Graduate Story

Rebecca Taylor, MA Education Studies

As a recently qualified primary school teacher, studying for a Masters degree wasn’t something I had heard much about. I had completed my NQT year and was looking for the next step in my professional development. Knowing that I had some credits from my teacher training, a Masters degree made sense to me as a next step. I had completed my teacher training with the University of Suffolk (SCITT) so I was confident that this was somewhere that I would be made to feel welcome and well supported. 

I was apprehensive when I first started; worried that it would be too much work whilst working full time as a teacher and also living alone. However, it didn’t take long for me to realise that everything asked of us was achievable and that there was plenty of support available if we needed it. Even throughout the national lockdown, we were able to attend useful zoom meetings and I had regular contact with my dissertation supervisor via email. The cohort was small, making for a great opportunity for in depth conversations and for us to share our ideas and experiences. Being able to speak to people from different backgrounds and experiences, with a wide variety of knowledge and skills was a really useful experience for me. Not only have I developed my research skills but I have also become more aware of the different roles in education and the effects of outside influences and pressures which I believe has helped to make me a better teacher and subject leader. 

I really enjoyed the process of my dissertation and have since been approached by a mathematics specialist who has suggested that I write a conference paper using my research. Looking to the future, I am hopeful that I will be able to use this experience and Masters degree to move forward in my career with the target of gaining more experience within schools and then becoming involved in teacher training.