Program Details

The Master of Arts in Curriculum and Instruction with a concentration in critical pedagogy is designed for practicing PK-12 teachers (including ASPIRE to Teach alumni) who want to deepen their instructional practice while strengthening their capacity for leadership, critical inquiry, and advocacy.

Through online coursework, you will examine curriculum and instruction within PK-12 contexts while engaging with the broader theoretical frameworks that shape teaching, learning, and education policy. You will reflect critically on your own classroom and school practices, study those of others, and explore how power, policy, and ideology influence educational systems.

As a graduate student, you will continue your professional growth under the guidance of School of Education & Human Development faculty. Your faculty will emphasize teachers as scholars and reflective practitioners whose work extends beyond the classroom and into schools, districts, and communities.

Critical Pedagogy at the Core

A focus on critical pedagogy runs through every course in the program. As an approach to teaching, learning, and school systems, critical pedagogy recognizes education as inherently political and examines how systemic inequities contribute to unequal educational opportunities. You will learn to question taken-for-granted assumptions about schooling while developing instructional practices that demonstrate inclusive excellence.

Through the MA in Curriculum and Instruction, you will develop:

• Skills in critical inquiry and analysis of historical and contemporary educational practices and policies
• Teaching practices and curriculum design that are equity-focused and student-centered
• A deep understanding of the broader social, political, and community contexts in which schools operate
• Strategies for disrupting notions of schooling that obscure bias and inequity
• The capacity to lead and collaborate effectively in classrooms, schools, districts, and policy spaces

Graduates are prepared to work collaboratively with teachers, learning specialists, families, administrators, counselors, and community partners to support student success.

Program Format and Plan (30 credit hours)

The MA in Curriculum and Instruction is offered fully online, with a combination of asynchronous coursework and scheduled synchronous learning opportunities designed for working educators.

Core Courses (12 credit hours)

• History of Schooling in the United States
• Curriculum Theories in Education
• Research in Schools
• Culture of Education Policy

Elective Courses (18 credit hours)

Electives may be selected from the following areas:

• Social and Emotional Learning and Curricular Design
• 21st Century Pedagogy and Curricular Design
• Special Education
• Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Education
• Responsive Literacy
• Mathematics Education
• Science Education
  

ASPIRE to Teach alumni build on their prior learning by transferring in three credit-for-prior-learning courses. They will complete an additional three electives. Teachers entering the program without ASPIRE to Teach credit will complete six CU Denver elective courses.

 Additional Information

This program does not meet visa requirements for students planning to use an F-1 or J-1 visa. For questions regarding visa eligibility, contact [email protected].