Delet at Brandeis is housed within Brandeis University’s Education Program in Waltham. It began in 2002 as a free-standing fellowship program. In 2005 Delet became a full-fledged graduate program offering a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) with tracks for day school and public school teachers. Delet students take general education courses with their public school colleagues and Jewish content and pedagogy courses with their day school colleagues.
Delet is a personalized and inquiry-based program where students work closely with outstanding faculty and fellow students in a cohort model. Research and practice, coursework and fieldwork are closely integrated. The program is 13 months long with two summers of full-time coursework at Brandeis University and a full-time internship during the academic year in a local day school.
Students in the Elementary MAT (Delet) program earn a Master of Arts in Teaching in elementary education, and are eligible for initial teaching licensure (grades 1-6) from the State of Massachusetts. The Delet Elementary program focuses on an integrated model of general and Judaic studies preparing students to teach reading, writing, math, Jewish holidays, Torah, and anything else.
For those interested in teaching in a Jewish middle or high school, there are two options: choose a general studies concentration (English, History, Biology, etc.) or concentrate in teaching Tanakh/Bible. Both of these options enable students to be a part of the Delet cohort, learning with others focusing on Jewish day school education, as well as a part of the diverse and multi-disciplinary secondary cohort. Secondary students have the opportunity to further their knowledge of their specific subject matter by taking classes in the high caliber departments at Brandeis while also learning about pedagogy and practice with Brandeis education professors and master teachers in our affiliated schools.