Given tremendous sociological changes in society, the teacher for America's future classroom must be prepared to work as a social change agent, collaborating with the home and community in order to address issues of literacy and diversity. Today's teachers must be ready and willing not only to make a difference within their classrooms, but also within the school, district, and community in which they teach. It becomes both the social and ethical responsibility of today's teacher to make a difference within the context of the classroom. Guiding program principles include scholarship, inquiry, professional knowledge, communication, caring relationships, and social and ethical responsibility. The MA in Education is a program of study for the teacher practitioner which provides for opportunities of professional growth and personal development through applicable course work and relevant experiences.
Constructivist theory is integrated with faith and learning applications.
The master of arts in education consists of 36 semester hours including a required core of 10 hours, a specialty area of 21 hours, and 5 hours of action research and practicum. Specialty areas include literacy agent, diverse needs strategist, and curriculum and instruction practitioner. See MA in Education Curriculum. See also the General Introduction and Mission Statement in EMU's undergraduate catalog.