another avenue for people to pursue," she said. Offering just a minor in Education forces students to look into different career paths, pushing them away from teaching, she said.
Cadel compared the major's focus on education policy to Health: Science, Society, and Policy's focus on Health Policy, adding that the program could be a good choice for students pursuing a graduate degree in education. She said that in order to be an effective teacher, it's important to know what educational policy is, who makes that policy and to know more about the broader world of education.
Student reactions to the possibility of an Education major have been very positive, she said. "I went to the Sophomore Year Experience night … representing the department, and a lot of students came up to me saying: 'I'm interested in Education. I heard there's going to be a major. Is it going to happen? How can I register for it?'" she said.
Cadel added that there "aren't so many schools of Brandeis' caliber that offer great Education programs or even offer Education programs at all."
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