Curricular Description

IMED focuses on instructional and school leadership, and incorporates themes of multicultural education. Although IMED involves faculty from seven different departments, it is a strand of the master’s degree offered by the Department of Educational Foundations and is administered through that department. Successful completion of the course of study will result in an M.Ed.  in Educational Foundations and a Professional Certificate from the Hawai’i Department of Education. This interdisciplinary professional development degree is specifically tailored to meet the needs of public and private elementary, intermediate, and secondary school teachers.

A core curriculum consisting of 10 courses is offered by faculty in the departments of Counselor Education, Teacher Education and Curriculum Studies, Educational Administration, Educational Foundations, Educational Psychology, Educational Technology, and Special Education.  The interdisciplinary faculty team has agreed to develop instructional strategies that address the set of needs expressed by student applicants to IMED.  A brief description of the specific needs that have been expressed by participating teachers are listed below.

1. Numerous teachers emphasized the need to learn ways of further developing a collaborative learning style throughout the 2-½ year curriculum.  Consequently, the IMED faculty agreed to make an extra effort to promote a collaborative partnership when working with those students.

2. Being able to participate in collaborative learning projects was another important need expressed by individuals enrolled in IMED cohorts.  Instructors are encouraged to address this expressed need by infusing cooperative learning activities and projects in their course planning when possible.

3. Students enrolled in IMED emphasized the need for instructional experiences that integrated theoretical and practical learning endeavors in their courses. IMED learning activities should be specifically designed to have experiential value directly tied to the daily needs of teachers participating in the program, and ultimately to their students.

4. Students indicated that course constructs, materials, and applications should be as locally and culturally relevant as possible with teachers-as-students being directly involved in the on-going evaluation of the program regarding its relevancy to the needs of their local schools and constituencies. 

5. Numerous prospective students surveyed indicated the importance of developing more effective human relations strategies and skills which would be useful when working with other teachers, administrators, and at-risk students in their schools.

Given these 5 areas of expressed needs, the Coordinating Committee has developed a conceptual framework comprised of five corresponding competency areas for teacher leaders in the program.  These specific competency areas are:

1.  Instruction and learning

2.  Community participation

3.  Family and societal issues

4.  Human development

5.  School governance and professional community building  

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