Studying in the United States: a comprehensive strategy for applying for master's and doctoral degrees in education

Pedagogy is the first choice for some liberal arts students (such as English) to apply for studying in the United States. However, contrary to expectations, few applicants are admitted to American pedagogy every year. So there are several points to note before applying: 1. Professional background (work experience) is very important.

It is almost impossible for applicants who are not undergraduate in education and have no practical educational experience to apply for a master's or doctor's degree in education. In this case, you must emphasize that you are related to the education major. Don't just say you are interested, but also have experience, such as tutoring. This experience must also be related to the professional direction you apply for. As for work experience, many schools do have this requirement. For example, the education management leadership major of Columbia University requires applicants to have three or more years of teaching management experience. You must read the regulations of each school carefully. If there is no flexibility, there is no need to apply. (Because some schools even need a teacher qualification certificate). Even those schools that have no clear regulations will give priority to accepting experienced applicants. According to our years of application experience, it is found that professional background and work experience are very important for applying for pedagogy, and applicants without relevant background and experience should be cautious. If you can't die by the Yellow River, you should try to do well in TOEFL and GRE, and the higher the better.

2. Admission places are limited, so don't apply blindly.

We need to be soberly aware that there are really few people admitted to pedagogy every year. Take OSU as an example, there are only 22 doctors in the whole education leadership and policy, which means that only 5 or 6 doctors are admitted every year, and the competition is quite fierce. Therefore, don't blindly apply for the education major.

There are not many opportunities to get scholarships.

Compared with science and engineering, there are few scholarships for education. Students who want to get a scholarship to go out must apply for a PhD. According to the data of American universities, the money for master's degree is very small. If you apply for a master's degree, you have no money and no one will sympathize with you. Because master has no money at all.

It is necessary to be attractive to professors.

Magnetization is necessary for many majors, especially pedagogy with a small number of students. To teach staff &; You'll get a lot from hanging around the staff's place. You can get the contact information of those professors, what topics they have studied recently, what research they have done, and so on. Then you can find a stepping stone, do what you like, and play with those professors. Maybe you will be closer to the admissions officer than other applicants.

Know your interests and advantages before applying.

Pedagogy has many branches. When applying, you should know your own advantages and apply for a major that suits your own situation. The branches of pedagogy are as follows:

Macro research direction:

1. Educational Anthropology (Educational Anthropology)

Mainly study the origin of educational inequality (such as race, gender, social class, etc.). The research scope includes education and employment, ethnology, women's studies, gender factors in education, new immigrant education, multicultural education, school phenomenon, student behavior, privatization of education, etc.

Applicants should have a background in sociology and anthropology.

2. Comparative Education and International Education (Comparative Education)

This paper mainly studies the education policies of various countries in the world, compares the influences of politics, economy, religion, language and geographical environment on education policies, finds out the existing problems in education, and finds out the education policies suitable for a certain country or region.

The applicant's major is not limited, but it is best to have relevant backgrounds such as education, international relations, international politics, economy and religion. Relevant working experience is preferred.

3. Educational Economics

This paper mainly studies the economic problems in pedagogy, such as the input and output of social individuals in education, the impact of educational input on society, and the establishment of models to measure the impact of educational policies on developed and developing countries.

Applicants need to have relevant economic background, strong mathematical and statistical skills, and relevant work experience if they don't have relevant academic background.

4. Education History (Education History)

Studying the development history of pedagogy and investigating pedagogy from a historical perspective will involve family history and require a lot of reading and writing, which is more suitable for students who like history. The current history of education tends to study the influence of globalization and immigration on pedagogy. The applicant's major is not limited, and no work experience is required.

5. Education Policy Research (Education Policy Research)

This paper mainly studies the interactive relationship between education policy and society, politics and economy, and is familiar with the current education policies of education departments, regions, domestic and international, and finds out its existing problems.

Applicants need to have a background in sociology, economics and other related disciplines, or have relevant work experience in the education industry.

The above is a summary of macro research, and the majors are not listed one by one, because many of them can be classified into the above categories, but with different names. For example, gender and education belong to educational anthropology; International development, international education policy, etc. Belonging to education policy or comparative pedagogy. I believe everyone can judge. Generally speaking, almost all pedagogy majors in macro research are interdisciplinary majors. It is not always easy to apply for English majors, and graduates majoring in social sciences, economics and management are more dominant.

