Degree Offered: Campbellsville, Louisville, Available Online
Campbellsville University’s M.Ed. - Montessori Education (36 - 42 credits) can be completed in 14 months and combines the best of online learning with residence courses and hybrid format options. The integrated curriculum design has several distinctive features representing a “value added” approach to Montessori teacher training. It incorporates intervention and inclusion strategies to serve children with special needs and emphasizes global competencies embedded within a Christian context - distinctive components of the original Montessori program started in 1906. The selection of courses and the content included were developed with the goal of preparing graduates with the ability to provide positive influence as master teachers, directors, administrators, specialists, and higher education instructors individually and in collaboration with others.
The coursework includes a professional education core of 9-15 credits designed to broaden candidate’s knowledge of research, current trends in early childhood, and best practices in inclusive education. The Montessori Core consists of 21 credits of Montessori philosophy, curriculum and methods, observation, classroom management, and leadership coursework. An additional 6 credits is earned in a Montessori practicum.
Upon completion of all course and practicum requirements, candidates receive a Montessori teacher certificate that is recognized worldwide, for the early childhood level ages two-and-a-half through six years. Career opportunities are available for teachers, curriculum specialists, supervisors, and program directors in early childhood learning centers and Montessori public, private, and charter school settings. The intercultural relationships established by Campbellsville University’s Center for Global Engagement, provides opportunities for candidates in this program to gain global experience through practicum and employment.
The specific coursework design and components reflect the needs expressed by a wide array of early childhood and accreditation professionals in positions of leadership including school principals, administrators, executive directors, Montessori specialists and program directors, and early childhood students and graduates. Additionally, the curriculum content was aligned with the Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education (MACTE), the American Montessori Society (AMS), the Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (InTASC), and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) standards for the preparation of advanced early childhood professionals.
The M.Ed. in Montessori Education performance-based professional preparation program strives to achieve the mission of Campbellsville University through the following specific early childhood based goals by:
- Preparing Montessori education professionals who demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to establish specially prepared learning environments and plan, implement, and evaluate Montessori-based curriculum and instruction including the use of technology to assure that all children possess the foundation that will enable school and personal success;
- Establishing partnerships by supporting and collaborating with families, professional service providers, and communities to ensure that all young children live in strong families that are supported and strengthened in their communities;
- Honoring, understanding, and respecting cultural and linguistic diversity in families, early care and education settings, and communities;
- Assessing the ongoing learning of young children using appropriate informal and formal methods to inform instruction and communicating the results with partners, including families;
- Providing opportunities to engage in self-evaluation of professional practices and implementing a professional development plan to improve performance;
- Supporting and enhancing Christian characteristics of servant leadership within the school, community, and education profession to improve child learning and well-being.
