OCU has ended enrollment in the elementary education and early childhood development programs.
According to Dr. Heather Sparks, Education Chair, the decision to suspend the two programs happened prior to her arrival two years ago, due to low enrollment numbers.
“I believe that enrollment numbers have declined in the education field, because of the conditions for the profession as a whole,” Sparks said. “However, teachers are retiring at higher rates, and there is a growing need for people to enter the occupation. I hope that this changes the way that our policymakers view education, and that they recognize the importance that educators have in our society.”
OCU currently offers preschool through 12th-grade education enrollment as well as art and music education. The education department also offers secondary programs content specialists, in which, according to Sparks, enrollment continues to grow.
Sparks, an OCU alum, graduated thirty years ago.
“Even then, the education department, and OCU in general, had the same reputation as it does now,” Sparks said. “We prepare our students very well to go into the classroom and meet the individual needs of students. We really work to make sure that our education students are creative, and provide learning opportunities that inspire.”
Sophomore secondary English Education major Ally Qualls said that she loves the education department because they genuinely care for everyone that enters the program.
“Dr. Sparks is an amazing advisor, and you can tell she loves what she does,” Qualls said.
According to Qualls, the department has prepared her for her future goals by providing a variety of professors that love their job and are very knowledgeable about what they do.
“The field experiences that we do for each class also help us to prepare because it shows us just how the classroom is going to be once, we start teaching in our own classes,” Qualls said.
Sparks is hopeful that graduates of the education program are recognized as exceptional teachers, capable of maintaining the excellence that OCU is known for.
“I would encourage any student who is unsure about their major to take an education class,” Sparks said
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