The Master of Education degree in Educational Practice (MEd EP) is a 12-month intensive program “laddered” from SFU’s Graduate Diploma in Advanced Professional Studies in Education (GDE). This is an opportunity for students to extend the work undertaken in the GDE. It involves broadening and deepening understandings of educational theory, research and practice.
Admission to the MEd EP is competitive as we may receive more applications than we can accommodate. Applicants meeting the minimum university requirements for admission are not assured admission. Candidates will be selected on the basis of the strength of their application [see Application Guidelines], particularly in terms of the applicant’s:
- willingness to engage critically with literature,
- commitment to inquiry,
- contributions to the learning of others, including graduate diploma colleagues,
- capacity for critical thinking (e.g., ability to articulate, act on and synthesize ideas),
- response to challenges and obstacles in the candidate’s practice, and
- undergraduate grade point average of 3.0, based on the most recent 60 credits* (see Grade Conversions).
* Individuals who do not meet this criterion should check the additional requirements for further information.
Evidence will be derived from the reflective paper, proposal for further study, letters of reference, and transcripts on file. Descriptions of all of these application requirements are provided in the Application Guidelines.
Application forms and materials are only available from the Field Programs Office. Contact edprgpa@sfu.ca to arrange for an application package to be mailed to you. PLEASE NOTE: You cannot apply online for this program, you must submit a paper application for admission. After you have been admitted to the MEd, you will register for your courses on-line.
Eligibility
Students are eligible to apply for the MEd EP on the following schedule:
Semester GDE Completed |
Earliest MEd EP Eligibility |
Application Deadline |
Spring (between Jan & April) |
Following Fall |
May 15 (prior to Fall start) |
Summer (between May & Aug) |
Following Summer |
Feb 1 (prior to Summer start) |
Fall (between Sept & Dec) |
Following Summer |
Feb 1 (prior to Summer start) |
Time permitted between the GDE and MEd in Educational Practice
SFU’s policy allows for no more than six years between the start of any graduate study (including the GDE) and completion of a Master's degree. In the case of the MEd EP, candidates should realize that this six-year period includes their GDE program. For example, if the graduate GDE program began in September 2006, the MEd EP would have to be completed by August 2012. This means that applicants for the MEd EP should wait no more than three years after completing their GDE before beginning the MEd EP.
Locations
The MEd EP is offered in the Lower Mainland and other areas of British Columbia where there is a sufficient concentration of qualified applicants. Specific locations for the programs in the Lower Mainland are determined by proximity to admissable applicants.
Curriculum
This intensive program is designed to support students to
- situate themselves as educators within educational theories and practices;
- develop understandings and capacities related to teacher inquiry and teacher research;
- undertake an inquiry in educational practice; and
- synthesize and represent their learning to a community of inquiry through comprehensive exams.
The MEd EP program includes the following components:
- Completed Graduate Diploma in Advanced Studies in Educational Practice.
- EDUC 867-5: Qualitative Research Methods in Educational Research – This course surveys historical roots, contemporary debates and practices related to teacher inquiry and qualitative research methods as they are applied to educational settings. The course aims to acquaint students with a broad spectrum of issues and methods, with an eye toward being able to thoughtfully draw from theories, practices, perspectives, and methods in developing their own research projects. Students will explore how teacher inquiry is informed by various forms of ethnography, participatory action research, narrative inquiry, case study research, and arts-based inquiry.
- EDUC 807-5: The Foundations of Action Research – This course draws on the ideas introduced in EDUC 867 toward a more specific focus on conducting teacher research and ‘taking action’ in classrooms and other school-based settings. Primarily, the course aims to help students critically reflect on and situate their own experiences and understandings in relation to educational theories and practices including those concerned with classroom-inquiry, teacher-inquiry, and action research. It is geared toward the continued development of students’ identities and roles as teacher-researchers.
- EDUC 811-5: Fieldwork – Drawing on their understandings of theory and practice, students conduct ‘fieldwork’, or teacher inquiry into their own practice and setting. The ‘fieldwork’ is, in effect, an enhanced form of ‘field study’ such as have been done in the GDE programs. This research project will form the basis of the ‘comprehensive examination’ to follow.
- EDUC 883-5: MEd Comprehensive Examination – This is not an ‘exam’ as such, but a summative presentation by each student of their now-extended understandings of the relationship between theory, practice, and teacher-research. There will be two components: (1) students will write a paper summarizing their projects, their understandings, and their further questions; and, (2) they will present their work to a community of inquiry consisting of cohort colleagues and instructors.
Click here for additional information if you
began the GDE at TQS Category Four prior to May 2008
Click here for additional information if you
began the GDE at TQS Category Four after May 2008
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