Middle Grades Education

Overview

This program at the University of Georgia is designed for current middle grades teachers, or for those with an interest in young adolescent education. Coursework is offered face-to-face and online in spring, summer, and fall to accommodate the working professional, and is taught by the internationally recognized faculty of UGA's award-winning College of Education.

Faculty in the Masters of Education program will address theoretical perspectives and research-based approaches to working with young adolescents today, as well as the latest philosophy on middle grades teaching and learning. Topics of emphasis include critical constructions of young adolescents, safer and equitable spaces for young adolescents, justice-oriented curriculum and assessment, pedagogical content knowledge, teaching with an equity-oriented inquiry stance, and family-school-community partnerships.

Middle Grades Education Program Commitments:

• To cultivate and sustain a more equitable world, the Middle Grades Education program commits to embodying and modeling justice-oriented curriculum design and related experiences that position youth and educators
• To build positive, supportive, humanizing relationships with and among youth, families, and communities;
• To advocate with and for youth to embody their power and possibility to create a more equitable world; and
• To inquire individually and collectively around practices, structures, and systems using critical reflection and analysis to inspire critical action.