Education majors get a lot of grief for being in an “easy” program. The truth is, there are no easy majors, and education is no exception to this rule. Every major is different, and just because we don’t take organic chemistry or calculus III (some ed majors do actually!) does not mean that our schoolwork is not hard. We go to class and do homework just like other students, in addition to so much more.
Every education major, regardless of the age and subject they want to teach, has to do observation hours every semester. We have to work these into our schedules, as most professors do not allow observations during class times. These can range from 5 to 40 hours per semester and can be pretty hard to fit into our week. In addition to observation hours, we also have to complete practicum. This is 105 hours of observing and co-teaching in a classroom, usually done during junior year. Again, we have to work these hours into our schedules, as we are usually taking 15 credit hours along with this practicum.
Education majors also have to complete 15 weeks of student teaching senior year. We go to our assigned school every day while we are still taking other classes at SLU. These classes are night classes to accommodate being at school all day, which means that so we are student teaching from roughly 8am to 2pm and then going to class right after.
Lesson plans are required for most of these observations, practicums, and student teaching. We have to come up with different activities and ways to teach the material and then document it in a detailed, 3-4 page lesson plan. We are often asked to work with students who are behind or who need differentiated instruction, so these lesson plans can take hours to make.
On top of all of education classes, education majors are taking classes for their content area. Middle school and high school education majors take higher level classes in math, science, history, or English, depending on their focus areas. Special, early childhood, and elementary education majors have to learn the basics in every subject area, as well as specifics on child development.
In conclusion, the education track is pretty difficult because education majors have to balance so many different things, all while learning to shape young minds. The future is in our hands, and we will be ready for it.