Program Overview
This MA program exposes professionals to rigorous training through progressive educational approaches that are trans- disciplinary, and immersed in pedagogical creative and innovative methods. It offers students the opportunity to explore educational and community-related themes taking place locally and internationally.
The offered courses will allow for systemic change in teacher education, school practice, and in other learning centers within the communities of which schools are a part.
It qualifies educators with sustainable creative pedagogies and arts-based research methods that would help in practice and in application as community agents. It would also assist educators to foster young and adult learners’ critical and creative thinking skills, as well as their own commitments towards the local communities in which they work in and with.
Learners will be exposed to the utilization of different strategies of thinking and investigating; particularly creative, critical and reflective ones. From a wide range of courses, applicants have the chance to experience firsthand creative pedagogies such as Arts in Education: visual and performing including, music, drama, and theatre in education; methods and techniques to enhance learning and development of skills. Such an exposure offers various strategies for recognizing, adapting, and applying with a diverse body of students in a wider range of learning contexts.
This program will also host international experts and researchers from the University of Chester and other international universities, and to engage in teaching different courses of the program.
- Participating in transforming the educational sector approaches from a traditional teachers-centered approach to an inclusive, equitable learner–centered approach.
- Changing the role of teachers and other education trainers, and practitioners from knowledge providers to facilitators of knowledge.
- Equipping educators and practitioners with creative pedagogies and techniques in formal and non-formal teaching and learning settings where learning is taking place.
- Equip educators and practitioners with the skills and knowledge to use arts-based research methodology.
- Contributing to the development of a culture of research in education and community practices.
- Strengthening the role of the arts as powerful tools in creative pedagogies in community and educational settings.
- Contributing to a new culture of Teaching and Learning.
By the end of the program students will have:
- demonstrated a higher level of understanding of key concepts and principles related to the philosophy of learner-centered approach in humane inclusive learning environments.
- become familiar with the factors that influence the learning process in the formal, and non-formal educational settings.
- recognized the different theories of creative pedagogies and their applications.
- demonstrated understanding of the differences between creative, critical and reflective thinking as a cognitive and embodied process.
- demonstrated understanding of arts-based research methodology and how this is positioned in relation to conventional social science methodologies.
- applied arts-based and action research methodologies in different educational settings.
- used creative pedagogies to support learners’ creative and social thinking capacities.
- planned inclusive and equitable learning opportunities for learners (young and adults) based on creative pedagogies.
- analyzed educational settings that support or limit opportunities for the applications of creative pedagogies.
- appreciated the importance of reflective practice in the process of self and professional development.
- developed personal commitment to the transformation of education towards inclusive and equitable active methods and learner – centeredness.
- become actively engaged in the process of community awareness towards creative pedagogies and community practices.
- appreciated the distinctive contributions arts-based and participatory action research can make to the learning process and sustainable teaching practices.
Program graduates will have different options of employment available in:
- Schools as teachers with an advanced pedagogical practice and training.
- Centers and organizations interested in education, arts, and cultural activities as cultural educators.
- Research centers interested in educational issues, arts, and culture and the use of arts-based research methodology and methods.
- Settings for capacity building including: planning, supervision, evaluation and monitoring will be provided where need arises whether in formal and non-formal settings.
- The applicant must hold a Bachelor’s degree in Education specializing in teaching one of the following subjects (English, Arabic, Science, History, Geography) at the upper or lower school levels, or in Early Childhood Education, or a Bachelor’s degree in the Humanities or Arts.
- The applicant must have a cumulative GPA of no less than 2.5 or 75%.
- The applicant must have at least one year of experience in the field of education or in community-based educational programs.
- Passing the personal interview.
- The applicant must take an English placement test. If the required level is not achieved, they will be required to enroll in an English course.
- Completed admission application form.
- An official copy of the undergraduate transcript and Bachelor’s degree certificate, certified by the university and the Ministry of Higher Education.
- An official copy of the high school (Tawjihi) transcript.
- A copy of the personal ID.
- A personal photo.
- Two letters of recommendation.
- A short statement (maximum 200 words in English) in which the applicant describes their motivation and expectations regarding the program.
Application Fee: 500 NIS
Credit Hour: 600 NIS
Other Masters Programs
MA in Creative Pedagogies and Community Practices
Program Overview This MA program exposes professionals to rigorous training through progressive educational approaches that are trans- disciplinary, and immersed in pedagogical creative and innovative methods. It offers students the opportunity to explore educational and community-related themes taking place locally and internationally. The offered courses will allow for systemic change…
MA in Inclusive Education: Learning Difficulties
Program Overview As Education in the world grows in awareness of the importance of inclusive pedagogy and addressing individual needs, it also develops a greater understanding of the socializing function of education, making it important to keep students with special needs in the context of the regular classroom as much…
MA in Child Neuropsychology and Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Program Overview The Master’s Program in Child Neuropsychology and Neurodevelopmental Disorders is considered the first program of its kind in Palestinian universities. The program is based on current scientific knowledge in neuropsychology aimed at bridging the gap between theory and practice in working with various neurodevelopmental disorders, such as, intellectual…
MA in Social Work
Program Overview The Masters in Social Work, MSW, offered by the Department of Social Sciences at Bethlehem University, is a rigorous two-year community based program that is designed specifically to meet the needs of the Palestinian society. The program has three components: core curriculum, advanced practice, and research. The first…
MA in International Cooperation and Development (MICAD)
Program Overview MICAD is a graduate program offered by Bethlehem University that aims at preparing excellent leaders and professionals who are committed to sustainable development in Palestine. Multidisciplinary in its nature, MICAD is taught part-time with intensive lectures mainly on Friday and Saturday, and it covers two academic years. Starting…
MA in Governance & Administration of the Public Sector (MGAPS)
Program Overview The overall objectives of the program include: Improving accountability. Enhancing transparency in the delivery of public services. Improving the management of public funds. Strengthening the capacity of the PA institutions by growing the number of specialists in public administration. Enhancing the role of ethics in leading decisions in…
MA in Oncology and Palliative Care Nursing
Program Overview The mission of the Faculty or Nursing and Health Science is to improve the health status of people with cancer through educating and up-skilling qualified nurses in best oncologic and palliative care practice. They will develop the ability to provide good quality, evidence-based, comprehensive assessment, and care, be…
MA in Infectious Diseases; Prevention and Control
Program Overview To further advance health professionals and prepare them to work at an advanced level, the Tarek Ahmad Juffali Faculty of Nursing and Health Sciences offers the MA in Infectious Diseases; Prevention and Control. This master’s qualification will allow postgraduates to be able to deal with infectious diseases, prevention,…
MA in Tourism Studies
Program Overview The Master in Tourism Studies is a two-year postgraduate course that aims at providing an in-depth analysis of the main academic and technical issues whose knowledge represents an asset for the development of the tourism industry in Palestine. The Master’s program is multidisciplinary: it covers a wide range…