|
Academic Programs Overview | Degree Programs | Course Descriptions
Academic Calendar | Schedule of Classes | Graduate School Catalogue
Museum Education: Middle School
Nina Jensen, Director, 212-875-4491
Master of Science in Education: 50-53* credits
This unique 50-53* credit program in Museum Education: Middle School prepares you for two professional roles: that of a museum educator knowledgeable about children and schools; and that of a classroom teacher in grades 5 through 9, skilled in making effective use of museum resources.
The museum component of the program helps you bring the full richness of museum collections, programs, and resources to young adolescents in their schools, with their families and within their communities. The museum courses complement the education courses in your program, emphasizing the educational role and mission of museums and schools in a pluralistic society. As part of your graduate program, you will visit museums, meet with museum staff, observe museum-school partnerships in action, and develop museum-based projects.
You will also learn about child development and its variations, curriculum development, reading, mathematics, social studies, science and the arts. You will also focus on topics central to the development and experience of young adolescents. These courses stress a learner-centered, integrated, experiential approach to learning for children of diverse backgrounds and abilities.
Certification in Education
You will earn initial and professional New York State certification to work with children in grades 5 through 9. As a graduate, you will be certified both as a middle childhood generalist, qualified to teach all subjects, and as a middle childhood specialist to teach English, social studies, a foreign language, mathematics, biology or earth science, as determined by your undergraduate major. Applicants who do not wish to earn certification should see the non-certification version of this program.
Supervised Fieldwork/Advisement
During one academic year, while you take courses, you will gain teaching and museum experience and intensive advisory support through supervised fieldwork/advisement. In the fall semester, you will do your student teaching three days a week in elementary or middle school classrooms with two age groups. As part of your student teaching, you will plan and carry out curriculum-based trips to museums. In the spring, you will intern in a museum setting appropriate to your goals.
Throughout your year of supervised fieldwork/advisement, your advisor will visit you in your setting each month. You will meet individually twice a month with your Bank Street advisor, and you will gather with a small, supportive peer group once a week throughout the fall and spring terms. The year of supervision and advisement is central to your professional growth and development as you become a successful educator.
Integrative Master's Project
Before graduating, you will complete an independent study (master's thesis), directed essay or portfolio. Your choice will depend on your own goals and learning style. This project allows you to pursue an area of particular interest to you, and to weave together the threads and understandings of your Bank Street graduate experience.
Admissions Requirements
Applicants to the Museum Education: Middle School program need to have a strong background in the liberal arts and sciences and to have majored in a subject taught at the middle school level: English, a foreign language, mathematics, social studies (history), biology or earth science.
*The number of credits needed depends on the type of certification you choose: generalist and subject specialist, or just subject specialist.
Further information
|
