What do successful teams have in common? What evidence helps measure the success of early literacy programs? How does fraud manifest itself in the education system? In the summer, the incoming class of Ed School master’s students met to discuss these issues, along with other important concepts in education, and get to know their classmates before the fall classes officially began.

Designed around the belief that educators, like doctors and lawyers, need to enter the field with a common base of knowledge and skills, four foundational courses — How People Learn (HPL), Leading Change, Evidence, Equity and Opportunity. — serves as a common building block for a student’s year of study at Ed School.

“Here at Harvard Graduate School of Education, the key to the redesigned Ed.M. program is that there are four required foundation courses. [students] — Everyone takes them together, regardless of the specific course of study, which program they are in, what concentration they choose, or what professional role they are expected to take after graduation. says Professor Mayra Levinson. Chair of Equity and Opportunity.

How People Learn will continue to take place online, but this will be the first time the other three required courses are officially held on campus, allowing students to connect directly with their cohorts. The shared knowledge, skills, and toolkits master’s students develop in these courses provide a common language as they deepen and identify their areas of study.

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“[We’ve] A purposeful path for educators, regardless of their interests or place of practice, by outlining what they need to understand to work in a rapidly changing sector that is critical to the success of our society. set up,” says Professor Monica Higgins, co-chair of the Leading Change Course.

All Foundations courses help to instill in students a fundamental foundational knowledge of the core tenets of education. The longest-running course, How People Learn, introduces core concepts such as how learners understand new ideas and how to design systems that support growth, and teaches students how people learn and grow. help you understand what to do. Leading Change introduces students to organizational theory, including how systems and organizations work, how teams work effectively, and what it takes to lead change. Evidence, on the other hand, engages students in analysis and data-driven problem solving to understand what works and what doesn’t in education. Finally, students will reflect on their own identities, learn and apply concepts and frameworks for identifying patterns of injustice and injustice, understand why and how those patterns persist, and be Consider how to confuse them.

The topics and content covered in the months before classes begin are positioned to allow students to explore these issues in greater depth and richness in the coming months, and when they leave HGSE, they will be able to tackle complex problems in the field, Place it in a suitable position to study.

“Do you know what you have to do to master a common body of knowledge?” said Professor James Kim, co-chair of the Evidence Course. “You have to read complex texts. A major determinant of how well you can understand really complex texts is how much you know about the topic.”

But it’s not just about establishing a solid foundation in academic content. Many of these courses also help students connect with each other.

Students Collaborate on Evidence Courses This Summer

“We are trying to give [students] A space to hang out and get to know each other [their] Colleagues who have had different life experiences and travels, who can talk to them and learn from them, [creating] A gathering of educators ready to create a better world,” says Lecturer Aaliyah El-Amin of the Equity and Opportunity Foundation, which she co-chairs with Levinson.

In addition to laying the foundation for their academic year at HGSE, students are also embarking on courses to influence change in this field. This has already evolved from the foundation course for some students.

While on HPL, Ed.M. Candidate Lindbergh Heitmann made a proposal focused on how his alma mater, the University of Utah, could support a sense of community and belonging among international students like himself. became the motivation to create the “I’m a strategist,” he says. “During my time at HPL, I started thinking about international students and how I could help them.”

He shared this proposal with the university as “Forever Utah.” It’s a platform designed to connect alums, students, and people within the community. He says they want to hear more.

Heitmann admits that while working full-time and traveling across the country, taking the Foundations course both online and in person, he said it was a great experience and an opportunity.

“I learned a lot,” he says. “If you think about why I am here, it is because I want to influence what I do … this opportunity [to create Forever Utah] was announced at HPL, so I thought this could be a business, but let’s see what happens. ”

Additional reporting by Jill Anderson