EL-Focused Graduate Program Centers Teachers’ Practice Above All

 

The Language, Culture, and Curriculum MEd program is an online degree program seeking applicants from the United States and around the globe for its next cohort, slated to begin in August 2022. This program prepares educators for multilingual learners, commonly referred to as English learners, in a variety of contexts from prekindergarten through higher education. Whether you teach early childhood, fifth grade, high school science, or adult English as a Second Language (ESL), this program focuses on building broad and deep expertise to mediate the learning and language development of those who use languages other than English.

Though this program has been mediating educators’ learning in the Chicago area for over a decade, Drs. Amy Heineke and Sarah Cohen recently redesigned the curriculum to embrace a fully asynchronous online model that responds to the busy lives of educators and is accessible to educators anywhere in the world. The unique project-based approach of the curriculum embeds professional learning in educators’ daily practice to immediately enhance education for multilingual learners. Unlike other online programs, Loyola’s LCC program centers on one classroom-based project per course that directly connects to daily practice within the unique classroom, school, and community setting of the participants.

The program packs in value for participants, particularly those who are PK-12 teachers in the United States. The program’s 10-course sequence leads to a Masters degree, an ESL endorsement, and for those with proficiency in another language, a bilingual endorsement. Though these endorsements reside in the Illinois licensure system, the Illinois State Board of Education has reciprocity with almost every state in the country which allows  these valuable certifications to transfer to most teaching licenses.

Learn more about the Language, Culture, and Curriculum MEd program, and reach out to Dr. Amy Heineke (aheineke@luc.edu) with questions.