The majors most popular at Winona State University fall into two categories: health or education. Of course, everyone knows the health programs to be highly competitive and rigorous, especially with how many students seek to enter the school of nursing. However, few are aware of just how formative the education programs at Winona State are, and fewer know of some of the roadblocks facing education majors as they work toward their degree.
The education department is painted on brochures, the website and around campus as welcoming, collaborative and pursuing excellence. According to some education majors at Winona State, this holds true even when faced with the reality of what college programs are really like. Fourth-year student Casiana Sas switched her major from health administration to music education—she says that the moment she did, her “attitude changed towards school.” She says, “I never knew people could feel so passionate and excited about what they are studying.”
Another student, fourth-year Sophia Anderson, is majoring in CALT, short for Communication, Arts, and Literature Teaching. She says that “the best part of the WSU education program has to be the variety of real-life experience offered.” She enjoys the mentoring programs, tutoring services, and online learning platforms that assist students in learning how to teach effectively.
However, there are some difficulties that education majors at Winona State face when proceeding through their requirements for graduation. One major one is how hard it can be to find placement for field experience. Most education majors need many hours of field experience to go into higher level classes or start student teaching, but it can be hard to find opportunities for this experience. Sas says, “I have had to wait many weeks to get a placement, never to receive one. The only placement I have not had to seek out myself was when one of my professors did it personally for me because he did not want to make me wait anymore.”
Sas also experienced a class that made getting the required field hours nearly impossible. She notes that “students were told that their field experience for the class would be exempt since they had no placements… Then the education department changed their mind and students not only had to make it up but also had to find their own placements…We all had until the end of the coming summer to complete the hours. As education majors we are told to be responsible and professional, and I did not feel that this was modeled well at all in this instance especially.”
Anderson attributes some of the difficulty finding field hours a result of the not-so-user-friendly website students are required to sign up for their field hours on. However, she adds that “though this platform can be confusing, I believe that the education department has done their best communicating the purpose and importance of this site.” Anderson also thinks there are other unforeseen difficulties for some in her major. She says, “It can be difficult navigate the education program because my major is actually in the College of Liberal Arts, not the College of Education…If there was a smaller gap between the College of Education and other colleges containing education majors, that would be more beneficial to those secondary education students.”
At the end of the day, Winona State’s education program really does train and teach its students well. There are simply some small details that, when ignored, morph into larger obstacles for students trying to earn and achieve the degree they want in the timeframe they want it in.