Masters in Teaching SOP

[beekeepersdaughter]

Does anyone know anything about what exactly graduate programs in education look for? I have no idea what to include in my SOP and pretty much nothing exists on the internet to help me. What do they want to see? I'm not sure which of my strengths i should be highlighting the most. How personal should I be? Is writing in the first person acceptable (seems like it should be encourage but you never know). So lost and nervous. Anyone please help!

[lyonessrampant]

Not my field but generally, yes, first person is fine. I'd avoid a lot of personal anecdotes. Only include ones relevant to your stated research interests. Of course, in teaching, I would imagine there would be more personal information than my field, but I think you still need to say why grad school is right for you, what your research interests are, what work you've done that has prepared you for grad school (Teach for America, lots of teaching experience, professional organization activity, etc., I'd think for your field), and then why each school you are applying to is a good fit (professors, resources, specific things about the program). Good luck!

[runonsentence]

My general advice, which largely echoes the advice from lyonessrampant:

Be forward-looking. You're writing about what you hope to do at X school, what kind of career you're pursuing, and how X school will help you to achieve that career objective. Do touch on experiences you've had and skills you've developed, but couch them in terms of how they have shaped (or will shape) you into a successful student at X school.

Think also in terms of your audience and its expectations. An adcomm will read strong applicants from many students, but of those strong applications they will admit the students who have a SoP who answers the question, "So, why X school? Why must this student come to this school to achieve these goals?" So your number-one priority is to demonstrate fit with the department, its research interests and priorities, and even its culture.