The Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate voted unanimously last month to endorse the implementation of an education major. At this point in the process, professors and administrators have begun discussions about installing this secondary major at Tufts. Weighing the merits, it is clear how this major could benefit undergraduates. Tufts stresses that its students should be active global citizens, and teaching is a prime way in which Jumbos could fulfill this goal: giving back to the global community by educating a younger generation.
Many on the hill are eager to embrace this potential major. In 2012, the TCU Senate conducted a survey, asking students if the Tufts community would benefit from an education major. Just under 70 percent of the student body agreed that an education major would be beneficial.
If the university approves this education major, it would lend itself well to being a second major for many students (the proposal does not ask for education to a possible first major). Majors like community health and environmental studies, secondary majors currently available at Tufts, share a similar quality with education - they offer a job-applicable education that meshes well with other majors. Currently, if a student is interested in pursuing a career in education, Tufts only offers an education minor.
A double major sets students up for success. The proposed system would push aspiring teachers at Tufts to delve into other interests and disciplines. Doing so would not only contribute to a student's own liberal arts education, but would also give graduating Jumbos an upper hand against others from competing schools graduating with education degrees without an interdisciplinary foundation.
Last year over 35 Tufts graduates joined Teach for America, a national organization that places college graduates in inner city and rural schools at the helm of the classroom as teachers. Tufts ranked sixth among the medium-sized schools for having so many of its students accepted into the program - and that does not take into consideration the close to 10 percent of graduating seniors who applied for the program. Since education is so sought out by students, an education major is only a natural step in responding to student interests.
Tufts should welcome the idea of an education major with open arms. Tufts already has the infrastructure for a Department of Education and offers very popular courses by professors, many of whom are now proponents of the proposed major. The Tufts student body has shown interest and the TCU has voted for it - now it's up to the administrators. Create and establish the education major: it is already overdue.
