In October of last year, students within the MSU College of Education were informed of a change in Michigan law that affected the length of their programs. This year, seniors are feeling the weight of its impact.
MSU shifted from its five-year program to a four-year program for education majors. The news came shortly before students had to schedule classes for the upcoming semester.
The then juniors had to decide how they could feasibly adjust to the new program— most had taken too many classes already to be eligible and moved forward with the five-year path. At the same time, new students would benefit from getting certification and not shell out the same expense on additional classes.
This year, from Sept. 14-19, town halls were held to communicate with students on how to navigate the transition as seniors moved into the placement aspect of their program, which places education students in classrooms to get hands-on experience.
Special education for third through sixth-grade senior Anna VandenBussche said the meetings failed to meet their central task: communication.
"The first half of this meeting talked about developing yourself as a professional— like how you should appear, what you should and should not post on Instagram or stuff like that," VandenBussche said. "What we wanted from this meeting was answers to be able to speak out our voices and answer the questions that we've been asking for the months that led up to this meeting."
VandenBussche said confusion spurred by program coordinators was the norm, but their attitudes quickly worsened.
VandenBussche recalled the Friday, Sept. 15 meeting being especially upsetting due to an interaction with pre-internship elementary program coordinator Andrea Kelly. VandenBussche said that after a student asked how coordinators can help students accommodate them while taking a large amount of in-class placement hours, Kelly said something that shocked her.
According to VandenBussche, Kelly said, "That just sounds like an issue that you're going to have to figure out."
VandenBussche said she and her peers were dumbfounded and couldn't help but laugh at the remark. VandenBussche said Kelly then singled her out.
VandenBussche said Kelly "looked at her dead in her face and said, 'If you have nothing to contribute, you can leave.'"
This was the beginning of a pattern of continued miscommunication for VandenBussche.
When contacted by the State News, Kelly said she was not interested in commenting.
Emails regarding school placements from program coordinators at the time were unable to remain consistent when it came to basic details— fluctuating between saying 450 students and 550 students had to be placed in their respective classrooms.
VandenBussche said she would describe the coordinators as wanting to be seen as martyrs. However, she said they consistently avoided accountability by shifting blame onto the Michigan law changing in general.
"They kept blaming the state of Michigan or putting their problems onto somebody else," VandenBussche said. "They were pushing the problems aside— You must speak to this person, you must speak to that person. The state of Michigan caused this, the state of Michigan caused that. That was basically the premise of like them evading our questions and our concerns."
VandenBussche wasn’t the only student to take notice of this blame shifting. Senior third through sixth-grade elementary education major and vice president of the Aspiring Educators of Michigan State (AEMS) Anna Robertson said she was accidentally left on an email chain where higher-ups within the college complained about being held accountable.
Robertson said one of the emails sent to them outlined that the staff did not have to justify their "decisions and programs" to the students.
"That was the part that I was like— 'No, that's not ok,'" Robertson said.
A lack of proper communication was an indicator of what was to come for the placement process. By Oct. 6, all students should have been placed, but it took until Oct. 16 for the goal to be met.
An email from Kelly and her colleague, Dr. Nancy Romig, noted that while the process was complete, after talking with the Michigan Department of Education (MDE), it would take a different form than students might have expected.
"Knowing we have to get you into classrooms, we asked the MDE to allow us to place you in a classroom outside your grade band, and knowing that you would have at least two other placements within your band by the time you complete your program," Kelly and Romig said in an email sent out to students. "The MDE has agreed to this placement solution."
VandenBussche said this solution led to limited options. She said times were not made flexible as promised and that students were forced to make it work in awkward placements or take online modules that wouldn't give the students in-person experience.
VandenBussche said she was even aware of a situation where TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) students were placed in a classroom where children were only allowed to speak Spanish.
All of the students speak English, but the school was created to immerse the students in other languages. This stopped the students from being able to perform their classwork and communicate with the students in a way that reflects their studies.
"They're not getting the fullest experience; as well as if you're a third through sixth-grade person getting placed in a kindergarten classroom they're not getting what their money's worth," VandenBussche said.
Even with a language barrier in some of their placements, the students said education students haven’t forgotten the power of their voice.
Robertson said she found a support system in AEMS that motivated her to speak out.
"Our class in general— I feel like we are kind of bonded," Robertson said. "We've faced a lot of challenges together, and we've kind of been the only people there are to lean on."
From this place of support, Robertson and a fellow student leader were able to get into a meeting with the College of Education Dean Jerlando F. L. Jackson. In this meeting, Robertson said he detailed a new communication system he was implementing.
"There’s now a new system in place where advisors are meeting with their associate Dean, a student within the College of Ed and the teacher prep program leaders once a week or once a month— something like that," Robertson said. "So that is, I guess, something that's happening now in response to our concerns, so I'm happy to hear that."
VandenBussche said it was important to remember what, at the core, the role of these staff members is.
"Their job is supposed to help us, be our advocates and try and get us through these situations," VandenBussche said.
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