Teaching & Foundations

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Make Your Next Step Your Greatest Yet

The Educational Studies and Teacher Preparation Department offers programs for educational professionals who wish to deepen and expand their knowledge of teaching and learning in a socio-cultural context. Organized around reflective inquiry and socially responsible professional practices, these programs are committed to educating instructors who have the knowledge, skills, and initiative to enact meaningful connections between theory and practice, and advocate for quality education for all students.

Whether you pursue a Master of Arts in Teaching and Foundations or a Sixth Year Certificate (SYC) you'll learn within an inclusive environment of faculty, community leaders, and experienced, aspiring classroom teachers - providing you a strong, nurturing education to empower K-12 students to reach their full potential.

Course Offerings

  1. Complete a minimum of 36 graduate credits.
  2. Complete 18 credits of foundational core requirements: 3 credits in each of the following foundational areas, with approval of faculty advisor.
Philosophical Foundations
Social Foundations
Multicultural Foundations
Curriculum Foundations
Technology Foundations
Learning and Development Foundations
  1. Complete a 12 credit concentration/cluster of 4 courses with approval of faculty advisor. Clusters include:
Curriculum Studies
Literacy, Language and Culture
Integrating Technologies
Individualized Concentration/Clusters
  1. Complete a 6-credit Integrative Inquiry/Advocacy Sequence:
Participatory Research and Advocacy in School and Community Settings
Educating for Social Responsibility and Civic Engagement: A Capstone Seminar
  1. Complete a minimum of 30 graduate credits.
  2. Complete the following foundational core requirements (12 credits):
The Educational Imagination
Ethics and Advocacy in Educational Contexts
Theories of Learning
Principles of Curriculum Development and Evaluation
  1. Complete a 12-credit concentration in one of the following areas:
Curriculum Studies
Literacy, Language and Culture
Individualized Concentration/cluster with approval of program advisor
  1. Complete a 6-credit integrated inquiry/advocacy sequence
Participatory Research and Advocacy in School and Community Settings
Reflective Research Practicum in Teaching

Admission

Applicants for the MA in Teaching and Foundations in Education must hold a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited college or university (or the international equivalent) and show promise of success in their graduate studies.

Applicants for the SYC must hold a bachelor's and master's degree from a regionally accredited college or university (or the international equivalent) and show evidence of success in their graduate studies.

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Career & Professional Opportunities

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Career & Professional Opportunities

Fairfield graduates of our MA and SYC. programs in Teaching and Foundations are highly regarded and well received throughout the state and the region. Most of our MA graduates begin or continue careers as K-12 public or private school classroom teachers in Connecticut and the surrounding region. Graduates of both programs establish or continue careers as community educators with local or regional organizations. Many serve in leadership positions in their schools or community organizations.

Our graduates become:

  • Master teachers
  • Curriculum specialists
  • Administrators
  • Community activists
  • Educational entrepreneurs
  • Teacher educators
  • Policy makers

Learn more about how the University's Career Center can support your post-graduate goals, and how Fairfield's tight-knit alumni network can build career and mentoring opportunities that last a lifetime.

Visit the Career Center

Diversity and Inclusive Excellence

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Diversity and Inclusive Excellence

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As a Jesuit, Catholic university, Fairfield is dedicated to diversity and inclusion; to radical hospitality in service of racial, social, and economic justice.

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Faculty

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Faculty

Our caring and committed faculty offer a rigorous course of study, with a broad range of courses that integrate critical reflection, extensive field experience, and the most current research in the field of Teaching & Foundations.

Meet the Faculty

Frequently Asked Questions

When you are ready to apply, you can create an online application. Please plan to spend about 10 - 15 minutes completing the application. You can create the application and return to the platform in the future to submit it if you require additional time. You should be prepared to answer a series of questions pertaining to your biographical information, program of interest, and educational/ work background. Additionally, you will be required to enter the names and contact information for two references. As part of the application process, you will be required to submit all official college transcripts (sent directly from your institutions), two recommendations (submitted directly from your references who will receive a unique email link), a personal statement, and resume. Please note, you may submit the online application prior to submitting the required supplemental materials. For any questions about the online application please contact Fairfield University Graduate Admission.

Our Office of Graduate Admissions is available to explain the application requirements and to help you get your application together. You may contact them by submitting a request for information or by phoning (203) 254-4184.

Tuition and fees for Fairfield's graduate programs.

Our programs are designed to meet the learning needs of full and part-time students.

Most of our courses are offered from Monday-Thursday in the late afternoon and evening. A few are offered on the weekends. Weekday courses generally meet once a week for two hours. Weekend courses tend to be full day courses that meet for four or five weekends or weekend days over the semester. We also offer summer courses from late May through early August.

We keep our classes small. The typical maximum class size is 20, but class sizes range from 6 to 20.

Our students come from a variety of undergraduate backgrounds and have majored in a wide variety of disciplines. Most have teaching certifications. For our C.A.S., you must have a bachelor's degree and a master's degree to be eligible.

Students who attend full-time take 9 credits each Fall and Spring semester and up to 6 credits in the summer sessions. For full-time students who start in the Fall semester, the programs can be completed in about 2 years. For students who attend part time, the time will vary based on how many courses are taken at a time.

Students are required, however, to complete their degree within six years after they begin their first course.

Our financial aid office can best answer that question for you. You may reach them by phoning (203) 254-4125 or by emailing them, and you can visit the Financial Aid page.

Our graduate assistantships provide tuition credit for work. See the Graduate Assistantship page for more information.

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