M.A. in Secondary Education - Course Offerings
View course descriptions
Program Requirements
Requirements for M.A. in Secondary Education with Initial 7-12 Certification
1. Complete all core and discipline-specific course work, including:
2. Complete 24 credits in the required Core Curriculum:
- ED 429 Philosophical Foundations of Education
- ED 441 Teaching and Learning within Multicultural Contexts of Education
- ED 442 Educational Psychology
- SE 405 Exceptional Learners in the Mainstream
- MD 413 Technology Methods for Middle School
- ED 530 Assessment & Differentiated Instruction
- ED 499 Introduction to Education Research
- ED 512 Contemporary Schooling in Society
3. Complete 18-24 credits in Discipline-Specific course-work (see below)
4. Complete master's project: Product of Learning (ED 599), Capstone Seminar (ED 511), or Thesis (ED 498 Thesis Seminar)
Required Discipline-Specific Coursework
English
- EN 405 Literature for Young Adults
- EN 411 Teaching Writing in the 3-12 Classroom
- EN 417 Traditional and Structural Grammar
- ED 459 Developmental Reading in the Secondary School
- ED 466 English Methods
- ED 581 Directed Observation & Supervised Student Teaching
- ED 589 English Seminar
Mathematics
Two graduate-level math courses in Statistics and Geometry (if taken previously; alternate courses can be taken with advisor approval) Courses taken through Fairfield's M.A. program in Math, with advisor approval.
- ED 455 The Literate Learner: Using Critical and Strategic Literacy in the Content Areas, Grades 5-12
- ED 464 Math Methods
- ED 581 Directed Observation & Supervised Student Teaching
- ED 591 Mathematics Seminar
Science
- ED 462 Science Methods
- ED 572 Guided Research in Science
- ED 573 Instructional Issues in Teaching Science
- ED 581 Directed Observation & Supervised Student Teaching
- ED 592 Science Seminar
World Language
- ED 455 The Literate Learner: Using Critical and Strategic Literacy in the Content Areas, Grades 5-12
- ED 463 World Language Methods
- SL 467 Language Acquisition
- SL 439 Methods of Foreign Language Teaching for Elementary School
- ED 581 Directed Observation & Supervised Student Teaching
- ED 593 World Language Seminar
History/Social Studies
- ED 510 Teaching Cultural & Political Geography
- ED 515 Teaching Economic & Physical Geography
- ED 468 Social Studies/History Methods
- ED 581 Directed Observation & Supervised Student Teaching
- ED 594 Social Studies/History Seminar
Secondary Field Work Competency
Secondary candidates are required to complete a minimum of 20 hours of field work in an approved field setting prior to student teaching. This field work cannot replace field work required for a course. A critical reflective essay of 7-10 pages that documents and synthesizes a minimum of 20 hours of their teaching experiences and learning is required for progression to student teaching. Candidates are required to submit to their advisors a letter documenting their completion of at least 20 hours of teaching experiences. Successful completion of the field work competency is required in order to progress to student teaching.
