Graduate Studies
MA in Educational Leadership and Societal Change
Your two-year MA program examines the broad landscape of modern educational institutions and structures including schools and colleges. Through interdisciplinary learning, you will explore the symbiotic relationship between value-creating educational leadership and the transformation of society itself.
Research-Based Leadership
One of the functions of research is to help you develop reflexive thinking and a passion for exploring contexts diversified by the human equation. Training in research skills and abilities normally reserved for aspiring academicians equips you with important observational strengths, combining inquiry skills with systematic problem-solving ones. What Paulo Freire once wrote of teaching applies equally to educational leadership: “There is no such thing as teaching without research and research without teaching.”
Globally-Minded, Ethically-Oriented Leadership
An understanding and appreciation of human agency and a strong ethical compass requires you to know yourself first in the path to generate new knowledge as a globally minded leader. “Of all branches of learning,” wrote the Renaissance humanist John of Salisbury, “that which confers the greatest beauty is Ethics, the most excellent part of philosophy, without which the latter would not even deserve its name.” Ethically-oriented leadership is a critical condition for fair and just societal change.
The Liberal Art of Effective Leadership
Going back to ancient times, the liberal arts describe scholarly disciplines designed to expose future leaders to a variety of subjects, from math and science to literature and philosophy, and most importantly to the connections between them, in order to better enable people to overcome their challenges and lead “contributive lives.” In all its depth and breadth, the goal of such an education is to develop, in Plato’s words, “the synoptic person,” the synoptic person being “the dialectic person”: a person versed in the art of dialogue and discussion with ethics at the center.
Explore our MA Program
An ecological, interdisciplinary approach to the study and practice of educational leadership.
Program Overview
Broad interdisciplinary knowledge, research skills, and practical experience are only the beginning.
Curriculum and Courses
Discover your pathway to an MA in Educational Leadership and Societal Change.
Faculty and Staff
Our program faculty and staff are committed to your education.
A Story of Enlightenment
Where is she now? Full fellowship to Purdue University, PhD in Curriculum and Instruction.
Encountering exceptionally talented, experienced, and diverse peers was the highlight of my graduate life.
Program Highlights
- Grants and scholarships available up to the full cost of tuition
- Professional development opportunities
- Full-time learning—we believe a good education requires a full-time commitment—with opportunities for part-time work
- A residential living and learning experience including off-campus housing for students with dependents or special circumstances
- A small, select international community of inquiry, diverse in age and experience with an average student/faculty ratio of 7:1
- Visiting distinguished scholars and practitioners to engage with
- Summer research grant providing field experience in a real-world leadership setting
World Summit of Educators
In 2016, the Soka graduate school classes of 2016 and 2017 planned and organized an international gathering of rank-and-file educators dedicated to the establishment, through education, of peace, human rights, and the sanctity of life as universal norms.