Lucy Kirkham
NQT and Masters in Education student
The opportunity to earn 60 credits towards a Masters while completing the PGCE course is an obvious bonus, and putting in a little extra work over the year to achieve it didn’t seem like too much of a challenge. But the decision as to whether to continue with my Masters through my NQT year wasn’t as easy. Starting a full time job, getting used to the workings of a new school, a fuller timetable, becoming a tutor, the extra responsibilities and work load all made the thought of continuing with a Masters a rather insane idea.
show/hide full profile...
I knew I definitely wanted to complete my Masters at some point and, at first, the thought of delaying it a few years to make my NQT year easier seemed the obvious option. But then I, and my peers on the Maths course, began doubting how easy it would actually be to get back into the swing of writing assignments, attending seminars and reading educational journals alongside our teaching just as we had done during our PGCE year.We also recognised the importance of the support systems we already had in place from the PGCE year, and how none of us would have been able to get through teaching and writing assignments without knowing that we had the rest of the group to talk to and share ideas and concerns with. With this support already in place we began to realise it would be silly not to continue with the Masters in our NQT year!
If you look at the structure of the course and the type of modules available you can see how it has been designed specifically for teachers just starting out in their careers; it allows you to build on the PGCE year and continue to work with peers. Through practice based research you have the opportunity to take an in-depth look at an aspect of your own teaching and how you can overcome problems within it helping you refine your ability to critically reflect upon professional practice. Other modules focus on curriculum, learning and assessment, allowing you to consider how the development of current practices might impact upon learning and teaching in the future. There are a range of other modules available which focus on various aspects of teaching including management, SEN, ICT etc.
Once I’d decided to continue with my Masters I had no concerns about fitting it in around work as the two modules I am taking this year are designed to fit around school hours: one runs in twilight sessions spread across the year about once a month, and the other is a week long summer school, each culminating in a 5000-6000 word assignment. Already this year I can see the benefits of continuing straight after my PGCE. The discussions that take place in the monthly seminars give each of us the opportunity to discuss incidents that occur within our practice and bounce ideas and solutions around. The course has developed our ability to dissect our thought processes and break down situations to look at them in a different light, which is really useful when you are faced with a situation or problem which you have not come across before; something which NQTs experience almost daily.