Program Overview

Introduction to the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) in Middle and High School Education

The Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) in Middle and High School Education is a 12-15-month residential program designed for candidates seeking Massachusetts Initial teacher license at the middle and high school levels. The program aims to re-imagine the possibilities of schooling, carefully observe and analyze moments of teaching and learning, participate in an extensive field experience, and develop the practices of teaching that push and guide students towards their highest potential.

Program Overview

The MAT program in Middle and High School Education is designed and approved to meet only the Massachusetts initial licensure requirements. The program requires 10 courses from the following areas:

• 1 Introductory Course: ED 101: Introduction to Teaching in Middle and Secondary School (includes a pre-practicum experience)
• 1 Foundations of Literacy Course: ED 128: Foundations of Literacy
• 1 Course in Human Development and Learning: ED 130: Human Development and Learning
• 1 Course in the Social, Cultural and Historical Foundations of Education:
  • ED 160: Post-colonial Theories
  • ED 161: Anthropology and Sociology of Schooling
  • ED 162: Critical Histories of U.S. Education
  • ED 163: Philosophies
  • ED 167: Critical Race Theory
• 1 Course in Exceptionalities in Learning: ED 142: Education of the Exceptional Child
• 1 Course in Curriculum or a Related Guided Elective:
  • ED 110: History and Political Science/Political Philosophy Curricula
  • ED 111: Development of Knowledge and Reasoning in the Science Curriculum
  • ED 112: Mathematics Learning Environments
  • ED 113: Language Arts Curricula in the Middle and Secondary School
  • ED 114: Linguistic Approaches to Second Language Acquisition (Cross-listed with German GER 114 and Modern Languages ML 114)
  • ED 119: Development of Knowledge and Reasoning in Engineering
• 1 Course in the Practices in Teaching taken during the Semester of Student Teaching:
  • ED 120: Practice of Teaching: History and Political Science/Political Philosophy
  • ED 121: Practice of Teaching: Science
  • ED 122: Practice of Teaching: Mathematics
  • ED 123: Practice of Teaching: English
  • ED 124: Practice of Teaching: Languages
  • ED 125: Practice of Teaching: Latin and Classical Humanities
  • ED 129: Practice of Teaching: Engineering and Design
• 1 Student Teaching: ED 102: Supervised Teaching in Middle and Secondary School and Seminar
• 2 Courses in the Academic Field

Program Objectives

The program objectives include:

• Understanding the triangle of education and its components (the teacher, the students, and the subject) and carefully considering their contexts
• Critically examining teaching, learning, and schooling through culturally responsive, anti-racist, and other complex and urgent theoretical frameworks
• Maintaining strong and growing knowledge of the content taught
• Drawing upon research in human development and learning, working with exceptionalities in the classroom, learning theory and cognitive development, and adolescent psychology to design successful and inclusive classroom cultures and practices
• Employing and developing pedagogies that best meet students’ needs to foster engaged and purposeful learning
• Identifying the culture and structure of schools and understanding how schools shape the values and work of teachers and students
• Learning about the community in which one teaches and thinking of oneself as a teacher in a community and a citizen-leader
• Understanding the profound ethical and moral considerations embedded in the decisions that teachers must make every day in their classrooms and the impact of those decisions on students and their learning, their families, and the community

Philosophy

The program is guided by two key philosophies:

Praxis

In the Middle and High School Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program, students learn how to effectively engage in praxis – moving between the theoretical and the practical. Students develop an understanding of the crucial theoretical frameworks in Education, cultivate attention to student thinking, identify and examine the barriers that exist in learning contexts, explore the countless decisions that teachers make, and engage in extensive teaching practice in order to develop effective and responsive teaching practices.

Teachers as Citizen-Leaders

In addition to preparing teachers to teach their disciplines, Tufts teacher candidates are prepared to be citizen-leaders through knowing and wrestling deeply with and acting upon the profound civic questions at the heart of schooling and education. What are the purposes of public education? What do students, families, and teachers want from schooling? And how and why do schools as organizations and as agents of the state in a democratic society meet (or not meet) those wants? Who does or doesn’t benefit from schooling and why? And what structures and processes within schools lead to those outcomes? What are the foundational beliefs and commitments that public school teachers should know, consider, and act upon? What responsibilities do people have to one another and to the institutions within which they live? What kind of citizen should schools endeavor to create anyway?

Disclosure on Teacher Initial Licensure in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

The State Authorization and Reciprocity Agreement (SARA) requires that Tufts disclose the following information to students enrolled in a graduate program that leads to licensure. The Tufts Graduate School of Arts and Sciences offers the Master of Arts in Teaching Middle and High School Education, and Art Education programs. These programs lead to eligibility for an Initial License in Massachusetts in the area studied. The programs are limited to students located in Massachusetts only, and the programs make no warrant or guarantee to its applicability for licensure outside of Massachusetts. Massachusetts is a member of the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification (NASDTEC) interstate agreement. This means students who complete an initial license in an approved program may be eligible for reciprocity in other states. Specific state licenses may be more applicable and/or require additional standards. Licensure requirements, exam eligibility, and appropriate pathways are subject to change and may differ based on individual student backgrounds, including coursework taken outside the scope of the program. Students and applicants are responsible for determining whether the program meets the requirements for licensure in the state where the student or applicant is located.