Western Carolina University

The Master of Arts in Teaching degree (M.A.T.) is designed for students who hold a bachelor’s degree in music, but who are not licensed to teach in the public school system. Candidates for this program may include:

• Recent music graduates who decided late in their undergraduate career that they want to enter teaching
• Mid-career graduates with an undergraduate music degree who desire to make a change in their professional lives
• Retirees who hold an undergraduate music degree and desire to teach 

Completion of the M.A.T. degree leads to a recommendation for teaching licensure in the state of North Carolina.

NOTE: The M.A.T. has been revised for Fall 2010; students enrolled prior to Fall 2010 may choose to complete either program.

• Read the M.A.T. degree requirements (catalog)
• Read catalog course descriptions
• MAT Checksheet, effective Fall 2011 (PDF)
• MAT Checksheet, Fall 2010 (PDF)
• MAT Checksheet, prior to Fall 2010  (PDF)

Program Objectives

• Provide an avenue to an “advanced competency” endorsement independent of undergraduate work in education.
• Provide an opportunity for individual students to work closely with faculty on specific interests and career-related projects.
• Provide an in-depth study of musicianship based on historical, contextual, theoretical and practical knowledge.
• Provide a post-baccalaureate experience that emphasizes the foundations and principles of music education at the elementary and/or secondary levels.
• Provide a post-baccalaureate experience specifically designed to improve teaching skills.
• Provide an opportunity for advanced research in music education.

Admission Requirements

Admission to the M.A.T. program is a two-part process that requires both acceptance by the Graduate School and acceptance by the School of Music.  Acceptance by the Graduate School does not guarantee acceptance by the School of Music, nor does acceptance by the School of Music guarantee admission by the Graduate School.

Prerequisites

Music Education is a field that requires a large variety of competencies specifically related to music instruction.  Since most prospective M.A.T. students will not have taken undergraduate music education courses, the School of Music will evaluate each candidate's prior education and experience to determine which undergraduate courses may be necessary as pre-requisites to the M.A.T. progam.  An individualized list of pre-requisites will be given to each candidate upon acceptance by the School of Music into the program.

Graduation Requirements

• Completion of 36-42 semester hours of graduate-level courses, distributed as follows:
  • Music Core (9 hours)
  • Teaching Methods and Clinical Experiences (12-18 hours)
  • Professional Education Core (15 hours)
• Demonstration of Piano Proficiency
• Satisfactory scores on the Praxis II tests
• Completion of a full semester of Student Teaching 
• Satisfactory Teacher Work Sample Portfolio
• Completion of the Master's Comprehensive Portfolio
• Public presentation of a scholarly research project 
• No more than two courses with a grade lower than a B (3.0)

Please follow the links above to the appropriate M.A.T. Checksheet for details on the required courses.  You should plan your graduate coursework, including the electives, with your academic advisor. 

You may find it helpful to track your progress on these requirements using this convenient Graduation Checklist for the M.A.T. (PDF).