How do you sum up the Master of Arts with Certification (MAC) experience?
Graduates have a single word for it: Intense
“Especially second semester, says Andrea Zellner, Secondary MAC ’02, “when you spend every day in the classroom, and every evening taking a class, grading papers, or writing your own.”
The intensity is part of the appeal, she adds. U-M is the only school in Michigan and one of very few in the country that offers a Master’s Degree with certification within one year. Conventional graduate programs take at least twice as long. Factoring in the additional cost of lost income also makes them far more expensive.
Paying out-of-state tuition was not an option for Zellner, who worked for a non-profit before deciding to enter teaching. But after making comparisons, she believes the U-M Master of Arts with Certification is on a par with Stanford and Harvard.
“Coincidentally, my cousin completed Harvard’s MAC program around the same time, and I found we had much the same readings and coursework. In fact, some aspects of Michigan’s program were superior, like its emphasis on best practice, and evaluating research. MAC prepared me to be a critical consumer of research; to evaluate data before rushing to adopt new instructional strategies,” Zellner said.
“For me, one of the most valuable aspects was being in the classroom for an entire year,” notes Rachel teBrake, MAC ’04, a former automotive engineer. “And this is unusual; most programs give you six weeks of student teaching experience. Working with my mentor teacher from the very beginning of September gave me a much broader perspective of classroom management.
“MAC sees student contact as the primary focus and weaves the pedagogy around that,” she continues. “You’re not just getting book knowledge. When I applied for jobs, interviewers were very impressed that I’d had a full year of hands-on experience.” Another of the program’s major strong points, both women agree, is its built-in support system. The Secondary MAC program and the Elementary MAC program divide students into 25-member cohorts who take all of their classes together.
“From the first meeting, there is an emphasis on camaraderie and team building,” teBrake recalls. “This is the boot camp of certification programs, and your cohort really helps you get through it.”
Zellner, who now teaches 11th grade English and tutors in a learning disabilities clinic, says the cohort system was an opportunity to learn to depend on other people. “I’m sort of independent,” she observes, “and it was good to be part of a community. It taught me how to create a community within my own classroom.”
Returning to the intensity topic, teBrake says MAC’s demanding pace honed her time management skills. “It is really true that if you make it through the MAC program, your first year of teaching will seem easy by comparison.”
Now a high school civics and science teacher, she reflects the views of many of her peers when she says, “I liked my job before but it was wearing me out. Teaching gives me a sense of purpose. It’s hard work and sometimes exhausting, but you’re doing it for a reason. You’re doing it for the kids.”
This article originally appeared in the Winter 2006 edition of Innovator.
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