Western Education's MPEd | Field of Curriculum and Pedagogy

Designed to support and challenge educators who are engaged in leading curriculum in an era of rapid technological, demographic, and cultural and linguistic change, graduates of the MPEd in Curriculum and Pedagogy will have received sustained opportunities to critically explore and develop knowledge and the ability to apply that knowledge in curricular practice relative to a breadth of curricular and pedagogical issues.

The MPEd in the Field of Curriculum and Pedagogy is an exclusively online graduate degree program.

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What I like about my program is the passion and commitment that the educators show to the profession. It motivated me as a future eudcator to show the same commitment to my practice in the future. Their passion and commitment engaged me as a student and will hopefully engage my students similarily in the future.

My degree program has helped me by providing me with several tools and knowledge that I can take into the profession. There are many tools out there for educators to use to assist them in helping their students succeed. This helps ease our jobs and hopefully focus more on each students' needs.

- Tarik Omar, Graduated 2019

Beyond the program details

Admissions

Required:

A four-year degree (20 full courses or equivalent) from an accredited university.
Minimum "B" standing (70%) or equivalent in the final two years of study.

Notes & exceptions:

Bachelor of Education and Additional Qualification course grades aren’t used in calculating admission averages.
Applicants with three-year degrees will be considered on a case-by-case basis if seats are available in programs. Successful experience as an educator in a professional setting may be considered in the selection process.
Probationary status: If an applicant doesn’t meet all of the minimum admission requirements (e.g. average below 70% and/or has only a three-year degree plus B.Ed.) the applicant may be offered admission as a Probationary Student with Conditions.
Conditions: Applicants will be required to maintain a 75% average in each of these courses to clear conditions.
The successful completion of an MPEd degree doesn’t lead to certification with the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT).

Please visit this link for Admission Requirements.

Tuition

Tuition amounts are set each year by Senate and then published on the Office of the Registrar's Fees Schedules web page. Fees are assessed once each term (Fall, Winter, Summer).

Current students can access fee information by logging into the Student Centre (use your Western email log in and password). Students are notified each term once fee amounts have been posted in the Student Centre; it is each student's responsibility to log into the Student Centre and pay fees by the due date indicated. Failure to do so may result in a late payment fee or deregistration.

For questions about fees, including how to pay fees and the methods of payment that are accepted, students should go to the Student Financial Services pages of the Office of the Registrar's web site or contact Student Financial Services (Office of the Registrar) at 519-661-2100.

The Graduate Student Affordability Calculator was designed for you to get a better estimate of what it will cost to attend one of Western's graduate programs for one year. The calculator is not a promise of funding or a place to access scholarship support or financial aid; rather, it is intended to provide you with an accurate estimate of how much money you will need to pay for your tuition, fees, housing, food, and many other necessities for a 12-month (three-term) academic year.

Funding

The Faculty of Education recognizes the financial commitment required to pursue professional graduate studies.

As the majority of our programs are fully online, we offer students flexible learning that allows them to fund their education by remaining in their current employment. Some employers offer subsidization or time release opportunities for the professional learning of their employees. As a result, internal funding is not available for these programs.

There are also many external funding opportunities for competitive candidates in our professional programs. Download this PDF file for an additional list of over 30 external awards (see more information below). Also, visit online sites that contain numerous award opportunities.

Please note that students must apply for these awards individually. Read the qualifications carefully, and contact the award provider for more criteria and award information. Some application support is available from the Research Office for research-based awards only.

Many private financial institutions offer financing options (with particular rates and payment plans) to full-time students. Please contact a representative of your preferred financial institution for more information.

Provincial governments offer a variety of loan programs to help students finance their studies. Ontario residents may be eligible to apply for OSAP.

The Government of Canada's CanLearn website provides a listing of contact information for the offices of all government student financial assistance programs. Please visit CanLearn to find your province or territory listing. The Government of Canada implemented the Lifelong Learning Plan (LLP) to encourage higher education and training. The LLP allows you to withdraw up to $10,000 a year from your registered retirement savings plan (RRSPs) to finance training or education for you or your spouse or common-law partner. For further information on this plan, visit the government's LLP website

Technology

Instructors of onsite courses use the Sakai OWL platform, although it is not required. Access to a course in Sakai OWL is typically opened the first business day of each term. Please note that although your own access may be granted prior to the first business day, course content may not be posted until closer to the scheduled term start. Your Western University login and password is required to access the course (your Western email without the @uwo.ca and its accompanying password). Access to the learning management system is found here: Sakai OWL.

