Course Requirements

The courses laid out in the following table make up the MA-EL program. All courses are offered at least every other year. Fuller descriptions for current and upcoming MA-EL courses, including specifics about course format, can be found in our Course Catalogue. Descriptions for those courses which fulfill requirements for the Christian School Teachers Certificate (CSTC) can also be found here.


Course Schedule

The MA-EL program's ten term courses are offered once a year based on a two-year rotating schedule as outlined below. This means that the necessary courses for both the School Administration Stream and Instructional Leadership Stream can be completed in one of the following ways:


THREE + ONE

Take one course each term over a total of ten terms (3 years and 1 month)
  

SUMMERS ONLY

 Take courses during summers only. Each course is offered every other summer on a two-year rotation during the month of August

  

SELF-PACED 

Take courses at your own pace when it best suits your schedule


(Click on course titles below to see details) 

 TERM COURSE
 Winter 2021

 
 Summer 2021

Transforming the World*
 Fall 2021
Biblical Foundations (synchronous)
Cultivating Learning Communities of Grace (subject to Senate approval)
The Observant Participant
How to Coach a Strong Team**
 Winter 2022
Deeper Learning*
How to Govern a School** (subject to Senate approval)

 
 Summer 2022

Biblical Foundations (synchronous)
Cultivating Learning Communities of Grace (subject to Senate approval)
Deeper Learning*
Lead from Where You Are
The Observant Participant
 Fall 2022
Leadership in Context
Transforming the World*
How to Finance a Vision**
 Winter 2023
Finding Joy in Learning
How to Coach a Strong Team**

 
 Offered as
 needed

Guided Study on Project Question*
Celebrating Joyful Learning (subject to Senate approval)

* Instructional Leadership Stream only
** School Administration Stream only


Course Format and Delivery

Courses offered during the fall and winter terms will typically be offered in an online asynchronous format with three scheduled Zoom sessions. Courses offered during the summer term will typically be offered as an intensive synchronous course with some work completed asynchronously prior to and following the 5-day intensive sessions. The Biblical Foundations course is the exception to these formats as it is offered as an online synchronous course over 13 weeks. Details on the structure of these formats can be found below:

1. Online asynchronous with 3 to 6 online video sessions
During these courses students will:
    • Write reflective responses to the assigned readings
    • Participate in weekly forum discussions
    • Complete a project that applies one's understanding of the course
    • Respond to the projects of other course participants
    • Share their project with an authentic audience
    • Post their project in an e-portfolio
In addition, three to six online, interactive video sessions will be scheduled by the instructor based on students’ time zones and availability.

2. Intensive synchronous with some work completed asynchronously
During these courses students will attend sessions during a 3 to 5-day span during one of the weeks in August, either through an online forum or in-person at a specific location.

Prior to and following the online and/or in-person sessions, students will be responsible for completing assigned readings and projects.


The Project and Praxis

Another unique feature of the MA-EL program is the completion of a Project and Praxis which together serves as the equivalent of a thesis.

The Project is an opportunity for MA-EL students to contribute to the innovation of educational leadership practice—drawing on the deeper learning they are doing, as facilitated by the MA-EL, as people of God's story engaged in real work that shapes the world.

The Praxis is an opportunity for MA-EL students to engage in theoretically informed reflection on their practice as an educational leader—drawing on the deeper learning they are doing, as facilitated by the MA-EL, as people of God's story engaged in real work that forms self.


Want to Take the Next Step? 

Email the Academic Registrar Elizabet Aras or MA-EL Director Dr. Edith van der Boom with your questions.