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Re: Masters Degree Questions
I would say that since you have a teachers certificate a Masters in Educational Leadership would be a great thing to have. You have teaching experience and training and then leadership training. I actually am in the reverse situation. I am currently pursuing my Masters In Curriculum and Instruction (while in my fourth year of full time teaching drama at a IB School in Turkey), but I do not have a teaching certificate. Do you know of any programs for international teaching certificates that can apply Masters courses towards the certificate?
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bludgeoned again
- Posts: 13
- Joined: Wed Dec 10, 2014 6:02 am
Re: Masters Degree Questions
Actually, I didn't read your question clearly. FoR U of Nottingham you can apply some of your Masters level credits toward the PGCEi.
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sdakota
Re: Masters Degree Questions
Any other perspectives/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks to those who replied already.
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shadowjack
- Posts: 2140
- Joined: Sat Oct 06, 2012 9:49 am
Re: Masters Degree Questions
As I read it, you are not yet quite a certified teacher and want to start working on your masters in educational leadership immediately after finishing your certification. Please correct me if I am wrong.
Others might disagree, but with no real certified teaching experience, my advice would be to work for a few years and then look at doing the masters. Having a masters with little teaching experience is NOT going to endear you to many staff members with oodles of teaching experience.
As well, it is only with experience that a lot of what you should cover in a masters in educational leadership will make real sense. Most reputable university programs I know of won't take someone with less than two years of teaching experience. I would be leery of doing a degree at an institution that doesn't have this requirement, for reasons stated above.
Just my two cents.
Shad
Others might disagree, but with no real certified teaching experience, my advice would be to work for a few years and then look at doing the masters. Having a masters with little teaching experience is NOT going to endear you to many staff members with oodles of teaching experience.
As well, it is only with experience that a lot of what you should cover in a masters in educational leadership will make real sense. Most reputable university programs I know of won't take someone with less than two years of teaching experience. I would be leery of doing a degree at an institution that doesn't have this requirement, for reasons stated above.
Just my two cents.
Shad
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wrldtrvlr123
- Posts: 1173
- Joined: Sat Feb 06, 2010 10:59 am
- Location: Japan
Re: Masters Degree Questions
shadowjack wrote:
> As I read it, you are not yet quite a certified teacher and want to start
> working on your masters in educational leadership immediately after
> finishing your certification. Please correct me if I am wrong.
>
> Others might disagree, but with no real certified teaching experience, my
> advice would be to work for a few years and then look at doing the masters.
> Having a masters with little teaching experience is NOT going to endear you
> to many staff members with oodles of teaching experience.
>
> As well, it is only with experience that a lot of what you should cover in
> a masters in educational leadership will make real sense. Most reputable
> university programs I know of won't take someone with less than two years
> of teaching experience. I would be leery of doing a degree at an
> institution that doesn't have this requirement, for reasons stated above.
>
> Just my two cents.
>
> Shad
I was thinking the same thing. Becoming an admin may be your ultimate goal but how can you know that when you haven't even really experienced being a teacher? As Shad implied, an admin (at least in my experience) who hasn't had at least some teaching experience will not possess the knowledge, empathy or command the respect necessary to be a leader of students and teachers.
Get a job. Concentrate on getting a feel for the classroom and the skills necessary to be a successful teacher. Then give thought to pursuing a leadership degree and/or leadership positions. You may find that being a great teacher is rewarding enough. I know I can't imagine being involved in the field of education (and working with all of the issues that come from trying to lead/please parents, teachers, owners, etc) without at least benefiting from the enjoyment and rewards of having my own class/students.
> As I read it, you are not yet quite a certified teacher and want to start
> working on your masters in educational leadership immediately after
> finishing your certification. Please correct me if I am wrong.
>
> Others might disagree, but with no real certified teaching experience, my
> advice would be to work for a few years and then look at doing the masters.
> Having a masters with little teaching experience is NOT going to endear you
> to many staff members with oodles of teaching experience.