For online courses, students are required to have access to the following:

High speed Internet access
Access to a computer that enables connection to outside websites (flexible firewall restrictions)
Multimedia playback capabilities (video/audio)
WebCam
Computer capable of running a recent version of Internet Explorer, Safari, or Firefox; and/or Cisco MOVI client for PC or Mac
Audio headset and microphone for computer

Program information

Description

Key topics include: contemporary and historical conceptions of curriculum; curriculum models; analyzing, designing, implementing, and evaluating curriculum at the levels of institutional curriculum (e.g., policy), programmatic curriculum (e.g., curriculum documents), and classroom curriculum (e.g., how curriculum actually plays out, including through pedagogy); the development of reflective curricular practice; implications of curriculum for equity and social justice; curricular commonplaces (i.e., the teacher, the learner, the subject matter, and the milieu).

The Master of Professional Education in the field of Curriculum and Pedagogy gives candidates:

Direct access to experienced curriculum researchers who specialize in curriculum research and its application in a wide variety of domains (both formal and informal; from early years to graduate and elder contexts including medical and health professions education).
The ability to work through problems of practice with other practicing educators.
Flexible programming so that they can focus on their own unique curricular interests while also having opportunity to learn about the wider picture.
The tools to create innovative curriculum and pedagogies that can engage learners in meaningful learning experiences that can foster specific program goals as well as learner well-being and equity and social justice.

Important Note

The successful completion of a Master of Professional degree does not lead to certification with the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT).

Objectives

The objective of the MPEd is to provide in-depth, graduate-level, in-service educational professionals who will be competent in identifying and responding to complex problems in curriculum and pedagogy. Emphasis is on developing thoughtful and reflective critical practitioners.

Support the professional learning of educators who can construct and apply knowledge to make a positive difference in the lives of individuals, families, organizations, and communities;
Provide opportunities for candidates to develop and demonstrate collaboration, communication skills, and leadership skills to work with diverse professionals and communities and to build partnerships;
Provide field-based opportunities to analyze problems of practice and use multiple frames to develop meaningful responses;
Draw on and develop a critically reflective professional knowledge base that integrates both practical and research knowledge and that links theory with systemic and systematic inquiry; and,
Emphasize the generation, transformation, and use of critically reflective professional knowledge and practice.

Timing and Delivery

The MPEd is designated as a full-time program. Full-time status requires that you complete four half-courses in one year. MPEd students will complete one course per semester (fall, winter, intersession, summer) for two years. Full-time students have access to all student services at Western. See SGPS for details.

This program of study is a course-based cohort model. Approximately 20 students will be admitted to each cohort. This cohort structure will provide ongoing support within the course work, enabling you to develop a professional community of practice. To ensure the integrity of the cohort model, continuous enrollment is required, and will necessitate that you complete all the required courses within the timeframe stipulated.

Courses

All courses are online and will primarily be delivered in an asynchronous format. Some may have synchronous components depending on the topic and Instructor. Please refer to the course outline for additional information about such details.

Year 1 Fall
ED 9100 Understanding Curriculum for Practitioners

An advancement of critical concepts for the making of curriculum in contemporary educational settings so as to empower educators and learners across diverse learning contexts. Drawing on foundational and innovative curriculum theories, this course highlights definitions, models, commonplaces, and questions of curriculum and curricular decision-making involving design, developments, and implementation.

Year 1 Winter
ED 9101 Understanding Teaching and Learning for Practitioners

Promotion of professional decision-making, reflection, and pedagogical actions of educators across diverse learning contexts in contemporary times. Emphasizing theories of teaching, learning, and knowing, this course highlights conceptions of pedagogy, pedagogical strategies, and analysis of classroom curriculum.

Year 1 Summer - Intersession
ED 9102 Understanding 21st Century Teaching and Learning

Critical examination of the educative affordances, constraints, and re-shaping of educational environments created by the use of new technologies, online pedagogies, computational thinking, and multimodal delivery. Topics include online communities, equity of access, course blending, adaptive learning technologies, flipped classrooms, big data, and issues specific to online assessment.

Year 1 Summer -Summer Session
ED 9103 Understanding Assessment and Evaluation in Educational Settings

Purposes, principles, and forms of assessment and evaluation in educational settings to enable practitioners to make informed and ethical decisions. Topics include formal and informal forms of student assessment, documentation, reporting, and program evaluation. Emphasis on critical consideration of the approaches and their implications.

Year 2 Fall
ED 9496 Understanding Research Methods for Educational Practice

An introduction to curriculum research as an innovative process with emphasis on designs involving students, educators, community members, and/or educational practitioners. Topics may include theoretical understanding and practical application of various research designs, relating to the topic of curriculum, including quantitative and qualitative methods to offer guidance in developing inquiry/questions of practice and reading/interpreting research.

Year 2 Winter
ED 9497 Understanding Curriculum Leadership for Educational Practice

Focus on leading the development, implementation, and evaluation of positive curricular change. Emphasis on ways of conceptualizing curriculum leadership and advocacy and professional learning and reflective practice to promote equitable and enabling environments for all. The course will give students opportunities to explore curriculum leadership in their MPED focus.

Year 2 Summer - Intersession
Year 2 Summer - Summer Session
ED 9491 Capstone Course

The completion of a Capstone Course based in reflective field work that addresses students' MPEd focus.