As a graduate student, you will embark on a study of curriculum and instruction in P-12 contexts. This means that you will be thinking deeply about both classroom and school practices (your own and those of others’) as well as the larger theoretical frameworks that influence educational policy and pedagogical design. You will have the opportunity to continue your development as an educator under the tutelage of the ASPIRE faculty and alongside other ASPIRE alum whom you met in your licensure work. Curriculum & Instruction faculty emphasize the importance of teachers as scholars and reflective practitioners.

A thread running through all courses of the MA program is that of Critical Pedagogy. As a stance towards teaching, learning and school systems, Critical Pedagogy recognizes the political nature of education and the systemic inequities (social, economic, gender, ethnocultural background, racial geography, etc.) that help create unequal educational opportunities for a variety of learners.

Through the C&I MA, students will develop:

1. Critical inquiry and analysis of past and current educational practices and policies
2. Teaching practices and curricula that are equity-oriented and anti-oppressive in nature
3. An understanding of the larger systemic context within which students, communities and schools are operating.
4. Ways to disrupt “common sense” notions of schooling to reveal implicit biases and assumptions.
5. Capacity to operate as leaders in their schools, districts and/or at the local and state level

Program Plan (30 credit hours)

Core Courses (12 credits)

• History of Schooling in the United States
• Curriculum Theories in Education
• Research in Schools
• Culture of Education Policy (Capstone course)

Elective Courses (9 credits)

• Your choice

ASPIRE to Teach Credits by Evaluation (9 credits)

• Social Foundations & Cultural Diversity in Education
• Exploring Diversity in Content & Pedagogy
• Extended Internship & Learning Community