North Vancouver M.Ed. in Curriculum Leadership and Instructional Intelligence

Location: North Vancouver

Beginning January 2005

Note: Spaces are filling up quickly. Please apply as soon as possible if you are interested in this cohort.

A cohort of students will be accepted into the program in January 2005. The group will be together for most of their course work over a period of two and a half to three years. Individual participants may choose to study on-campus during the summer months. The focus on instructional intelligence ensures that participants will be able to inquire into their own classrooms based on their own interests, concerns, and questions. A rich diversity of interests and experiences will be represented within the cohort, and reflected in the choice, design, and delivery of courses. While located in North Vancouver, teachers from neighbouring districts are welcome to participate. Each cohort is limited in size from twenty to twenty-four students.

The Faculty

The Department of Curriculum Studies includes 29 full-time faculty members with expertise and experience in a variety of areas. Faculty members from other departments (e.g. LLED) and from organizations outside of UBC may also be involved in the program.

Schedule

The program is offered over a three-year period. Courses are scheduled to accommodate practicing teachers and administrators. Most courses are offered after regular school hours during the school year or during the day in the summer. Compact courses during May and June, or other flexible arrangements, including Saturday classes, may be possible, as determined by the group and the instructors.

Cohort Core Courses

The required eight (8) graduate courses are meant to provide a broad overview of central issues in teacher practices:

• How practice is both technical and moral, and embedded in social contexts
• How practice might be reflected upon, questioned, critiqued and improved
• How practice is related to conceptions of curriculum

The focus of these courses will be on investigating how teacher-researchers can make a difference in educational practices, curriculum development and instructional integration, and understanding of student learning. A culminating course will provide graduate students the opportunity to share their research and learning with their peers.

Elective Courses

Two (2) elective courses are selected by participants with the assistance of their faculty graduate advisor. Elective courses may be offered in North Vancouver, providing that a sufficient number of students in the cohort opt for the same course. Courses are created for cohorts to reflect that cohort's collective interests, concerns, and questions.

Capstone Research Project

Challenging and rewarding, the Capstone Research Project is the highlight of the cohort experience. Teachers, individually or in groups, choose a research question to investigate. Through action research, participants inquire into their own practices in the classroom. Past cohort participants have presented their research at conferences and been published. For an example of research projects see Notes from the Field at http://www.educationalinsights.ca

Program Benefits

The cohort approach, centered in North Vancouver but designed to serve all students within commuting distance, will offer strong advantages to the student:

• Save yourself the time and expense of the commute to UBC - 7 of the 10 courses are offered in North Vancouver
• Develop a network of professional colleagues
• Enjoy trouble-free enrollment - enhanced services for application, registration and course materials; guaranteed space in each of your cohort courses

Admission

All students must meet the admission requirements for this program, which include:

3 years of teaching experience

a completed four-year undergraduate degree

at least a 76% average on all senior-level credits

at least 12 credits at 80% standing or higher

3 references from an administrator, professor, of somone in a supervisory position are required.

a resume

Tuition

Current tuition schedules involve a minimum of nine (9) installments of $1250, plus applicable student fees each, payable in September, January and May of each of three years; the University reserves the right to adjust fees.

Application

The deadline for completed applications is October 1st, 2004. All documentation must be received before or by October 8th.

On-line application - Now available

You may now apply for this program on-line; please print out these instructions and refer to them when actually making your on-line application:

• Go to http://www.grad.ubc.ca/apply/online/
• Before beginning your application, read all of the instructions
• When you are ready to apply, click on "Apply Online"
• Read the instructions, and click on "Create Your Account" (unless you have already begun your application, in which case you should "Login")
• Once you have created your account, choose "New Application" and then click on "Start a Completely New Application"
• Under "Degree Selection," choose "Master of Education" in the pulldown menu
• Under "Specialization, " you must choose "OEP NorthVancouver-NVCL"
• Proceed with your application as instructed
• When finished entering your information, you must click "Submit" for the application to work
• You will automatically receive an email acknowledgement, with instructions on documentation and deadlines

If you have any problems, please contact Dan Kravinchuk (604-822-4499)

Some application reminders:

• We need transcripts from EVERY post-secondary institution you attended, whether or not they issued you a degree, except UBC. If you are a UBC alumnus, please provide your student number and we will print your transcript.
• If you have transcripts, please enclose or fax us photocopies (604-822-2015). We can make a quick adjudication of your eligibility even before all of your "official" documents arrive. Please note that this adjudication is not official until we have received your sealed transcripts.
• Send everything - EVERYTHING - to the EPLT (1305-2125 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4). The most common delay in admissions is caused by the search for documents that are at other locations on this huge campus.
• You can download the reference form for this program here. A letter can take the place of the reference form, but it must answer the questions posed in the reference form.
• The reference form is designed for professors to fill out. If your referee is not a professor, please ask him or her to write about your ability to successfully complete a graduate degree. The letter should identify key committees that you may have chaired, presentations or conferences or professional development programs you have done or taken, how you are able to understand new curriculum theory and apply it to your classroom program, if you have been a teacher supervisor for a student teacher, your ability to process data, or undertake major projects, your leadership capabilities. Detailed examples are more useful than general statements of support.