For those of you who are education majors, be sure you have some sort of transportation available. Even though field experience, a course that gives education majors experience in the area that they want to work in, at Blackburn is a required class, the education department does not offer transportation. They expect you to find a way to get to the school and back. Some of us are not able to bring a car to campus or we may not have our license yet. Even though the education department is well aware of this, they have not done anything to make transportation easier for Blackburn students who do not have their own vehicles.
Some individuals, like freshman elementary education major Brianna Milch, have had success with Blackburn’s field experience. Although that may be the case for some people, there are those like me who have no car or way to get there. Blackburn should provide transportation to those students who need it and not expect them to find a way there. Not everyone is willing to lend a helping hand and give free rides to people they barely know.
The education department told me to pay money that I don’t have to take the Macoupin County bus to whichever school I need to go to. There are two things wrong with that. First, depending on what time of the year you have field experience, you may have to walk in poor weather conditions to the bus stop. Second, you are required to pay money to get your own ride to a required class when that money could go to something else that fits our daily needs. Some students don’t even get placed in a school district in Carlinville, so they would have to travel farther away to get to their required destination.
Terri Reed, the Director of Teacher Education at Blackburn, said that students need to find a way to get to school because it’s required. She also stated that most students do find a way to get there because they know it’s required that they get their 200 hours of field experience. But from experience with not being able to find a ride, I know that that isn’t the case for everyone.
Some may agree that the education department needs some changes with transportation and field experience, in order to make sure each student can be successful in their journey as an education major at Blackburn. Education majors need to be transferred by the education department for their field experience location while keeping in mind their transportation limitations.