Teaching and Teacher Leadership

Curriculum Information

The TTL Program is designed to help you gain the knowledge and practice the skills essential to leading others in learning — and will create pathways to success that will allow you to thrive as an expert practitioner and mentor in your community. A minimum of 42 credits are required to graduate with an Ed.M. degree from HGSE.

The main elements of the 2022–23 academic year curriculum are:

• The HGSE Foundations courses (14 credits) — How People Learn, Leading Change, Evidence, and Equity and Opportunity — in which students gain core skills central to the profession of education.
  • You will commence your Foundations studies with How People Learn, an immersive online course that runs June–July and requires a time commitment of 10-15 hours per week.
  • You will continue Foundations with Leading Change, Evidence, and Equity and Opportunity on campus in August. 
  • Your Equity and Opportunity Foundations experience culminates in an elected course, which will take place during terms when electives are available.

A minimum of 12-credits specific to TTL, including the following:  

• The TTL Program Core Experience (4 credits), where both teacher leaders and teacher licensure candidates will together learn to analyze instruction and think about how to improve it.
• Required courses (4+ credits), which are specialized for each strand:
  • Teacher licensure candidates participate in a Summer Experience (4 credits), held on site in Cambridge in July, that allows them to begin to hone their teaching practice. The summer experience is followed by year-long teaching methods and field experience coursework.
  • Teacher leaders enroll in a year-long methods seminar (4 credits), to develop the mindsets and skills for leading change in classrooms and schools.
• Field experiences, where students in the Teacher Licensure strand will work directly in Boston-area schools, and teacher leaders will have the option to enroll in elective fieldwork by shadowing coaches and other educators engaged in making change.
• Elective coursework, individuals in the Teacher Leadership strand can take elective coursework based on interests, which includes the opportunity to specialize in an HGSE Concentration.

Explore our course catalog.
Note, all information and courses are subject to change.

Summer Experience

All students in the Teaching Licensure strand will participate in the Summer Experience supporting the Cambridge-Harvard Summer Academy (CHSA), which takes place in Cambridge in July 2023. Through your work at CHSA, you will help middle and high school students in the Cambridge Public Schools with credit recovery, academic enrichment, and preparation for high school. Students in the Teaching Licensure strand will teach students directly as part of the teaching team. This is an opportunity for you to immediately immerse yourself in a school environment and practice the skills necessary to advance your career.

Advancing Research on Effective Teacher Preparation 

As a student in the TTL Program, you will have the opportunity to contribute to HGSE’s research on what makes effective teacher preparation. This research seeks to build an evidence base that contributes to the field’s understanding of effective approaches to teacher training, including how to support high-quality instruction, successful models of coaching and mentorship, and effective approaches to addressing the range of challenges facing our students.

TTL students will be able to participate in research studies for course credit, and some will also serve as research assistants, gaining knowledge of what works, as well as a doctoral-type experience at a major research university.

The Teaching and Teacher Leadership Fellowship and other Aid 

HGSE is committed to investing in the future of the teaching profession — and minimizing the student debt that teachers have to carry. We offer a signature fellowship — the Teaching and Teacher Leadership Fellowship — to qualified candidates. This fellowship package covers 80 percent of tuition and provides for a $10,000 living stipend. Preference is given to candidates pursuing the Teaching Licensure Residency. Fellowship recipients must be enrolled as full-time students. 
 
HGSE offers a range of other financial aid and fellowship opportunities to provide greater access and affordability to our students

Program Faculty

Students will work closely with faculty associated with their area of study, but students can also work with and take courses with faculty throughout HGSE and Harvard. The faculty co-chairs for TTL are Heather Hill and Victor Pereira. View our faculty directory for a full list of HGSE faculty.

Heather C. Hill

Victor Pereira, Jr.

Houman Harouni

Noah Heller

Pamela A. Mason

Katherine Rieser

Eric Shed

Beth A. Simpson

Christina "V" Villarreal

Career Pathways

The TTL Program prepares you for a variety of career pathways, including:

Teaching Licensure Strand:

• Licensed middle or high school teacher in English, science, math, and history

Teacher Leader Strand: 

• Curriculum designers 
• Department heads and grade-level team leaders 
• District-based instructional leadership team members 
• Instructional and curriculum leadership team members 
• Professional developers and content specialists 
• School improvement facilitators 
• School-based instructional coaches and mentor teachers 

Outcomes

Our TTL Program enables you to fully examine your growth as a professional — and explore the many ways you can generate better outcomes for your students. From developing a deeper understanding of teaching principles and practices to honing your experience and embracing innovation in a variety of learning environments, our graduates go on to make a profound difference in the lives of their students. Here are examples of the TTL experience and the impact its community is making on the field:

Cohort and Community

The TTL Program prioritizes the development of ongoing teacher communities that provide continued support, learning, and collaboration. Our cohort-based approach is designed to encourage and allow aspiring teachers and leaders to build relationships with one another, as well as with instructors and mentors — ultimately building a strong, dynamic network. 

As a TTL student, you will build a community around a shared commitment to teaching and teacher development. You will learn from and with colleagues from diverse backgrounds, levels of expertise, and instructional settings. To further connections with the field, you are invited to attend “meet the researcher” chats, engage in learning through affinity groups, and interact with teaching-focused colleagues across the larger university, by taking courses and participating in activities both at HGSE and at other Harvard schools.