Mandy Bean will begin as head of the College’s teacher’s education program on March 1, filling a position that will have been vacant for over a year. The education department has also eliminated the culminating seminar requirement from its minor.
Bean, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will replace Rebecca Holcombe, who started as Vermont’s Secretary of Education in January.
Bean, who worked in elementary education in Virginia and North Carolina public schools for around 14 years before beginning her elementary education and teaching Ph.D. program at UNC, said she wants to bring a more traditional teaching approach to Dartmouth’s program.
“I hope to join the mind, body and education approach that the department already uses with the classical, practical side of teaching,” she said.
Stephanie Sa ’15, who is majoring in psychology and minoring in education but is not participating in the teacher’s education program, said Dartmouth’s education department is theoretical and focuses on neuroscience, calling it one of the most innovative in the nation.
The teacher’s education program, which is separate from the minor, certifies students in elementary and secondary teaching through work at local public schools.
The department is also making changes to its education minor requirements to make it more accessible, department chair George Wolford said. Previously, the minor required an introductory course, a culminating seminar and four other courses. Now it requires the introductory education course and five additional courses, but not a senior seminar, Wolford said.
Sa said the department did not inform minors of the changed requirements or update them on the search for Holcombe’s replacement.
About 20 to 30 students minor in education each year, Wolford said, noting that he hopes the changed requirements, which apply to those graduating in 2015 and beyond, will attract more students.
