Master of Education Early Childhood: Teacher of Students With and Without Disabilities (PreK-2)
Leading to Professional Teacher License

This approved Master's program is designed for students who hold an initial license and are seeking a Master's degree and professional licensure. The program exposes students to advanced levels of curriculum development as well as current issues and challenges beyond the scope of an initial license.

Areas such as policy, behavior, and multiculturalism are some of the topics students encounter in collaboration with their colleagues. Practical classroom experiences enhance material presented in course sessions, and an appreciation for the teacher as researcher and advocate is fostered.

Prerequisite: Massachusetts Initial license in Early Childhood Education

EEDUC 6158 Enduring Ideas and Current Issues in the Education of Young Children
This course examines ideas that have consistently influenced thinking in early childhood education and have significantly impacted program planning for young children. Through examination of the ideas, students gain an understanding of some historical and theoretical frameworks that have shaped current educational thought. They use the theoretical frameworks as a basis for exploring current issues related to the processes of young children’s development and learning. Assessment, leadership, and advocacy efforts are integral components of the course.

EEDUC 6139 Dimensions of Learning Through Play
How does one define play? What are the debates about the relationship of play to children’s learning, to the development of meaning, and to creativity, PreK–2? Are there variations in play across cultures, between typically developing children and those with disabilities, and between genders? This course will examine theory and research that will help us explore these and other questions.

EEDUC 7110 Perspectives on Professional Development
This course assists future educational leaders in supervisory techniques such as mentoring new and experienced teachers, supervising classroom practice, evaluating curricula, developing criteria for performance standards, and planning appropriate staff development. These issues will be examined as we develop a variety of approaches to supervising, mentoring, and evaluating teachers and other staff in schools. Particular attention will be paid to the dynamics of cross-cultural communication and the role of gender in educational administration.

EEDUC 6126 Classroom and School Inquiry
Classroom and School Inquiry focuses on the understanding and critical analysis of educational research and methods for accurately communicating this information to the public. As teachers participate in redefining their educational roles, decision-making and action-oriented classroom practice will be critical in promoting student learning. Both require problem-solving, which is enhanced by the forming and testing of hypotheses, gathering data that is then analyzed, synthesized, and evaluated, and generating solutions. This course will engage students in this process by acquainting them with the knowledge and techniques necessary for them to become lifelong teacher researchers, and to present the results of their research effectively and professionally to a variety of audiences. Note: This course is a prerequisite to EEDUC 6127.

EEDUC 6127 Action Research and Seminar
Students demonstrate their expanding understandings and competencies as teachers. They also collaborate with several classmates to design a research project that can have a direct impact on their school community, through which students may extend the research plan developed in an earlier course, EEDUC 6126. The six-credit option is designed to give students who completed a required induction experience or advanced education license an opportunity to demonstrate continued learning by applying that experience to their Lesley program and using their study to reflect on what they learned from their induction or licensure program.
Prerequisite: Successful completion of EEDUC 6126 or an equivalent research course.

Descriptions of other courses.

Lesley University reserves the right to unilaterally add, withdraw, or revise any course offering in the above-mentioned program of study, including policies, provisions, requirements, and fees.

Lesley University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity institution and does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, religion, color, creed, national or ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, handicap, or disability in its education programs, employment, or in admissions to, access to, or treatment in its programs or activities.