Faculty Member in Educational Studies

student-focused setting.

All students at COA design their own transdisciplinary degree within our single major of human ecology. Some students pursue careers in education; most will use educational studies to prepare for a range of other post-graduation trajectories, such as the arts, business, counseling, environmental sciences, healthcare, food systems, law and policy, research, and social work, among other occupations. The college seeks candidates who can inspire students to explore innovative approaches to teaching and learning within and beyond traditional classroom settings. Ideal candidates will be eager to collaborate across disciplines to support students and to teach educational studies courses that engage learners involved in inter- and transdisciplinary projects. The successful candidate will demonstrate a strong potential for excellence and innovation in teaching, including the ability to effectively reach underserved student populations and support learning in linguistically diverse classrooms. We are especially interested in candidates who have applied knowledge of experiential education, educational research, and public education.

A qualified candidate is expected to teach courses based in experiential education, educational foundations and philosophy, multicultural education, critical pedagogy, and curriculum and instruction. All education courses at COA, even those focused on performance-based certification standards, need to have a clear relationship to the overall human ecology curriculum. COA offers teacher certification programs in pre-K–12 art, elementary education, secondary life science, secondary social studies, and secondary English. COA’s teacher education certifications are soon up for program review; the successful candidate will work as a member of a team of academic deans and faculty on the program review and to evaluate the place of teacher certification in the curriculum.

The successful candidate will be expected to build and maintain strong relationships with local schools and liaise with the district schools, State of Maine, and other educational entities within the community (e.g., Montessori and Waldorf schools, historical societies, after school and summer programs). They should also expect to serve as a resource on innovative and equitable teaching practices for their faculty colleagues.

COA is an interdisciplinary college of approximately 350 students and 35 faculty. The average class size is 13. Our educational approach integrates knowledge from all academic disciplines and seeks to understand and improve the relationships between humans and their built, natural, and social-cultural environments. Faculty teach five courses a year distributed across three 10-week terms; faculty also advise students, direct independent studies and senior projects, and contribute to the shared governance of the college. Twenty-four percent of our students are international. Of our US students, roughly one in six are first-generation college students and about 40% are low-income (eligible for the federal Pell Grant).

How to apply

Interested candidates are invited to submit an application consisting of:

• Cover letter addressing interest in and qualifications for the position
• CV with the names and contact information for three references
• Brief statement of teaching philosophy and practice, including a discussion of the role of education in an interdisciplinary curriculum and your approach to and experience teaching diverse learners
• Brief descriptions of three courses you would be prepared to teach

Please submit a cover letter, CV, and supplemental materials as a single pdf at coa.edu/employment/faculty-education. Review of applications will begin on February 1 and will continue until the position is filled. We anticipate holding the first round of online interviews in early February. Questions about the search may be directed to the chair of the search committee, Ken Hill, at khill@coa.edu. The anticipated start date for this position is September 1, 2026.

Company

COA is an interdisciplinary college of approximately 350 students and 35 full-time faculty where critical theory is tied to practice. Faculty are not organized via departments, and all students design their own major in human ecology (BA, MPhil). The average class size is 13. Our educational approach integrates knowledge from all academic disciplines and seeks to understand and improve the relationships between humans and their built, natural, and social-cultural environments. Twenty-four percent of our students are international. Of our US students, roughly one in six are first-generation college students, and about 40% are low-income (eligible for the Federal Pell Grant). To better understand the work of the college, please visit our website at www.coa.edu.