Certifications
The MacMillan Institute™ offers various levels of certification to primary and secondary educators who want to deepen their knowledge and ability to learn, teach, and lead in the “spirit of liberal learning.”
MacMillan Scholar™
A Pre-K-12 teacher or administrator who has completed the following:
The MacMillan Institute’s intensive three summer seminars using Dr. Louise Cowan’s literary genre as the lens and her “Mode of Reading” as the mode.
The Epic Cosmos
The Tragic Abyss/The Terrain of Comedy
The Prospect of Lyric
The MacMillan Institute’s course exploring the Cowans’ unique vision of liberal learning and its historical antecedents.
A culminating essay explaining and exploring the Cowans’ distinctive educational philosophy, its historical antecedents, and an analysis of the educator’s academic discipline completes this certification.
To maintain MacMillan Scholar™ certification, one must complete 14 hours of MacMillan Institute’s programming annually, including presenting annually in The Alumni Conference™.
MacMillan Scholar™ certification or above is required of anyone teaching or serving administratively in an Academy supported by The MacMillan Institute.
MacMillan Master Scholar™
After completing MacMillan Scholar™ certification, a teacher or administrator with 10 or more year’s successful classroom teaching experience may apply for MacMillan Master Scholar™ status.
This certification includes these additional standards:
An approved evaluation in multiple observations of classroom teaching or classroom coaching by a Senior Consultant from the MacMillan Institute.
The completion of a specially designed Master of Humanities degree which includes approved Ancient, Medieval, and Renaissance world courses as well as The History and Philosophy of American Public School Education sponsored by the MacMillan Institute.
Candidates for this degree are required to sit for a comprehensive examination and write a thesis tracing the history of their academic discipline which includes an assessment of its current status in educational practice.
To maintain certification MacMillan Master Scholar certification, one must complete annually 21 hours comprised of the following:
7 hours humanities coursework at The MacMillan Institute,
7 hours content coursework in their discipline to be completed at the MacMillan Institute or at a university or college approved by a MacMillan Institute advisor,
7 hours participation and presenting annually in The Alumni Conference.
The MacMillan Master Scholar level is required of anyone teaching or serving administratively in a School supported by the MacMillan Institute.
MacMillan Master Educator™
A Pending Certification
The terminal certification in the MacMillan Institute is a Ph.D. degree specially designed to foster a new class of teacher and administrator in the public schools—those whose imaginations have been shaped by a deep encounter with great works in the humanities combined with the study of ideal and active models of leadership and civic responsibility aimed at elevating the educational enterprise to its central position in a healthy society and in culture at large.