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Professional Teaching

Experience professional and personal transformation.

Master's

Earn your Master of Science in Education and grow as an educator. Strengthen the skills that help learners thrive in classrooms, organizations and communities.

The MSED – Professional Teaching is a cohort-based graduate program with two pathways designed to support professionals with diverse interests and career goals.

Whether you are a classroom teacher or an educational outreach professional in business, healthcare or nonprofit settings, you will deepen your content knowledge, refine your instructional practice, and strengthen the communication, empathy and leadership skills essential to effective teaching.

Choose one of two pathways

  • Experience-Based Learning
  • Learner-Focused Instruction

Students begin the program together, building a shared foundation in experience-based learning, learning communities, curriculum design and educational research. In the final two terms, they select a specialized pathway aligned with their professional goals.

A program within Professional Studies in Education

Program at a glance

  • Format: Full-time, Blended
  • Commitment: 4 academic terms: fall, spring, summer
  • Program start: Varies by cohort
  • Credits: 32

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Degree type: MSED

Professional Teaching – Experienced-Based Learning Emphasis

Who is this for? 
This pathway prepares educators to design and lead learning experiences rooted in real-world contexts and community connections.

  • Facilitate rich, experience-based learning environments connected to learners' communities
  • Design curriculum that promotes reflection, collaborative inquiry, leadership and purposeful engagement  
  • Shift learning from something students receive to something they actively do
  • Build practical skills through learning experiences in local, regional and statewide settings
  • Ground your practice in research, reflective leadership and deliberate decision making
  • Meet in person one weekend per month throughout the program
  • Participate in frequent Wisconsin-wide excisions

Degree type: MSED

Professional Teaching – Learner-Focused Instruction Emphasis

Who is this for? 
This pathway focuses on responsive, learner-centered pedagogy and instruction design informed by evidence, collaboration and community.

    • Design instruction that builds on learners’ knowledge, strengths, experiences and community contexts
    • Connect learning to real-world environments where learners live and grow 
    • Develop advanced skills in planning, implementing and evaluating instruction
    • Create learning experiences that are purposeful, inclusive and responsive to individual and collective needs
    • Meet in person one weekend per month throughout the program
    • Participate in limited, local excursions

Why UWL’s Master of Science in Education (MSED)- Professional Teaching  program?

Low cost

With tuition as low as $396/credit, UWL’s programs are some of the most affordable nationwide.

Immediately applicable learning

Coursework connects theory to practice through applied projects, action research and reflective practice—allowing you to implement new strategies right away in your professional setting.

Open to educators across sectors

This program welcomes more than traditional classroom teachers. Students may enter the program with a bachelor’s degree in any field and enter either path. For instance, students enter the program from diverse fields such as:

  • K–12 and higher education
  • Healthcare and public health education
  • Business and workforce development
  • Nonprofits, government and community outreach
Experiential education

You’ll develop a strong foundation in experiential education through hands-on learning, applied projects and curriculum integration that emphasize learning through experience.

Program Questions?

Rochelle is here for you and is always happy to help!