Rande Blank, Program Director
rblank@uarts.edu
215.717.6050
C O N T E N T S
Description
The Master of Arts in Teaching in Visual Arts Education is a professional degree program incorporating preparation for the Pennsylvania Instructional I Certificate to teach Art PK-12, including a 14 week student teaching practicum. Additional coursework includes the history, theory, and practice of art education. Courses in the program include learning how to teach art to students with special needs, English Language Learners, and elementary and secondary education students through a variety of field experiences, observations and coursework. Students most often require four semesters of study to complete the 42-credit program because they may be required to complete specific prerequisite or corequisite courses to supplement their prior undergraduate study which fulfills certification requirements.
These prerequisite/corequisite courses may include specific courses like AEDU 201 Introduction to Visual Arts Education (2 cr), AEDU 200 Presentation Skills (1 cr), AEDU 509 Professional Writing Intensive (2 cr), and AEDU 543 Aesthetics and Art Criticism (3 cr). Other courses may be required to fill needs in Psychology, Sociology, Art History, or in Studio areas (painting, drawing, printmaking, ceramics & photography).
A thorough evaluation of each entering student’s background takes place before enrollment for the first semester of work in the program. At that time, the Director of the MAT in Visual Arts Education will define a specific selection of courses fulfilling both the master’s degree program and the Instructional I Certificate from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Admission to the student teaching practicum depends on demonstration of appropriate knowledge, aptitude and sense of vocation, and teaching skills, not simply on courses completed and grades earned. In some cases, a student will be asked to delay the practicum by one semester and asked to do further work designed to ensure success. In rare instances, the Director of the MAT in Visual Arts Education may counsel a student not to seek the license. Additional credits of electives may then be substituted for the practicum credits.
Program Objectives
The Master of Arts in Teaching in Visual Arts Education program empowers emerging artist-educators with the knowledge, skills, and sensibilities to be effective and inspirational facilitators of active learning in the arts using a multi-disciplinary approach to teaching and learning. The curriculum is structured to prepare students in these four domains:
- Planning and Preparation – Student teacher/candidate demonstrates thorough knowledge of content and pedagogical skills in planning and preparation. Student teacher makes plans and sets goals based on the content to be taught/learned, knowledge of assigned students, and the instructional context.
- Classroom Environment – Student teacher/candidate establishes and maintains a purposeful and equitable environment for learning, in which students feel safe, valued, and respected, by instituting routines and setting clear expectations for student behavior and providing a safe, supportive, and inclusive environment for diverse communities of learners including special needs and English Language Learners (ELL).
- Instructional Delivery - Student teacher/candidate, through knowledge of content, pedagogy and skill in delivering instruction, engages students in learning by using a variety of instructional strategies and demonstrates knowledge and use of technology as a vehicle for advancing creativity, innovation and learning.
- Professionalism - Student teacher/candidate demonstrates qualities that characterize a professional person in all aspects that occur in and beyond the classroom/building. Demonstrates life-span commitments to artistic, intellectual and personal growth and is a reflective practitioner in teaching and learning.
Program Requirements (42 credits)
