Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT)

Maine College of Art’s ten-month Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) Program prepares artists to become effective, state-certified art educators.

MECA’s MAT Program emphasizes learning by doing. Our connections are vast. We work with the Greater Portland community of public and private schools, nonprofits, galleries, professional artists and community centers, and beyond into Central and Northern Maine, as well. We support our teacher candidates with MECA’s vibrant visiting artist program, the Joanne Waxman Library, the Institute of Contemporary Art, and a dynamic network of colleagues.

Our program is an exceptional pathway to a teaching career in visual art. The MAT program prepares art educators for future job placement in a public or private school art classroom, museum settings, military base educational facilities, international placements, or community art organizations.

For an art educator, the classroom becomes another type of studio. Artistic inspiration translate into engaged learning and expressive art-making. MAT classes are experiential, and the learning environments are connected to teaching practice itself.  

The ten-month MAT program is divided into three phases: a one-month summer intensive where theory-based courses are taught in an institute-like setting with field experiences beginning on the very first day; a fall semester of courses that include studio art, examination of teaching methods and curriculum-building, field work in alternative settings, and exploration of classroom management with an emphasis on inclusivity; and a spring semester that culminates with 15-weeks of professional student teaching in elementary and secondary school settings, as well as a career-readiness experience that prepares our Teacher candidates to enter the workforce immediately upon graduation and certification. The student teaching placement may be completed outside of Maine, in another state, or internationally.

Teacher candidates carry a full course load with extensive field work and supervision support in the classroom to connect theory to practice. Our program is rigorous and aligned to real-world teaching criteria. Like all artists, teacher candidates in our program are given the opportunity to take risks, develop new ideas and pedagogies, write lesson plans, and provide supportive feedback. Online portfolios document the progress being made toward reaching these high expectations for teacher preparation, and candidates participate in reflection and critique of works-in-progress for their lesson plans, papers, and their own studio artwork. There are many ways to be a great art teacher. MECA’s MAT Program helps our teacher candidates find their unique, powerful teaching voices.

The MAT program goal is to help all graduates reach full time employment within one year of graduation. In 2019 and 2020, MAT graduates had 100% job placement within three months of graduation. For the last five years, every teacher who has graduated from the MAT program wanting to teach, has landed a full-time teaching job.

The rigorous ten-month schedule of dedicated, full-time learning allows candidates to complete the MAT program in time for Spring and Summer employment opportunities and job interviews. The program itself instills a sense of reflective practice and an in-depth knowledge of current educational practice so that graduates are prepared to start working in the field right away.

Summer
MAT 801: Fundamentals of Teaching, Learning, Creativity and Cognition / MAT 800: The Artist as Educator Experience: Art Studio Component

Fall
MAT 806: Exceptionality in the Art Classroom / MAT 809: Alternative Settings for Art Education / MAT 810: PK-8 Curriculum Design, Development, and Assessment / MAT 812: High School Curriculum Design, Development, and Assessment

Spring
MAT 832: PK-8 Student Teaching / MAT 833: High School Student Teaching / MAT 836: Professional Practices Seminar

Graduate faculty
Rachel Somerville, EdD, Interim Chair of Art Education Department / Heather Nunez-Olmstead, Adjunct Instructor of the Master of Arts in Teaching / Cory Bucknam, Adjunct Instructor of the Master of Arts in Teaching / Araminta Matthews, Associate Dean of Graduate & Professional Studies
 
Priority deadline for summer 2021 is February 26, 2021. Rolling admissions through June 1 as space permits. Orientation is July 30, 2021  and classes start August 2, 2021.

For more information visit meca.edu.