Secondary Education (M.Ed.)

Engage in rich coursework focused on critical perspectives and goals connected to using education to create a more equitable society.

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Program Overview

Secondary Education graduates hold teaching positions in the United States and around the world. They find teaching jobs in public, private, and charter schools-typically the jobs they want, in the places they prefer.

Collaborate with faculty on current research and gain invaluable experience teaching at the middle and high school levels. Specialize in the area you plan to teach in either a 1-year or 2-year program that includes licensure. Deepen your understanding of subject matter for teaching, focusing on eliciting students' ideas about subject matter and connecting students' ideas to that subject matter, all while partnering with schools as a member of a teaching team.

  • Secondary licensure in Grades 6-12
    • Social Studies
    • Science (biology, chemistry, earth science, physics)
    • Mathematics
    • English
  • Licensure in Grades K-12
    • Music
  • Licensure in Grades preK-12 

Careers

Of job-seeking Secondary Education graduates, 96% were employed or attending graduate school within four months of graduation.  Examples of careers for program graduates:

  • Eighth Grade Science Teacher, Jefferson Middle School, Champaign, Illinois 
  • English Teacher, Los Gatos High School, Los Gatos, California
  • History Teacher, IB School Quito, Ecuador 
  • Science Teacher, Hume-Fogg High School, Nashville, Tennessee
  • Teaching Assistant, Fulbright Western Hemisphere, Buenos Aries, Argentina 
  • Mission and Vision

    As a secondary education program, our mission is to engage teacher candidates in justice-oriented, disciplinary pedagogies. We work to understand the systemic inequities in our schools and society. We care deeply that teacher candidates bring their humanity to this work, in a way that develops and sustains their cultural identities.

    Our vision is to prepare teachers to teach toward a more just society, to build teachers who embrace their students' humanity as they:

    • bridge theoretical and practical models for teaching,
    • implement curricula focused on rigor, joy, and socio-political consciousness,
    • develop a commitment to work toward educational equity and access, and
    • envision their role in working toward productive system-level change.

    Our vision embraces the notion that our students are both honoring their own positionally and seeking to understand and embrace the same in their students.

Program Facts

Program Director: Heather Johnson
Admissions Coordinator: Angie Saylor
Admission Term: Summer (1-year program), Fall (2-year program)
Credit Hours: 30-32 hours for those seeking licensure in Math, Music, Science, and Social Studies; 31-35 hours for those seeking licensure in English
Priority Application Deadline: January 3* for fall entrance
*We will continue to accept applications after this date, but applications will be evaluated for admission and scholarships as space and funds are available.

Program Curriculum

There are two coursework tracks to the Secondary Education degree, allowing you to complete the master's degree in one year (June through May) or over four semesters in two years.

Making your choice for the 1-year or 2-year program depends upon your point of entry into the program, how many courses you want to take each semester, and whether you want to pursue opportunities that involve being in schools full time during your second year of the two-year program.

Coursework

  • Courses and Practicum

    Core Courses

    All Secondary Education students are required to take the following six hours of core courses:

    • EDUC 6300 Advanced Social and Philosophical Aspects of Education
    • EDUC 6310 Classroom Ecology

    Subject-Specific Learning and Pedagogy

    The M.A. in Secondary Education includes an in-depth experience in subject-specific courses. The total number of credit hours for subject-specific learning and pedagogy will be determined by the licensure you seek. The courses for the B.A. are listed after the backslash (/).

    English: 16-18 hours

    • ENED 6340/3340 Reading and Learning with Print and New Media or ENED 6330 Social and Philosophical Foundations of Adolescent Literacies
    • ENED 6350/3357 Adolescent Readers
    • ENED 6360/3357 Literature, Pop Culture, and New Media
    • ENED 6370/3370 Teaching Literature and Media to Adolescents
    • ENED 6380/3380 Teaching Writing and Media Composition
    • ENED 7973/4973 Seminar in Teaching Secondary English

