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Introduction |
The Childhood Education Program at Adelphi University, committed to the growth and wellbeing of all children, is dedicated to the professional education and personal development of elementary teachers as advocates for children, possessed of moral purpose and vision. Through this endeavor, we embrace the ideal of working with education professionals, students, and other colleagues in league with our educational institutions to cultivate intellectually vital, socially just, aesthetically rich and compassionate communities in our universities, schools, towns, and cities. Through our program, we strive to build an inclusive, caring educational community aimed at “cultivating the humanity” of the whole person: engaging education professionals in scholarly study and open-minded inquiry, socially engaged praxis and community service, creative experimentation and artistic expression, as well as critical self-examination and contemplative practice. Teachers are encouraged and prepared, in this way, to attend faithfully to the well-being and growth of children by creating such communities with their own students, and engaging them, as well, in these practices.
The Childhood Education Program is guided by a shared understanding of what it means to be an education professionals. Teachers are:
- Scholars committed to a life of study and inquiry, participating meaningfully in communities of study and inquiry;
- Agents for democratic social change, dedicated to the practice of freedom and work of justice;
- Open to possibilities, people of aesthetic sensibility, passion, and personal vision, embracing beauty and imaginative possibility in their work; and
- Self-aware people who know themselves and attend to their own growth through the practice of mindful and reflective self-examination.
The curriculum of the Childhood Education Program was designed to reflect this understanding of teaching and vision of education. It features:
- Teachers collaboratively engaging in scholarly study and open-minded inquiry through course work that is interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary and inquiry-based.
- Teachers participating in socially engaged praxis and community service through a program that advances critical pedagogy and service learning within a school- community partnership model.
- Teachers exploring teaching as an art, requiring artistic expression and creative experimentation through direct engagement with the arts in arts-based classes, as well as direct experience with diverse teaching practices and possibilities via field-based courses in the pedagogical arts.
- Teachers cultivating their own character in a program that is student-centered, individualized through course work aimed at understanding oneself via autobiographical inquiry, critical self-examination and contemplative practice—engaging teachers in the reflective practice of their craft and the articulation of personal vision through their work.
Note:
The M.A. in childhood education is an initial program for students who do not currently hold certification in elementary (childhood) education. Qualified candidates certified in areas other than elementary education may enroll in this program in order to earn a second teaching certificate and fulfill the graduate degree requirement for professional (permanent) certification in both areas. Upon application to the program, candidates’ undergraduate transcripts will be evaluated for appropriate liberal arts course work required under New York State regulations and to meet national standards in the teaching area. Teacher education candidates who have been admitted will receive by mail, from program advisers, a program of study with the results of this transcript review. Any deficient course work must be completed prior to the final student teaching semester. The Department of Curriculum and Instruction does not waive the student teaching requirement. In compliance with New York State Education Department regulations, this program requires a minimum of 100 hours of fieldwork in schools prior to student teaching. This program certifies teachers for grades 1–6. It does not meet State requirements for the new early childhood birth–grade 2 certificate. Candidates interested in the birth–grade 2 teaching certificate should enroll in our early childhood master’s program.
M.A. in Childhood Education, Grades 1-6 (Precertification)
M.A. in Elementary Teachers, Pre-K–6 (In-Service)
Philosophy
The Childhood Education Program is guided by a shared understanding of what it means to be a teacher:
- Teachers are scholars committed to a life of study and inquiry, participating meaningfully in communities of study and inquiry.
- Teachers are agents for democratic social change, dedicated to the practice of freedom and work of justice.
- Teachers are people of aesthetic sensibility, passion, and personal vision, embracing beauty and imaginative possibility in their work.
- Teachers are people who know themselves, attending to their own growth through the practice of mindful and reflective self-examination.
The Childhood Education Program, reflective of this understanding of teaching and vision of education, offers a curriculum designed around the following defining features:
- Teachers collaboratively engage in scholarly study and open-minded inquiry through course work that is interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, and inquiry-based.
- Teachers participate in socially-engaged praxis and community service through a program that advances critical pedagogy and service learning within a school-community partnership model.
- Teachers explore teaching as an art, requiring artistic expression and creative experimentation through direct engagement with the arts in arts-based classes, as well as direct experience with diverse teaching practices and possibilities via field-based courses in the pedagogical arts.
- Teachers cultivate their own character in a program that is student-centered, individualized through course work aimed at understanding oneself via autobiographical inquiry, critical self-examination, and contemplative practice–engaging teachers in the reflective practice of their craft and the articulation of personal vision through their work.
Please note: The M.A. in Childhood Education is an initial program for students who do not currently hold certification in elementary (childhood) education.
Qualified students certified in areas other than elementary education may enroll in this program in order to earn a second teaching certificate and fulfill the graduate degree requirement for professional (permanent) certification in both areas.
Upon application to the program, students' undergraduate transcripts will be evaluated for appropriate liberal arts course work required under New York State regulations. Any deficient course work must be completed prior to the final student teaching semester. The Department of Education Studies does not waive the student teaching requirement. In compliance with new State regulations, this program requires a minimum of 100 hours of fieldwork in schools prior to student teaching. This program certifies teachers for grades 1-6. It does not meet State requirements for the new Early Childhood, Birth-Grade 2 certificate. We are in the process of registering an Early Childhood master's program with the N.Y. State Department of Education, When approved, it will appear in future editions of this Bulletin.
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Contact
For additional information, please contact:
Devin Thornburg
Professor
Harvey Hall, Room 230
p - 516.877.4026
e - thornburg@adelphi.edu
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