What is a Master of Arts in Education: Leadership for Social Justice Specialization (MA.ELSJ) degree?

This Master of Arts in Education: Leadership for Social Justice Specialization program is a gathering place of intellectual inquiry, critical theories, and community building. Each course is an intentional step towards a larger arc of justice-centered scholarship:

• Spring: When the flowers are blooming, we will begin the MA.ELSJ program. We start with the Self—narrating our stories, locating equity in autobiography and autoethnography, and understanding how identity shapes leadership. The first course requires us to practice inward, racial vulnerability, and from there, we build outward.
• Summer: We move in and through Systems—testing our analysis, honing our ability to execute, and building tools of research, law, ethics, and pedagogy.
• Fall: We arrive at Solutions—identifying barriers that we need to dismantle, disintegrate, and let go of. The focus will be on problems and pathways forward. Each student will complete a capstone project, conducting action research that has a public impact.

This arc of justice carries forward. For some, it will culminate strictly in the “community report out” rooted in public scholarship. For others, it will extend into doctoral study, deepening each student’s role as scholar-practitioners, movement builders, and architects of liberatory futures.

Why earn an MA.ELSJ degree at Redlands? 

Preparing Equity Warriors, Activists, and System-Builders for Transformative Change

This 36-unit, fully online master's program is designed for working professionals who are ready to move from awareness to action. In just three semesters, you'll join a community of educators, organizers, and innovators reimagining what justice looks like in schools and society.

• All classes are online, blending synchronous and asynchronous learning for maximum flexibility. When classes are synchronous, we will meet on Friday evenings (6:00 – 9:30 pm) and all day Saturday (9:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.). Attendance in these sessions are mandatory.
• From the Self (Spring) to Systems (Summer) to Solutions (Fall), each course builds towards an action research project that makes real change in your community.
• Whether you're a teacher, counselor, advocate, cultural worker, or non-profit leader, this program will sharpen your analysis and center your joy.

Designed for working professionals, this program empowers equity warriors to confront systemic inequities, design transformative policies, and lead with empathy, imagination, and purpose. Students learn to connect personal conviction with institutional change—bridging the worlds of education, advocacy, and social impact.

Grounded in reflection, collaboration, and real-world application, the MA.ELSJ cultivates leaders who can translate justice-oriented values into sustainable action. Graduates emerge as scholar-practitioners equipped to reimagine schools, organizations, and communities as ecosystems of belonging, dignity, and collective liberation.