Adult Learning and Leadership Online MA

The Adult Learning and Leadership Program has been approved by New York State to offer a fully online Master's degree program. (As noted below, students can also take some face-to-face workshops and courses if they have access to the College campus.)

Our program is designed for those who design, implement, facilitate, or otherwise support learning and development for adults in many different settings—businesses, non-profits, public sector, healthcare, educational institutions, and community settings. We emphasize leadership for transformative learning and change in today’s rapidly-evolving digital world. The program will help participants to:

• Acquire knowledge of  leadership capabilities and practices, and apply these to their own leadership and that of learners they support / develop in their work settings

• Use effective strategies for learning that take into account leadership, structural and cultural factors in the groups, communities, or organizations in which adults live or work

• Design, deliver, and assess adult learning programs and interventions

• Demonstrate understanding and use of technology for diverse adult learning needs

Students will earn 36 graduate credits and complete an integrative project. Up to 14 credits in the Online MA degree program may be taken in-person.

Required Coursework

Foundations (6 credits required):

• ORLD 4050 Introduction to Adult and Continuing Education (3)

• ORLD 4053 Facilitating Adult Learning (3)

Adult Development (3 credits required):

• ORLD 4051 How Adults Learn (3)

Adult Learning Theory and Applications (2-3 credits required):

• ORLD 4827 Fostering Transformative Learning (2-3)

• ORLD 4828 Imagination, Authenticity, and Individuation in Transformative Learning (3)

• ORLD 5063 Online Teaching and Learning: Applying Adult Learning Principles (3)

Leadership and Organization (6 credits required):

• ORLD 5023 Leadership and Self Development (3)

• ORLD 5054 Strategy Development as a Learning Process in Organizations (3)

Research (2 credits required):

• Learning Communities: Research for the Integrative Project (2)

Electives (13-14 credits required), including Breadth

6 of the 13-14 credits must be Breadth Electives, i.e. courses not categorized as ORLD and taken following consultation and approval from your academic advisor. You may choose from the variety of online and in-person courses listed below, as well as from other programs within Teachers College.

See recommended elective options below.

Leadership:

• ORLD 5062 Global and Strategic Human Resource Development in Organizations (3)

• ORLD 4085 Management and Leadership Skills in Practice (F2F) (3)

• ORLD 5061 The Learning Organization: The Digital Workspace (3)

• ORLD 5070 Leadership for Adult Development (3)

Applied Workshops in Adult Learning Practices (online, intensive 2-day sessions):

• ORLD 4815 Developing Critical Thinkers (1)

• ORLD 4844 Helping Adults Learn (1)

• ORLD 4850 Discussion as a Way of Teaching (1)

• ORLD 4855 Learning as a Way of Leading (1)

• ORLD 4860 Teaching Race in Predominantly White Organizations (1)

• ORLD 5815 Critical Theory and Adult Learning (1)

• ORLD 4810 Career Strategy Development as a Lifelong Learning Process (1)

Coaching:

• ORLD 4060 Coaching from an Adult learning Perspective (3)

• ORLD 5073 Action Learning Design and Coaching (3)

• ORLD 5821 Leveraging emotional intelligence (EQ) to enhance organizational effectiveness (3)

• ORLD 5822 Building productive relationships with social intelligence (SQ) (3)

• ORLD 5823 Building 21st century organizational capability with cultural intelligence (CQ) (3)

Societal Transformation:

• ORLD 4027 Education and Social Transformation: Elites and Inequalities in Transitional Economies

• ORLD 4065 Leading Change in a Democratic Society  (3)

Breadth:

• MSTU 4083 Instructional Design of Ed Tech (Online) (3)

• CCPJ 4050 Microaggressions in institutional climates: Race, gender, and sexual orientation (3)

Culminating Project

Required

The M.A. project is a literature review focused on selected theory, research and practice relevant to a burning question, challenge or opportunity with implications for project-based application to practice.

Guidelines for the Online M.A. Culminating Project are available in the Program of Study Advisement Guides (as downloadable files) located on the Adult Learning and Leadership program website.

Students should meet with their advisor the semester before they plan on graduating to review the guidelines.