Master of Arts in Teaching: Public Education at the Elementary Level

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If there are no two things wider asunder than freedom and slavery, then must the course of training which fits children for these two opposite conditions of life be as diverse as the points to which they lead.

– Horace Mann, “Father of the Common School,” 1845

Independent-minded teachers encourage
                 independent-minded children who become
                               independent, intelligent, passionate citizens.

The MAT in Public Ed: What We Do, What We Believe

The Brandeis Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) in Public Education at the Elementary level prepares beginning teachers for active and effective commitment to the democratic mission of public education. That mission rests on two core beliefs:

  • All children are capable of and deserve to flourish, intellectually, socially and morally.

  • It is the duty, honor and delight of teachers to promote that flourishing.

The MAT is a full-time, 12-month (June to July) program of professional education for teaching.

Generous scholarship support is available to qualified candidates. Learn more about the core beliefs and principles of the MAT in Public Education.

What May MAT Students Study, Learn and Do

MAT students become members of a learning community, working (and at times playing) closely with a cohort of diversely experienced, thoughtful, risk-taking and energetic fellow students and with outstanding faculty and exceptional mentor teachers.

Distinctive features of the program include:

  • A year–long internship in one of our affiliated schools, working under the guidance of a dedicated cooperating teacher, gradually assuming increased instructional responsibility, culminating in a period of full time, solo lead teaching.

  • Child Study and other ways of systematically attending to and building upon the educational strengths and capabilities, as well as the learning needs, of individual children.

  • Challenging coursework in the principles, pedagogy and curriculum of literacy, mathematics, science and social studies. All courses emphasize the essential role of inquiry in the construction of knowledge and are integrated with classroom practice.

  • “Making Art,” a practice-based investigation of what studying and creating art can afford children, intellectually, imaginatively and socially, conducted in conjunction with the “central seminar” of the MAT program.

Learn more about the distinctive features of the MAT in Public Education.

What May MAT Students Take Away

As a student in the Public Elementary MAT, you will explore and build the varieties of knowledge, understanding, skill and disposition necessary for you to take on the practical responsibility of promoting children’s intellectual, social and moral flourishing in your own classroom. Along the way, you will almost certainly learn things about yourself that you did not know before, and you will play an important part in your colleagues’ learning, as they will in yours. By the time you graduate you will be a “well-started” professional educator, a teacher with the skills and the imagination to succeed in the public schools of today and to help create the public schools of tomorrow.

Students who successfully complete the program receive two credentials: the degree of Master of Arts in Teaching – Elementary Education from Brandeis University and the Massachusetts initial license to teach grades 1 through 6. (Under some circumstances, students may concurrently begin preparation for an additional license, e.g., visual arts or early childhood. Please e-mail to inquire about additional licensure options.

Graduates who secure teaching positions in Greater Boston are also invited and encouraged to participate in our teacher-induction program. Because learning to teach is a lifelong endeavor, because the first years of teaching can be extremely demanding and because MAT students generally forge strong collegial relationships with peers and faculty, the Brandeis MAT provides ongoing support and a professional community of practice, in addition to one’s school community, during the crucial first years of teaching. To learn more about the teacher-induction program, click here.

Core Beliefs and Principles of the Public Elementary MAT

Public educators in the democratic tradition respect and welcome the contributions of family and community to children’s formal and informal learning, and they accept that teaching is a public practice properly governed by standards of reason and civility, ethical and academic integrity, and canons of responsibility. As professionals and as public intellectuals, they also understand that vigorous debate is one hallmark of a free society and that accountability to the demands of one’s own conscience, knowledge and judgment is essential to all professional practice.

Distinctive Features of the MAT

  • Robust dialogic relationship between guided practice in field experiences and formal study of curriculum, pedagogy and learning; social contexts of schooling; and educational purposes and values.

  • A substantial classroom–based research project, designed by MAT students around questions of their own choosing, conducted over the spring and summer, and at the conclusion of the program presented to faculty, cooperating teachers, friends and family, in final satisfaction of degree requirements.

Challenging coursework, guided teaching practice, inquiry into fundamental educational processes and purposes and theory-building are integrated across the entire 12-month span of the MAT program.

The Takeaway for MAT Students

The license to teach, required of all public school teachers, is awarded by the state of Massachusetts Department of Education; Massachusetts has reciprocity with 44 other states, the District of Columbia and Guam. Individual and group guidance on the job search is provided to MAT students. For more information on licensure requirements and processes, click here.

An advanced degree, such as the Brandeis MAT, is not typically required for entry-level teaching positions, but possession of such a degree usually confers one distinct advantage, in addition to the depth of preparation, extended period of supervised teaching practice, and earned self-confidence that it connotes (all of which are generally appreciated by hiring committees): Holders of an advanced degree almost always start out higher on the salary scale than holders of the same license possessing B.A./B.S. or A.A. degrees.

Most importantly, upon completion of the MAT in Public Elementary Education, you will have developed a beginning repertoire of instructional practices, and an initial set of practical habits of documenting and assessing your students’ and your own learning and needs. You will have learned the fundamental practices and principles of establishing and managing a balanced literacy program, and likewise the fundamentals of providing inquiry-oriented instruction in mathematics, science, the social sciences and visual arts. You will have developed inclinations and skills enabling you to responsibly interpret and adapt standards, mandates and prepared curricula such that they are responsive to the strengths,interests and needs of your real students and reflective of the “big ideas” in the disciplines. You will have built a solid understanding of how to establish a just, decent, inclusive and productive classroom. You will have started learning how to engage your students’ families in meaningful conversation about their children’s educational accomplishments and needs. You will have constructed good beginning knowledge of some critical issues and controversies in public education, and should be poised to take your part in the debates that are crucial to fresh thinking and a healthy democracy. You will have earned your authority as a teacher.

We welcome your interest in the MAT program.

Check other helpful links on the right side of this page or contact us:
mat@brandeis.edu
(781) 736-2022

We would be happy to schedule an individual appointment for you, in person or by phone, help you arrange an individual visit and more. Let us know we can help.