Learning and Teaching

Curriculum

Ed.M. Program 2012-2013 Requirements

Students in the L&T master's program are required to complete eight courses for the Ed.M. degree. Five of these eight courses must be selected from the offerings listed below.

Core/Foundational Courses

(Students are strongly encouraged but not required to select at least two courses from the list below.)

Course Number	Instructor	Title	Semester
A-107	Lawrence-Lightfoot	The Sociology of Education: The Culture of Schools	Fall
A-117	Hehir	Implementing Inclusive Education	Fall
A-121	Boles	Teaching and Learning: Links Between Research and Practice	Fall
A-326	Merseth	School Reform: Curricular and Instructional Leadership	Fall
A-412	Reuben	The History of American Higher Education	Fall
S-105	Elgin	Philosophy of Education	Fall
T-006	Schneier	Adult Development	Spring
T-527	Wiske	How to Teach for Understanding	Fall
T-131	Boles	Teachers, Leadership, and Power: School Reform from the Classroom	Fall
T-139	Blythe	Investigating Learning and Teaching through the Close Collaborative Examination of Student and Teacher Work	Spring
T-405	Gehlbach	[Social Dimensions of Teaching and Learning in Classrooms]
T-440	Schneier	Teaching and Learning: “The Having of Wonderful Ideas”	Fall
T-543	Grotzer	Applying Cognitive Science to Learning and Teaching	Spring

View the full list of HGSE courses that meet L&T program Curriculum

Notes:

Two modules equals one course.
Newly admitted students are advised that each year the L&T program updates its requirements to account for changes in and additions to HGSE's curriculum offerings.

2012-2013 Instructional Leadership Strand Requirements

All students in the Learning and Teaching Program are required to complete eight courses for the Ed.M. degree. Students who are accepted to the Instructional Leadership Strand have the following course requirements:

3 courses designed to develop instructional leadership within the student’s current subject area of mathematics, science, social studies, or English language arts. These courses include one Core/Foundational “Big Ideas” course, one Advanced Methods course (designed for K-12 teachers), and one content elective.
1 full course or 2 modules in school organization or leadership
1 course in adult development
1 course or internship in an area of leadership specialization. Internships may take place at a school or district site, or at an organization offering a relevant education-related work experience.

Specific Course Requirements Include:

Core/Foundational Course

Big Idea Courses (select one)

A-107 – The Ecology of Education: Culture, Communities, and Change in Schools (Lawrence-Lightfoot)

A-121 - Teaching and Learning: Links Between Research and Practice (Boles)

S-105 – The Philosophy of Education (Elgin)

T-440 - Learning and Teaching: “The Having of Wonderful Ideas” (Schneier)

T-543 - Applying Cognitive Science to Learning and Teaching (Grotzer)

Advanced Methods Courses
T-221 – Advancing the Learning and Teaching of English (Jacobs)

T-225 – Advancing the Learning and Teaching of History and Social Studies (Levinson)

Content Elective
Students will choose content electives from courses at GSE, or from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Leadership/Organizational Change Courses (select either one full course or two modules)
A-021 - Leadership in Organizations (Mapp)
A-024 - Politics, Policymaking and Political Action in Education (West)
A-027A - Managing Financial Resources in Nonprofit Organizations (Honan)
A-139 - Pursuing Teacher Quality: Policy, Research, and Practice (Johnson)
A-326 - School Reform: Curricular and Instructional Leadership (Merseth)
A-608 - [Leadership, Entrepreneurship, and Learning] (Higgins)
T-131 - Teachers, Leadership, and Power: School Reform from the Classroom (Boles)

T-313 – Gender and Sexuality in Schools: School Climate and the Hidden Curriculum (Deckman)

Modules

A-111C – Changing the School Schedule: A Case Study in Policy and Practice (Gabrieli)

A-310G – Data Wise: Using Data to Improve Teaching and Learning (Boudett)

A-310E – Leadership for Instructional Improvement (Peterkin)

H-310Z – Educating for Democracy through Facing History and Ourselves (Barr)

T-210Z1 – Dimensions of Diversity: English Language Learners (Leith)

T-210X – Foundations of Urban Education (Levinson)

Adult Development

H-236 – Adolescent Development (N. Hill)
T-006 - Adult Development (McGarvey)

T-402 – Group Learning (Wilson)

Coursework and Internships in an area of leadership specialization.

Students will select an area of specialization to be pursued through coursework and/or internships. Such areas might include technology and instruction; assessment and data analysis; mentoring; instructional coaching; teacher research/action research; or curriculum development. Current courses will provide students in some of these areas of specialization (for example, technology, data assessment, and instructional coaching). In addition, internships, which take place at a school or district site, or at an organization offering a relevant education-related work experience, provide opportunities for students to apply coursework to practice, conduct research, develop new skills, and explore different kinds of work.

Below is a sampling of internship sites, showing the range of opportunities available in public and private schools, non-profits, technology, and research:

Education Development Center, Inc.
TERC
Harvard Family Research Project
Harvard Project Zero
Primary Source
Facing History and Ourselves
Museum of Fine Arts
Boston Public Schools (elementary and high school)
Brookline Public Schools (elementary and high school)
Watertown Public Schools (elementary and high school)
Cambridge Public Schools (elementary and high school)
Community Charter School
Prospect Hill Charter School
Concord Academy
Buckingham, Brown and Nichols School
The Fayerweather Street School

Field Experience Program

The Field Experience Program (FEP) allows students to design their own course, combining theory with practice. Each intern chooses a site and a field supervisor, and is matched up with an FEP Teaching Fellow (TF) and an HGSE Faculty Supervisor. FEP internships provide students a chance to develop professional skills, shape research questions, explore careers, and establish new professional contacts, while earning course credit.

Leah, an L&T FEP student, reflects, "I had a wonderful experience with my FEP. I originally set out to study math anxiety but ended up learning a lot more. I was placed in an ELL classroom. I loved being around kids since I was definitely missing the classroom. I was able to directly apply a lot of what I was learning in classes at HGSE. The seminar experience was wonderful. We had lots of amazing conversations during our meetings. I really like real life experience and I learned so much from this internship. I highly recommend FEPs!"

Successful completion of an L&T related field placement may count toward L&T program requirements.

For Field Experience Program information, please carefully review the Field Experience Program website. Follow up questions can be directed to the FEP Program Coordinator who can be reached by e-mail at fep@gse.harvard.edu or by telephone at (617) 495-3427.

Cross Registration

Many HGSE students have taken advantage of the opportunity to take courses at other Harvard schools, Episcopal Divinity School, the Fletcher School at Tufts University, the MGH Institute of Health Professions, or MIT. In theory, you are free to attend courses at any of the other schools at Harvard, Episcopal Divinity School, the Fletcher School at Tufts University, the MGH Institute of Health Professions, or MIT; however, this is often dependent on instructor approval, prerequisites, and so on.

The essential source of information about cross registration opportunities is a series of University-compiled Web pages. To find out about courses offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and in other Harvard graduate schools, consult the unified (and searchable) course catalog.