Applied psychology practicums and pre-practicums—on-the-job education classes for Lynch School of Education and Human Development students—for elementary and secondary education will be suspended for the rest of the semester. Full-practicum students will continue with their school placement for the rest of the 2019-20 school year, according to several emails sent to Lynch students from the practicum office.
Applied psychology practicums and pre-practicums—on-the-job education classes for Lynch School of Education and Human Development students—for elementary and secondary education will be suspended for the rest of the semester. Full-practicum students will continue with their school placement for the rest of the 2019-20 school year, according to several communication emails sent to Lynch students from the LSEHD Practicum Office.
Dean of Lynch Stanton Wortham has requested that these students be granted permission to stay on campus in University housing, one of the emails from the Practicum Office said.
Undergraduates majoring in either elementary education or secondary education need to complete three semester-long pre-practicums as requirements for their majors.
Practicums for students majoring in applied psychology in the Classes of 2020, 2021, and 2022 are optional but were recently made a requirement for students in the Class of 2023.
Pre-practicums consist of students traveling to Boston elementary or high schools once a week. This time is also paired with a Special Issues in Teaching seminar course, which students are required to take while completing their pre-practicums.
Full-practicums are also a semester long but are usually completed during students’ senior years. Full-practicum students spend five days a week on site and are supervised by both a practitioner and clinical faculty member.
“[The administration’s] goal is to ensure that students are on a successful pathway to endorsement and licensure at the end of the Boston College experience,” the Practicum Office stated in the email. “[The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education] has emphasized the need for us to continue to adhere to licensure requirements and the hours needed for endorsement.”
Before BC had officially moved classes online and closed residential halls to most students, Jacob Kelleher, Lynch ’21, who was in the process of completing his pre-practicum, said that while Lynch requirements for the education majors are normally very strict, the administration had been flexible considering the circumstances.
Kelleher also said that he believes Lynch’s top priority is maintaining the health and safety of BC students and students in the greater Boston area, so he understands the changes.
“I think that obviously the top priority is the students at the schools and their learning and their health,” Kelleher said. “When you have no understanding of where anyone went for a week and we’re in the middle of the situation that we’re in, it seems like the safest thing to do for everyone is to make sure that no one’s infected before they go back.”
Kelleher said that coronavirus concerns were nonexistent at his practicum the Thursday before Spring Break, which turned out to be his last for the spring semester.
“Nothing was out of the ordinary,” Kelleher said. “People didn’t start getting widely infected across all the states until shortly after that Thursday right at the beginning of Spring Break. It’s been sad. I love going to school and seeing my kids every week.”
Dean of Lynch Stanton Wortham has requested that these students be granted permission to stay on campus in University housing, Julia DeVoy, associate dean of Undergraduate Student Services in Lynch, said in an email to The Heights, but so far no decisions have been made.
Undergraduates majoring in either elementary education or secondary education need to complete three semester-long pre-practicums as requirements for their majors.
Practicums for students majoring in applied psychology in the Classes of 2020, 2021, and 2022 are optional but were recently made a requirement for students in the Class of 2023.
Pre-practicums consist of students traveling to Boston elementary or high schools once a week. This time is also paired with a Special Issues in Teaching seminar course, which students are required to take while completing their pre-practicums.
Full-practicums are also a semester long but are usually completed during students’ senior years. Full-practicum students spend five days a week on site and are supervised by both a practitioner and clinical faculty member.
“[The administration’s] goal is to ensure that students are on a successful pathway to endorsement and licensure at the end of the Boston College experience,” DeVoy said in the email. “[The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education] has emphasized the need for us to continue to adhere to licensure requirements and the hours needed for endorsement.”
Before BC had officially moved classes online and closed residential halls to most students, Jacob Kelleher, Lynch ’22, who was in the process of completing his pre-practicum, said that while Lynch requirements for the education majors are normally very strict, the administration had been flexible considering the extenuating circumstances.
Kelleher also said that he believes Lynch’s top priority is maintaining the health and safety of BC students and students in the greater Boston area, so he understands the changes.
“I think that obviously the top priority is the students at the schools and their learning and their health,” Kelleher said. “When you have no understanding of where anyone went for a week and we’re in the middle of the situation that we’re in, it seems like the safest thing to do for everyone is to make sure that no one’s infected before they go back.”
Kelleher said that coronavirus concerns were nonexistent at his practicum the Thursday before Spring Break, which turned out to be his last for the spring semester.
“Nothing was out of the ordinary,” Kelleher said. “People didn’t start getting widely infected across all the states until shortly after that Thursday right at the beginning of Spring Break. It’s been sad. I love going to school and seeing my kids every week.”
Featured Image by Madison Sarka/Heights Staff
This article has been updated to reflect that an email sent to students was sent from the practicum office, not from Julia Devoy.
