MA Education - is it worth it?

My desire to complete the MA Education was not just about my love for teaching, but I see education as a catalyst for social development and change. It also important to keep up to date with the latest research, which is not so easy when working as a full time teacher! With so many reasons to complete an MA (evidence informed pedagogy, subject-specific knowledge enhancement, education policy analysis...the list goes on), I finally realised the main reason I wanted to do it. So, why? It all comes down to the main reason why I teach, which is to empower young people; to help shape young minds for a more equitable society; to help young people realise their potential and bring about more social justice, in a society that is becoming increasingly polarised.

There is an urgent need for inequality to be readdressed within schools. Louise Archer (Professor of Sociology of Education, IoE) in a recent debate, outlines how social equity can only be achieved by “taking the down structures that create the inequality in the first place” and that education policy in the UK must do better. She argues that current education policy does not accurately represent the voices of those it concerns, to which I agree. In her final statement of the debate, Archer concludes “if education policy were driven by social justice…it would actually make a difference [to society]”.

How many policies work to uplift all students? Why did Pimlico Academy allow the harmful policy to win for so long, until the students had to take on the battle themselves?

Take a look at your school policies and ask yourself if they are there to empower and protect students, or rather to perpetuate social norms of an unfair, unequal society?

These are the types of questions that we discuss during our seminar talks. The discussion is immense and I have learnt to much by listening to others.

In terms of time management I was lucky that I used credits from my PGCE. This means that I am studying 2/3 of the course over 2 years. The modules selection is incredible; I want to pick all of the courses on offer! At King's you can audit module, so although I'm not writing an academic essay about Language & Power, I have access to the material and reading.

So, is it worth it? Yes. Of course. I have learnt to much already and it helps me see life through a students eyes all over again, which ultimately can only make me a better teacher.