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Literacy & the Arts is an interdisciplinary partnership between the College of Education and the College of Fine Arts. It allows already certified teachers to customize graduate programs of study according to their specific talents, needs, interests, and teaching situations. Our principle mission is to create a community of teachers interested in infusing their practice with creativity and project-directed learning, in a program with a pragmatic and individually shaped focus. So, if your passion is the visual arts, music, dance, drama, technology or some integration of these, this specialization will support those interests.

This program will not provide any type of teaching certification. However, its position in the College of Education means that the perspective will have a clear "classroom filter." But it is a filter that seeks to integrate and individualize rather than standardize. A menu of course ideas and requirements allows already certified teachers to design a program that will enhance their professional qualifications in personally challenging and satisfying ways. We assume that those who apply to the program will have defined goals for doing so.

Literacy & the Arts

The Literacy & the Arts program at the University of Florida is dedicated to expanding the education of exemplary practitioners and scholars who understand that we have multiple language tools at our disposal. These tools may be iconic, linguistic, musical or kinesthetic. We seek to promote the integration of multiple texts, be they paper, canvas, sound or gesture. We are committed to assisting all students, whatever their cultural and linguistic background, in developing the expressive skills they find most meaningful; and to helping them define their own way to lead productive, insightful, and purposeful lives as members of a democratic society.

Students in Literacy & the Arts will have a B.A. or B.S. degree (to enter the M.Ed. program - 36 credit hours beyond the B.A./B.S.), or a Master's degree (to enter the Ed.S. program - 36 credit hours beyond the M.Ed.) in their subject area. Please refer to the individual information sheets for each of these degrees. They will also have certification to teach, and at least one year of teaching experience. Students must meet requirements for the graduate school: a 3.0 GPA in upper division undergraduate coursework, and a combined score of 1000 on the verbal and mathematical sections of the GRE. (For graduate work in this College of Education program, there is an additional requirement of a minimum of 400 on the verbal section of the GRE.)

The Specialization

The Literacy & the Arts program is designed to be as flexible as possible in responding to individual needs. In order to enter the program, applicants must submit a statement of purpose that describes their interests and their reasons for entering the program. To support their work, each student in the M.Ed. program will choose an advisor either from the College of Education or the College of Fine Arts, who will help craft a program of study designed for each person's interest. For an Ed.S, students will choose at least one advisor from the College of Education and one from the College of Fine Arts.

Either degree (M.Ed. or Ed.S.) requires at least 36 credit hours to be obtained as follows (please note, only students already in possession of a master's degree may apply for the Ed.S. degree):

One required core course in the College of Education and one required core course in the College of Fine Arts, 3 credits each, for a total of 6 core credits.
A minimum of 6 additional credits through the College of Education and 6 through the College of Fine Arts (some of these credits may be in the form of an independent study). Total 12 additional credits in the Colleges of Education and Fine Arts.)
An additional 6 to 9 credits from any college or department of the University (including the Colleges of Education and Fine Arts) may be taken, subject to the approval of the student's advisor(s), for a total of 24 to 27 semester hours (credits) of coursework.
A minimum of one 3-credit practicum, internship, or apprenticeship experience over the course of a single semester. A second (practicum, internship or apprenticeship) may be taken in a different semester for an additional 3 credits.
Finally, students will design, carry out, and report an original project, which can be done in their own classrooms, to reach the required 36 credits for the degree. This project will consist of a 6-credit independent research project to be completed in the final two semesters.

Approval for the project, as well as for any courses taken outside the Colleges of Education and Fine Arts, must be obtained from the student's advisor(s).

What Is Literacy & the Arts?

Literacy & the Arts

The Specialization