What is a Master’s in Teaching degree?

A Master’s in Teaching (MIT) degree, also known as a Master’s of Arts in Teaching (MAT) or Master’s of Science in Teaching (MST), is a teaching-focused degree intended to prepare bachelor’s degree holders for a career in teaching, no matter their current field or level of experience. As such, it is a specific course of study, focused almost entirely on the art and practice of teaching. Current teachers who wish to upgrade their skills and improve their effectiveness as teachers may sometimes choose an MAT or MIT program in order to focus their graduate studies on teaching as opposed to education more broadly.

A Degree for Teachers

The Master’s in Teaching is a degree for teachers, and often culminates in a teacher certification or teaching credential, but first requires students to have completed hundreds of hours of student teaching. Colleges and universities that offer MIT programs often have relationships with teachers at schools of all kinds and may help place their teaching students in classrooms to give them the opportunity to fulfill their student teaching and classroom observation requirements. Online MIT programs are no exception and may also help broker access to student teaching placements.

Student teaching is not the only way in which the Master’s in Teaching curriculum favors practice over theory. Most MIT programs devote a substantial portion of their curricula to subject-specific preparation, so that a student teacher might emerge prepared to teach their chosen subject, be it Math, Science, English, Biology, Chemistry, or “other”.

Those interested in pursuing a PhD or an eventual career in school administration, management, or counseling may wish to consider the broader and more theoretical Master’s in Education (MEd) degree instead of an MIT or MAT, but for those whose passion is teaching, the Master’s in Teaching is more likely the better fit.