Michael McCurry
Starting this year, Drew University will offer a new Masters of Education degree. The new program expands upon the current offerings in the field of education at Drew’s Caspersen School of Graduate Studies, which already offers a Masters of Arts in Teaching that’s aimed at preparing students for their initial New Jersey teaching certificates.
“There are two aspects to teacher education: pre-service teacher preparation and in-service teacher education,” said Dr. Kristen Turner, the Director of Teacher Education at Caspersen. “Drew has had a MAT (Masters of Arts in Teaching) program that focused on the first aspect; the MEd (Masters of Education) allows practicing teachers to continue their learning.”
The 30 credit MEd program offers a total of seven different fields of specialization. The completion of each specialization attributes 15 credits to the overall degree. To finish the degree, six credits in electives, as well as nine credits in core studies, are required.
“The MEd program will help students to develop skills in teaching and learning in a variety of specializations, and they can apply these skills to wherever they work as an educator. These settings might include private schools, museums, libraries or higher education,” said Turner.
Fields of specialization include “English as a Second Language,” which prepares educators to work with linguistically diverse students; “Teaching Students With Disabilities,” which provides students with the knowledge necessary to work with K-12 students with disabilities; as well as “Equity and Culture,” which draws on Drew’s strength in the study of history, gender, race and international studies. It includes classes on ethics, gender history and diversity in families, schools and communities.
“The MEd draws on the strengths of Drew’s liberal arts programming,” noted Turner. “With specializations such as Equity and Culture, the MEd allows students to take courses across disciplines while considering how the content applies to various learning contexts. Drew also offers professional development workshops, some of which can be taken for graduate credit, which will help to advance students’ skills.”
Director Turner also noted the benefits of taking this program at Drew over larger universities, saying, “At many larger institutions ‘famous’ faculty do not have much interaction with students. At Drew, students have full access to nationally and internationally known scholars, including Pat McGuinn. My door is always open as well. There is something special about being able to sit and chat with authors of books in the field for which you are studying.”
Graduate scholarships are also available to those who qualify. To find out more about the new Masters of Education Program, visit Drew’s website
