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Welcome to the
Master of Arts in Teaching
at Brandeis University
Independent-minded teachers encourage
independent-minded children & youth who become
independent, intelligent, passionate citizens.
The Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program prepares students with strong liberal arts backgrounds, including recent college graduates, career-changers and others with significant life experience, to become highly qualified, licensed classroom teachers. Two degrees are offered:
- The Master of Arts in Teaching in Elementary Education
- The Master of Arts in Teaching in Secondary Education
This full-time, 12-month program is organized around a view of teaching as practical intellectual work dedicated to enlargement of human capacity at the individual and societal level.
The program combines two summers of study on the Brandeis campus with a nine-month internship in a public elementary or secondary (middle or high) school or a Jewish day school, in the Boston area. Challenging coursework, guided teaching practice, inquiry into fundamental educational processes and purposes and theory-building are integrated across the entire 12-month span. A major undertaking is a classroom-based research project, designed and conducted by MAT students over the second half of the year, culminating in presentation of findings to faculty, friends and family prior to the award of degrees.
MAT students become members of a learning community, working closely with peers, experienced classroom teachers and dedicated faculty in an atmosphere that is collegial and open to risk-taking. The community continues even after students earn their degrees, through an induction program for graduates whose initial teaching position is in the Boston area.
The MAT program leads to the initial license to teach in Massachusetts, which has reciprocity with 44 other states and the District of Columbia. Candidates for the MAT degree are expected to satisfy all of the requirements for initial teaching license in their field, including the Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure (MTEL).
Prospective MAT students apply to one of several concentrations (areas of specialization):
Students interested in teaching at the elementary level may choose to apply to either the concentration in public education at the elementary level or the Jewish day school/DeLeT concentration.
Students interested in teaching in middle schools or high schools (secondary) choose to apply to the Secondary concentration in a specified teaching field (currently: English, history, biology, chemistry, physics or Bible/Tanakh).
MAT students matriculate together, do much of their study in concentration-specific cohorts and graduate together. A faculty leader is responsible for each concentration and serves as adviser to all students in the cohort.
Public Education-Elementary Concentration
The Public Education-Elementary concentration rests on two core beliefs: that all children have the right and deserve to flourish intellectually, socially and morally, and that it is the duty of teachers to promote that flourishing. The Public Elementary MAT prepares beginning teachers with the capability and vision to succeed in today’s schools and to play key roles in creating the schools of tomorrow.
> Dirck Roosevelt is faculty leader of Public Education-Elementary concentration
> Learn more about the Public Education-Elementary MAT
Jewish Day Schools/DeLeT Concentration
Students in the Jewish Day Schools/DeLeT (JDS/DeLeT) concentration find themselves at one of the few universities in the nation offering rigorous study of the art and craft of teaching in the context of Jewish education. The Elementary-JDS/DeLeT concentration of the MAT prepares future educators to serve the Jewish community as teacher-leaders and models of Jewish learning and living.
> Serene Victor is faculty leader of JDS/DeLeT concentration
> Learn more about the JDS/DeLeT MAT
Secondary Concentration
In the Secondary Education concentration of the MAT, students are asked to investigate what others take for granted and to view themselves as important contributors to creating a better world through thoughtful interventions. In addition to coursework in educational foundations and in pedagogy, middle school and high school MAT students take four courses in a discipline appropriate to their teaching specialty, thus gaining exceptional depth of subject matter knowledge and enjoying the opportunity of working with outstanding disciplinary scholars on the Brandeis faculty.
> Marya Levenson the faculty leader of the Secondary concentration
> Learn more about the Secondary MAT