>
> As well, it is only with experience that a lot of what you should cover in
> a masters in educational leadership will make real sense. Most reputable
> university programs I know of won't take someone with less than two years
> of teaching experience. I would be leery of doing a degree at an
> institution that doesn't have this requirement, for reasons stated above.
>
> Just my two cents.
>
> Shad
I was thinking the same thing. Becoming an admin may be your ultimate goal but how can you know that when you haven't even really experienced being a teacher? As Shad implied, an admin (at least in my experience) who hasn't had at least some teaching experience will not possess the knowledge, empathy or command the respect necessary to be a leader of students and teachers.
Get a job. Concentrate on getting a feel for the classroom and the skills necessary to be a successful teacher. Then give thought to pursuing a leadership degree and/or leadership positions. You may find that being a great teacher is rewarding enough. I know I can't imagine being involved in the field of education (and working with all of the issues that come from trying to lead/please parents, teachers, owners, etc) without at least benefiting from the enjoyment and rewards of having my own class/students.
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sdakota
Re: Masters Degree Questions
Thanks for the advice. I'll focus on finishing up my certifications, and getting a job internationally first.
Response
I dont see why you cant do both. I concur with a majority of the other contributors that your resume lacks authenticity as an admin candidate. Thats not to say that it doesnt happen, there are many admins who have no education background (aside from being students) who are administrators or because they are friends, family, or ownership, but from the perspective of a professional educator and going the merit based route, having a masters in Ed.Led is not going to get you the keys to the school, without some experience and in addition some management experience (just as great practitioners do not necessarily make good teachers, good teachers dont make good managers automatically). Entering IE, your application will be high on academics and low on experience, and In IT there are two things that matter 1) what you can teach (degrees, certificates, etc) and 2) what you have taught (experience), and of those two experience is king. The rule generally is no amount of experience equals any amount of training.
Where my response differs is that I see no reason to have to choose one of the other, and being a classroom teacher will give you access to students (for that research paper) and resources you can draw on for both your degree work and your teaching. There is no reason to do an M.Ed full time.
There really is no such thing as a degree of "Masters of Education Leadership", it is simply an M.Ed (Masters of Education) in Education Leadership. The second most common concentration is Curriculum and Instruction, but there are others including Technology, Special Education, Athletics, etc. A general Masters of Education is typically combined with teacher certification in a "Post-Bach" program, but general M.Ed programs exist. Another option is the MAT or Master of Arts/Applied Teaching.
The option for you is to find an Ed.Led program that offers a principal or administration certificate as part of the degree program, and in which you will either qualify to work an an administrator (likely AP) as an intern, or will have a student leadership component, which will lead to developing admin experience. This is important, because its very difficult without connections to get into an admin position without a lot of existing teacher experience, the exception is if your already an administrator (with experience) coming in. Thats a long time for you, your looking at a decade, to get the teaching experience then get the admin experience then some international experience.
Where my response differs is that I see no reason to have to choose one of the other, and being a classroom teacher will give you access to students (for that research paper) and resources you can draw on for both your degree work and your teaching. There is no reason to do an M.Ed full time.
There really is no such thing as a degree of "Masters of Education Leadership", it is simply an M.Ed (Masters of Education) in Education Leadership. The second most common concentration is Curriculum and Instruction, but there are others including Technology, Special Education, Athletics, etc. A general Masters of Education is typically combined with teacher certification in a "Post-Bach" program, but general M.Ed programs exist. Another option is the MAT or Master of Arts/Applied Teaching.
The option for you is to find an Ed.Led program that offers a principal or administration certificate as part of the degree program, and in which you will either qualify to work an an administrator (likely AP) as an intern, or will have a student leadership component, which will lead to developing admin experience. This is important, because its very difficult without connections to get into an admin position without a lot of existing teacher experience, the exception is if your already an administrator (with experience) coming in. Thats a long time for you, your looking at a decade, to get the teaching experience then get the admin experience then some international experience.