Elementary Education, M.A.Ed.

Director: Karen Stanley

Program Description

The master’s degree in elementary education is designed for experienced, practicing teachers who are seeking an “M” license and/or planning to apply for National Board Certification. The master’s program extends the theoretical and pedagogical foundations acquired during undergraduate study and builds on the competence acquired by the career teacher through years of practice. Teachers must hold a Standard Professional I license or be eligible to hold a Standard Professional I license at the time of application. Two years full-time teaching experience is recommended but not required.

Program Mission

The mission of the master’s program in elementary education is to prepare the experienced teacher for full participation in the profession as leader, researcher, and master practitioner. The master’s program is designed to promote both teacher autonomy and interdependence through inquiry, reflection, and action. Teachers and teacher educators are encouraged to collaborate on ways to enhance the professional lives of teachers, the learning and well-being of their students, the teaching and learning environments of their schools, and partnerships with parents and families.

Program Goals

The Elementary Education Program is designed to help the career teacher

1. strengthen his/her commitment to the goals of education in a democratic society and use the underlying principles of those goals to guide decisions about practice;
2. develop ways of working with families and other members of the community to reform schools so that all children may learn meaningfully and equitably;
3. become an active member of various professional communities, develop leadership abilities, and seek opportunities to function as a leader within those communities;
4. develop the disposition to strengthen both subject-specific and pedagogical knowledgebases through systematic research and inquiry on practice;
5. construct (or revise) a conceptual framework for teaching and learning which reflects the philosophical, moral, and pedagogical complexities of teacher decisions about the education of culturally and developmentally diverse learners; and,
6. develop the disposition to reflect critically on the connection between his/her conceptual framework for teaching and learning (theory) and the effectiveness of his/her practice on diverse learners.