    Mathematics: 12 hours

    • MTED 6370/3370 Advanced Teaching of Mathematics in Secondary Schools
    • MTED 6380/3360 Computers, Teaching, and Mathematical Visualization
    • MTED 7330/3320 Introduction to Mathematical Literacies
    • MTED 7973/4963 Seminar in Teaching Secondary Mathematics

    Science: 12 hours

    • SCED 6370/3370 Advanced Teaching of Science in Secondary Schools
    • SCED 7330/3320 Introduction to Literacies in Science
    • SCED 7400/3400 Modeling in the Secondary Science Classroom
    • SCED 7973/4963 Seminar in Teaching Secondary Science

    Social Studies: 12 hours

    • SSED 6240/3260 Human Geography
    • SSED 6370/3370 Advanced Teaching of Social Studies in Secondary Schools
    • SSED 7330/3320 Intro to Literacies in Social Studies
    • SSED 7973/4963 Seminar in Teaching Secondary Social Studies

    Field-Based Practicum Work

    All students also complete eight hours of field-based work.

    • ENED/MTED/SCED/SSED 6371/3371 Practicum in Secondary Education III
    • EDUC 7972/4953 Internship in Teaching: Secondary

    Additional Programmatic Courses

    • EDUC 6300/3620: Social and Philosophical Aspects of Education
    • EDUC 6310/3310: Classroom Ecology
    • EDUC 1220: School, Society, and Teacher
    • EDUC 3871: Practicum I
    • EDUC 3872: Practicum II
    • PSY-PC 2550" Adolescent Development

    Recommended Elective Courses

    • EDUC 7190/3280 Planning & Assessment Strategies for Teaching
    • ENED/MTED/SCED/SSED courses in other content areas
    • ENED Courses in Reading and Literacy
    • EDUC Courses focused on supporting English learners
    • EDUC Courses focusing in equity/diversity

    Licensure Requirements

    All students are required to complete four to six hours of coursework to meet the requirements for teacher licensure.

    • EDUC 6510/3720 Principles of English Language Learner Education or EDUC 6520 Foundations of English Language Learner Education
    • SPED 7000/1210 Education and Psychology of Exceptional Learners or EDUC 6330 Recognizing and Responding to Special Needs Learners

    All students seeking licensure additionally will need first aid and CPR training within two years before licensure recommendation. Students seeking licensure in English will need to complete two semesters (or the equivalent) of college-level coursework in a foreign language.

    Elective Courses

    Depending on your specific licensure, you may need to complete up to five additional credit hours of coursework to complete your degree. Elective courses may be taken across Peabody College, as well as in other disciplines offered across Vanderbilt University upon consultation with your faculty advisor.

Our Commitment to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

As a secondary education program, our mission is to engage teacher candidates in justice-oriented, disciplinary pedagogies. We work to understand the systemic inequities in our schools and society. We care deeply that teacher candidates bring their humanity to this work, in a way that develops and sustains their cultural identities.

Our vision is to prepare teachers to teach toward a more just society, to build teachers who embrace their students' humanity as they:

  • bridge theoretical and practical models for teaching,
  • implement curricula focused on rigor, joy, and socio-political consciousness,
  • develop a commitment to work toward educational equity and access, and
  • envision their role in working toward productive system-level change.

Our vision embraces the notion that our students are both honoring their own positionality and seeking to understand and embrace the same in their students.

Selected Faculty Research

Andy Hostetler, associate professor of the practice of social studies education

Andy Hostetler, associate professor of the practice of social studies education

Professor Hostetler's research focuses on how social studies learning can engage people in their community and stimulate action for social change. His projects include exploring how high school students used archival materials and maps to tell (under)told stories of local neighborhood histories and investigating how novice social studies teachers navigate classroom discourses around relevant social issues.

Heather Johnson, associate professor of the practice of science education

Heather Johnson, associate professor of the practice of science education

Professor Johnson is exploring a critical framework for ambitious science teaching that introduces culturally and linguistically sustaining pedagogies to preservice teachers during their professional year; she is also examining how to support novice teachers in noticing and responding to moments of epistemic injustice in the secondary science classroom.

Faculty

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