The Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) or Master of Science in Teaching (MST) degree is generally a pre-service degree that usually requires a minimum of 30 semester hours beyond the Bachelor's degree. While the program often requires education classes in order to meet state licensure requirements, it emphasizes advanced course work in a specific academic discipline to enhance one's knowledge in that subject area. Furthermore, it focuses on educating the candidate in practical teaching skills for use as a teacher, as opposed to focusing on performing research in the educational field. Candidates usually spend a semester as a student teacher in order to earn the degree. There are two general models that (MAT) degrees follow: a 5th year model in which students spend one year extra beyond their bachelor’s degree to earn a masters degree and an initial teaching license; and a Flex program which usually offers part-time weekend and evening courses to accommodate professionals who are changing careers. The Master’s of Arts in Teaching degree is often advantageous to middle school and secondary school teachers because it allows them to focus on subject area knowledge in their undergraduate program and then acquire pedagogical skills in their graduate studies. It differs from the Masters in Education (MEd) degree which is usually geared toward practicing teachers, or toward those who desire to serve as counselors (school or otherwise) or as educational administrators.
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Famous quotes containing the words master of, master, arts and/or teaching:
“God bless the master of this house,
Likewise the mistress too:”
—Unknown. God Bless the Master of This House (l. 1–2)
“The beasts, the fishes, and the winged fowls
Are their males’ subjects and at their controls:
Man, more divine, the master of all these,
Lord of the wide world and wild watery seas,
Indued with intellectual sense and souls,
Of more pre-eminence than fish and fowls,
Are masters to their females, and their lords:
Then let your will attend on their accords.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“No performance is worth loss of geniality. ‘Tis a cruel price we pay for certain fancy goods called fine arts and philosophy.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“It is sentimentalism to assume that the teaching of life can always be fitted to the child’s interests, just as it is empty formalism to force the child to parrot the formulas of adult society. Interests can be created and stimulated.”
—Jerome S. Bruner (20th century)