Student Teaching Placed on Hold During Pandemic
By: Vince Damico
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MASON, Ohio – Education majors who were doing their student teaching during the spring semester are now waiting to see if they will receive credit even though the semester was cut short due to the pandemic.
Renée Middleton, dean of the Patton College of Education at Ohio University called the situation “nuanced and complex.”
A statement by Middleton said the Ohio Department of Higher Education (ODHE) revised guidelines required students to complete 50% of the weeks in their internship (which totals six weeks of time in the classroom) while also demonstrating satisfactory progress through at least 50% of the clinical experience. Students not deemed to have had satisfactory performance will not be eligible to receive their student teaching credit. If that is the case, the students will have an opportunity to improve their experience on a case-to-case basis.
Students expecting to graduate at the conclusion of the spring semester will have their student teaching requirements reviewed on a case-to-case basis as well. Accommodations will be made for student teachers adding or changing course assignments to accommodate missing student teaching assignments.
Middleton’s statement said student teachers were encouraged to continue working with their classes over the internet during no-contact classes.
Natalie Anderson, a Middle-Childhood Education Major, said she hopes the changes in curriculum following the virus prepare her as adequately as in-person classes would have for her student teaching in the upcoming fall semester.
“I was unable to complete all the assignments we were supposed to in the classroom, so they were changed into physical assignments that I had to complete,” Anderson said. “I feel the replacement assignments aren’t as meaningful [for my preparation for student teaching] for where I am in my degree.”
Anderson had six hours of in-classroom instruction this semester prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. She has been fortunate enough to be able to continue to take part in no-contact classes online but not all her peers were as lucky.
“I got to communicate with my students over Schoology so I’m able to partake in the remote learning experience, but I have peers also in the program that don’t get this opportunity.”
The Patton College of Education currently has about 2,500 students enrolled.