Stories from OEL

The Ed School’s Online Master’s in Education Program (OEL) is a unique opportunity for educators outside of Cambridge to join the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s learning community.  

The two-year, part-time program aims to provide an option for experienced educators still working to go back to school to advance their careers. The online program is also what's called "career-embedded," meaning OEL students can immediately apply what they are learning, in real time, to the work they are doing in the field. 

The stories that emerge from OEL — from students in both the Higher Education and PreK-12 pathways — are as varied and diverse as the cohort itself. Below, current students share why they decided to further their education at HGSE and how they’re applying new skills to the work they currently do in communities across the country.

James Austin
Assistant superintendent, Twiggs County Public Schools, Georgia

Why HGSE? Growing up in Americus, Georgia, a small rural community, I never imagined that an Ivy League education was within my reach. My great-grandfather left school after the eighth grade, and my grandfather didn’t attend college. Not because he lacked opportunity, but because working a stable job was the norm during his era. He was successful in providing for his family, laying the foundation that gave me the clarity and spirit to aim higher. His dedication to hard work and perseverance made me realize the power of education as a vehicle for change and generational growth.

I chose HGSE because it represents not just an elite education, but the culmination of dreams that stretch across generations in my family. HGSE’s global reputation for excellence in educational leadership perfectly aligns with my personal mission to transform public education. I wanted to gain a world-class education to bring back to my community and others like it, showing that ambitious goals are achievable with the right tools and support. HGSE’s focus on equity, leadership, and innovation made it the ideal place for me to grow as a leader. The online format enabled me to pursue this dream while balancing my full-time work.

OEL at work: The skills I’ve gained through the Online Master’s in Education Program have had a direct impact on my work. I’ve been able to apply strategic frameworks for leadership and change management in real time, enhancing my ability to lead large-scale initiatives. For example, lessons in operational excellence and organizational behavior have guided my approach to overseeing complex capital projects and improving efficiency in school operations. The program has deepened my understanding of how to foster equity-driven innovation, particularly in rural settings where access to resources is limited. Additionally, I’ve been able to integrate best practices from my coursework into building a more inclusive and effective leadership academy within my district.

Salman Moti
Director of health system quality analytics, UT Southwestern Medical Center; adjunct professor of health information management, Collin College; pro bono consultant on global health projects in Africa and Central Asia

Why HGSE? I wanted to study at HGSE because I wanted to sharpen my skills in higher education leadership, have direct and focused experiences with global thought leaders in education, and learn how to scale my own impact in educational entrepreneurship.

OEL at work: I have used my Online Master’s in Education from HGSE to initiate a startup. The project seeks to establish a marketplace for innovative content in higher education where skilled content creators can make their resources available to instructors at other post-secondary institutions. The project is registered with the Harvard Innovation Lab and is actively progressing through the steps to commercialization. Through the program, I have had the privilege of working closely with faculty to refine my ideas, learn how instructors in higher education think about content creation, and consult with experts on everything from customer survey methods and design to IRB approvals and publications. 

Mariah Gertrude Nandyona 
Founder, Arise Community School and Arise Education Consultancy; principal, Morning Star Education Services, Uganda

Why HGSE? I wanted to learn at Harvard Graduate School of Education to deepen my understanding of educational theories and practices, particularly with the goal of improving the quality and standards of education in Uganda. The program’s focus on innovation and research aligns perfectly with my vision to drive meaningful change in my country’s education system. Additionally, I sought a career change and envisioned that this course would equip me with the skills and knowledge necessary for a successful transition into a new role in education.

OEL at work: The insights gained from this program have been invaluable in my efforts to elevate educational standards in Uganda through my school and consultancy, and they support my overall career transition.

One of the most enriching aspects of my experience at HGSE has been the sense of community and support from both the faculty and my cohort members. It’s amazing to feel that almost everyone is rooting for your success throughout the course. The teamwork and friendships formed along the way create a powerful sense of belonging. This supportive environment fosters collaboration and encourages us to share diverse perspectives and experiences. Together, we are united by a shared passion for education and a commitment to making a positive impact in our communities, making this journey all the more fulfilling.

