HPU | M.Ed. in Secondary Education

M.Ed. in Secondary Education

Preparing Tomorrow’s Leaders Begins Here!

 

  • Hawai‘i State Approved Teacher Education Program (SATEP) through Hawai‘i Teacher Standards Board (HTSB).
  • Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation (AAQEP) Accredited
  • You will receive mentorship by content area teachers in public, private and charter school settings. 
  • You will have the flexibility of evening course offerings with small class sizes. 
  • The M.Ed. in Secondary Education is a portable degree, recognized in Hawaiʻi and on the mainland.  
  • You will engage in 450 hours of clinical practice (student teaching) in schools under the guidance of experienced mentor teachers selected by school principals. 
  • Online options available with student teaching in Hawai‘i.

 

Join our M.Ed. in Secondary Education program and receive a global, world-class education while being immersed in a diverse environment located in the center of the Pacific Rim. You will learn alongside peers from all 50 states and over 65+ countries who provide unique worldviews and perspectives. Hawaiʻi’s location also presents you with the opportunity to teach in culturally diverse classrooms that are impossible to find elsewhere 

The Master of Education in Secondary Education (M.Ed.) develops professional educators who are reflective practitioners dedicated to the scholarship of teaching and school renewal. The program is based on a standards-driven, field-based, and inquiry-oriented curriculum that employs cutting-edge educational technology to integrate content and pedagogy. Employing an electronic portfolio-based assessment system, university faculty and mentor teachers guide the candidate's progress in achieving professional knowledge, skills, and dispositions.

Hawai‘i Pacific University's M.Ed. Program in Secondary Education program prepares candidates to become competent, caring, and professional educators through classroom discussions and clinical practice experiences. Teacher candidates learn in small classes and enjoy individual attention by university faculty and mentor teachers.

The program prepares individuals for licensure in Hawai'i in grades 6-12 in six content areas:

  • English
  • Mathematics
  • Science
  • Social Studies
  • Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)
  • World Languages

Graduate students will complete 450 hours of clinical practice in one semester. Placement at a school is determined by various factors: educational philosophy, employment of the teacher candidate at the school, proximity of the teacher candidate’s residency to the school, convenience to the teacher candidate’s outside employment, etc.  Every effort is made to make the clinical practice meaningful, relevant and challenging to our students.

Teacher candidates must complete ten core seminar courses in secondary education and content curriculum and two capstone clinical practice courses, for a total of 36 credit hours.

Not only does the Master of Education in Secondary Education program take a global view, the learning environment at HPU is also multi-cultural. Located in the center of the Pacific Rim, Honolulu is a cosmopolitan city with a busy, international community. This attracts a wide-range of learners and uniquely prepares you to teach in culturally diverse classrooms. In fact, HPU students come from all 50 states and more than 100 countries.

Graduate faculty at HPU are well-respected teachers and scholars in their respective fields. Because they come to HPU from all parts of the United States, they also bring a wealth of worldly experience to campus. You will find a deep commitment to utilizing educational technology tools at HPU, including access to online periodical databases, a digital portfolio-based web page assessment system, course web-page technology, and state-of-the-art wireless services and high tech classrooms.

The M.Ed. in Secondary Education is a portable degree, recognized in Hawai‘i and on the mainland. The curriculum is aligned with professional, state, and institutional standards. In addition, teacher candidates engage in 450 hours of clinical practice experiences in schools under the guidance of mentor teachers selected by school principals.

Students who complete the Master of Education in Secondary Education Program will:

  1. Understand how learners grow and develop, recognizing that patterns of learning and development vary individually within and across the cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and physical areas, and designs and implements developmentally appropriate and challenging learning experiences.

  2. Use understanding of individual differences and diverse cultures and communities to ensure inclusive learning environments that enable each learner to meet high standards.

  3. Work with others to create environments that support individual and collaborative learning, and that encourage positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self-motivation.

  4. Understand the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the discipline(s) he or she teaches and creates learning experiences that make the discipline accessible and meaningful for learners to assure mastery of the content.

  5. Understand how to connect concepts and use differing perspectives to engage learners in critical thinking, creativity, and collaborative problem solving related to authentic local and global issues.

  6. Understand and use multiple methods of assessment to engage learners in their own growth, to monitor learner progress, and to guide the teacher’s and learner’s decision making.

  7. Plan instruction that support every student in meeting rigorous learning goals by drawing upon knowledge of content areas, curriculum, cross-disciplinary skills, and pedagogy, as well as knowledge of learners and the community context.

  8. Understand and use a variety of instructional strategies to encourage learners to develop deep understanding of content areas and their connections, and to build skills to apply knowledge in meaningful ways.

  9. Engages in ongoing professional learning and use evidence to continually evaluate their practice, particularly the effects of their choices and actions on others (learners, families, other professionals, and the community), and adapts practice to meet the needs of each learner.

  10. Seeks appropriate leadership roles and opportunities to take responsibility for student learning, to collaborate with learners, families, colleagues, other school professionals, and community members to ensure learner growth, and to advance the profession.

 

  • Application
  • $55 Application Fee
  • Interview
  • Official Transcripts
  • Prior to admission to the English, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, TESOL and World Languages concentrations, teacher candidates seeking licensure in secondary education must have attained:
    • A passing score on a licensure test adopted by the Hawai‘i Teacher Standards Bord in the content field; or
    • National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification in the content field; or
    • A content major consisting of minimum of 30 credit hours in the content field for a bachelor's degree awarded by an accredited institution of higher education; or
    • A minimum of 30 credit hours in the content field from an accredited institution of higher education, at least 15 of which must be upper-division level; or
    • A master's, specialist, or doctoral degree in the license field awarded by an accredited institution of higher education.
  • Resume
  • Letters of recommendation (optional)
  • Personal Statement (optional)

  • Fall

Teacher candidates pursuing the Master of Education in Secondary Education must complete a minimum of 36 semester hours of graduate work.

To prepare for licensure in secondary education, teacher candidates must complete ten core seminar courses in secondary education and curriculum and two capstone clinical practice courses.  Prior to admission to the clinical practice courses, teacher candidates seeking licensure must have successfully passed the Praxis II Secondary Content Knowledge Test or equivalent profiency exam (World Languages only).

 

FALL TERM

ED

6000

The Professional Educator

3 credits

ED

6100

Educational Psychology

3 credits

ED

6300

Introduction to Teaching

3 credits

ED

6700

The Exceptional Learner

3 credits

 

SPRING TERM

ED

64XX

Secondary Content Curriculum:

ED 6420 (English), ED 6440 (Math), ED 6450 (Science), ED 6460 (Social Studies), ED 6470 (World Language), AL 6961 Practicum in TESOL 

3 credits

ED

6480

Integrated Curriculum:  Literacy and Content

3 credits

ED 

6521

Secondary Clinical Practice I

3 credits

ED

6522

Secondary Clinical Practice II

3 credits


SUMMER TERM 8A

ED

6200

Introduction to Educational Research

3 credits

ED

6430

English Language Learner

3 credits

 

SUMMER TERM 8B 

ED

6310

Culturally Responsive Education in Hawai‘i

3 credits

ED

6660

Diversity and Social Change

3 credits


TOTAL:  36 credits

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Hawaiʻi Pacific University’s School of Education is a member in good standing for the Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation (AAQEP). The teacher education licensure programs are nationally accredited until June 30, 2028.