School management direction:

1. Education Management and Leadership (Education Management and Leadership)

Mainly study the management of schools, educational institutions and non-profit organizations, understand the education system and its policies, and improve the awareness level and management ability of managers.

Applicants need a bachelor's degree and at least three years of management experience (excluding teaching experience). Applicants are also required to be qualified as teachers.

2. Curriculum research (curriculum research)

This paper mainly studies the problems existing in curriculum theory and curriculum setting. Generally speaking, most students combine this major with other majors and cross-learn.

Professions with similar names will not be listed one by one. Because they belong to the management level, these majors need educational management experience.

Teaching direction:

1. learning and teaching (learning and teaching)

It mainly studies the problems and phenomena in the teaching process, such as curriculum development, educational concept, teacher's role, human development, educational technology, and the problems encountered by students of different races, religious beliefs and social classes in their study. Applicants should have teaching experience.

2. Subject education (such as mathematics, art, music, sports, history, geography, etc.). )

In addition to learning relevant knowledge and subject background, we also need to learn educational psychology, curriculum, gender, race, religion and other factors that affect teaching.

In addition to the relevant academic background, the applicant also needs to have teaching experience in related disciplines.

3. Special education (special education)

It mainly studies the education of students with intellectual or physical disabilities, and needs to learn cognitive theory, linguistics, social development, sign language, teaching gestures and symbols, and the relationship between individual differences and society.

From the teaching direction, most applicants need to have relevant teaching experience, and even have the teacher qualification certificate of the country they apply for, which is more difficult for international students.

Linguistic direction:

1. Language and culture (language and culture)

This paper mainly studies the process of reading and literacy, the problems in the middle, the causes and the treatment methods.

Applicants need to have relevant academic background and relevant work experience.

2.TESOL/TESL/TEFL (English teaching)

I mainly study linguistics, classic works of teaching English as a foreign language/second language, classroom practice and so on. Most of the students who take this course are international students, and this course is also the choice of many English graduates.

Applicants need to have relevant professional background, preferably relevant work experience. Without the above two conditions, those with excellent English level will also be considered.

3. Applied Linguistics (Applied Linguistics)

Applied linguistics mainly studies the origin, development and application of language. There are two major directions at present. One is linguistic research, which mainly solves language-related problems, including language acquisition, language evaluation and communication analysis, functional grammar and so on. Another field is language teaching, which has developed into a very important field of university education department. This major is a popular choice for graduates of English Department, Language Department and TCFL Department. Academic background in linguistics is required, and work experience is not required.

Generally speaking, the direction of linguistics is a popular choice for graduates of English department and language department.

Psychological direction:

1. Human Development and Psychology (Human Development and Psychology)

This course mainly studies the psychological characteristics of people in childhood, adolescence and adulthood and their relationship with education. This course combines development theory with diversified customs, gender equality, bilingual teaching, literacy development, academic performance of marginalized people, immigration education, multi-ethnic integration, child protection, children's emotional development and interpersonal relationships. Applicants need to have an academic background in related disciplines.

2. Children's Studies (Children's Studies)

This paper mainly studies the theory of children's growth, the problems encountered in the maintenance of children's rights and interests and the social problems faced by children's growth.

Applicants need to have relevant sociological background, preferably working experience related to children.

3. Educational Psychology (Educational Psychology)

It mainly studies psychological problems in education, including knowledge acquisition, cognitive and emotional development.

Applicants need to have a psychological background, preferably education-related work experience.

There are many majors in the direction of pedagogy, so I won't list them one by one. Basically, they all need relevant academic background and certain work experience.

Direction of educational technology:

Educational technology (educational technology)

Mainly focus on teaching and learning, technology as an auxiliary means of teaching and learning. We should do a good job in human development, cognitive theory, social policy, educational leadership and other aspects, and combine them with science and technology to realize modern school management and teaching and develop new teaching products.

The applicant's major is not limited, and he needs to know something about computers and networks.

According to the above detailed branches of pedagogy, applicants should suit the remedy to the case, identify their own interests and specialties, and apply for an pedagogy major suitable for their own development. For example, people with leadership and management skills can consider applying for education management and leadership, and people familiar with computers can consider educational technology.