Ewura-Abena Adomako
Education and edtech learning solutions startup venture founder, New York

Why HGSE? My experiences working through the COVID-19 pandemic as a speech-language pathologist and special education itinerant teacher, while also parenting and guiding my own three children through remote schooling, gave me a front row seat to the glaring, persistent disparity in the quality of educational resources received by American students in higher socioeconomic brackets and their counterparts from lower socioeconomic communities. This was pushed to the forefront and perfectly showcased by the pandemic education conditions. This fueled a strong thirst and desire in me to become a macro-level, social-emotional educational advocate and academic development policy influencer for children with special needs and children from my community who are within the underserved BIPOC demographic.

HGSE was the best place I felt I could achieve this and do work towards finding appropriate solutions to help remedy the massive pandemic learning loss and the resulting widening of the socioeconomic achievement gap. Furthermore, if I wanted to develop and expand my skillset to make me a more effective education leader and build powerful connections to help guide me on my leadership journey, I would need to lean on the shoulders of pantheons of education such as Karen Mapp, Irvin Scott, Catherine Snow, James Honan, Timothy McCarthy, to name a few, whom I have had the privilege of learning from, and now have the honor of having as my mentors.

I also feel it is important for me to share that I came to Harvard during the lowest and scariest point in my life. I had recently fled my home with my youngest child per our NYPD and Child Protective Services Safety Plan, due to the escalation of intimate partner violence in my home. I was (and still am) in the throes of post-separation abuse and navigating the Integrated Domestic Violence Court of Brooklyn in my attempts to gain full emancipation for myself and my children. In addition, I was also in slow recovery, managing health issues brought on by becoming neurodivergent due to complications stemming from my long COVID status and other acquired disabilities. I was transparent and disclosed all of this in my application packet, and in this storm of the chaos of my life came the wonderful opportunity to finally achieve a long-held dream of learning at Harvard because Harvard believed in my dreams. My OEL Program, HSGE, and Harvard at large rallied to create a psychologically safe space for me to learn and thrive. 

OEL at work: Currently all my work is around fully developing our minimum viable product (MVP) to bring to market for testing. My very first HSGE class, How People Learn (HPL), helped me learn how to create and design systems that successfully support optimal learning experiences. This evidence-based knowledge informed our product design and creation process.

In my Strategic Leadership course with Irvin Scott, I learned about his PreK-12 Education Ecosystem Framework, HGSE’s Education Leadership, Organizations, and Entrepreneurship (ELOE) framework, and how leaders can leverage their strengths to inspire those they lead to work together in unison to do big, impactful work. From the case studies in this class, I learned what effective leadership looked like and cautionary tales of the leadership pathways not to follow. This was so helpful in guiding me on how to interact with the consultants I work with and how to keep all of us mission- and vision-focused to complete our task of MVP development in a timely manner with no major challenges.

From Karen Mapp’s Parent Engagement work, I was able to effectively apply the knowledge I gained in her class in my interactions with families during our customer feedback and needs assessments data gathering sessions. James Honan taught me all about finance and financial management in his Strategic Finance for leaders’ course, and this helped prepare me for how to manage multimillion dollar operations effectively and strategically. Nancy Sommers' Creative Nonfiction writing course was helpful in evaluating the content and writing style for our products and Timothy McCarthy’s Art and Practice of BRAVE communication helped me find and develop my voice further. It also taught me how I could lead and communicate with courage and without fear.

This semester, I am taking Uche Amaechi’s Purpose-Driven Entrepreneurship class, and it has been so wonderful in helping me fine-tune our business plan. What I have learned from him has nicely complimented what I have learned from my Harvard Innovation Lab engagements as both learning opportunities make me able to better understand the most effective actionable steps to take to grow my venture and bring my MVP to market. Expert historian Dr. McCarthy, whose extensive background also includes Resistance Movements, is my independent study research adviser this semester, supporting me in my research for better factual historical learning content for my MVP development.

For me this has been the most fun and rewarding aspect of my Harvard experience — the application of my learning to my current situation. I walk away from each class and learning experience gaining many nuggets of wisdom which I use to fill my effective leadership toolbox.

Overall my learning at HGSE has broadened my educational lenses and opened my eyes to numerous possibilities of making a positive impact as an effective educational leader. This awareness confirms how coming to Harvard was indeed the best next step in my career path to achieving my long-term professional leadership goals that are emphasized in HGSE’s commitment to its mission of affording its students the opportunity to “learn to change the world” — and equipping them with the tools and skills needed for this task.