Well, here we are! Just a matter of months ago, I wrote the first instalment of these diaries, documenting my journey through a postgraduate teaching degree. Now, I’m done with my first year back at uni, and I feel pretty satisfied overall!
I have a bit of a break from uni now, which I’ll use to travel and work (have to earn some dollars to counter the unpaid placement periods!), but I wanted to share some general reflections before finishing up for the year.
If you’re interested, you can find the previous instalments detailing my year below:
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#2 Placement
In general, I’m glad I ‘bit the bullet’
I left my full-time job to go back to uni, and it was a really difficult decision. What that looks like in practice is sacrificing a full-time salary (and everything that comes with that) to jump into something new, something exciting, and something a bit scary. In the short term, it was obviously a hard decision to make financially, but I’m still glad that I did it.
Why? Because I followed my gut instinct. I’m very conscious of the fact that not everybody could have done that in sheer practical terms, so I feel fortunate that I was in a position where I could think about what I actually wanted in life, and pursue that. There have definitely been good parts and bad parts, but overall I feel more holistically fresh and content. I think the change has been good for me.
Teaching isn’t easy, and placement is taxing
I’m not sure if anybody genuinely thinks that teaching is an easy profession, but some (I’m sure not all) of the difficulties have become clear in this course. I’m honestly still not sure if I want to pursue teaching as a career, but I feel like I’m better placed to make a decision now than I was 12 months ago, and I will be better placed again in 12 months from now.
It was hard to know what to expect from placement before starting. If I had to describe the overall experience in three words, I would say something like “hard but rewarding”. It’s pretty difficult walking into a completely new environment, with unknown expectations and processes, but there are also really nice moments throughout that remind you why you’re doing it all in the first place.
My placement experiences this year (see #1 here, and #2 here) were quite different, which I think is a good thing, but I’m still a bit nervous about the (longer) two placement periods next year.
I’ve found the academic experience a bit easier
When you start an undergraduate degree for the first time, everything is new, including academic expectations. I remember taking a little while to adjust to things like referencing and academic standards, which is very common and totally understandable. I also remember feeling completely lost on campus, and generally feeling out of place.
This time around, some of those new things have, well, not been quite so new. Even though each degree comes with different expectations, it’s been easier to adjust this time, and skills built through undergrad have really come in handy.
That’s not to say that the coursework or assessments themselves have been easier, of course - just the adjustment process.
Some questions have been answered
At the start of the year, I had a lot of unanswered questions about the course and what the experience would be like. Two semesters down, I feel like I can now provide some insight for anybody else who might have similar questions.
What will the student body be like?
There’s quite a variety of students!
Some have continued with the postgraduate degree straight after their undergraduate studies. Others have had a small break of a few years. Others still have come back to uni after a long time away.
Some have kids, others don’t. Some are currently working in schools, others aren’t. Some know for sure that they want to teach, others are less certain. As I guess I would have predicted, there’s no ‘typical’ student, and I like that a lot. You get a lot of different perspectives that way.
What will the assessments be like?
There are no exams at all in this course. Honestly, I didn’t mind exams in my undergraduate studies, but it definitely is nice not to have to think about them at all. Instead, 100% of your mark for each unit is decided with in-semester assessments.
My experience so far is that each unit comes with two major assessments - typically one before placement, and one after placement. There’s been a big emphasis on understanding your students and planning accordingly with reference to curriculum and other standards. Some assessments have required actual lesson plans, which were a little overwhelming at first (lots of new terminology), but fairly intuitive once the ball started rolling.
What is the LANTITE like?
I spoke about the LANTITE (Literacy and Numeracy Test for Initial Teacher Education Students) at the end of this article.
Doing some preparation for it was very useful - there are some official practice questions and the like, which can help build familiarity with what you will be doing on the day of the test.
Will I be able to work on top of uni?
It was hard to know how many hours would be needed to dedicate to classes, placement, and other study. I have two jobs at the moment, which are both casual, and I’ve been able to balance those in addition to my uni studies. I know that others are trying to work full-time in addition to full-time study, and they’re having a really tough time balancing both.
I reduced hours through my placement periods, which I recommend if you’re in a position that allows it.
What will contact hours look like?
Quite a lot of the materials (like lectures etc.) are online, but I’ve typically had one 2-3 hour tutorial per subject, per week. I spread them over three days on campus last semester, and two days this semester.
How is placement organised?
I also wrote a little bit about how placement works here. It’s been very easy from my perspective - my uni basically just told me where I’d been placed a few weeks prior, I contacted the school, and we went from there! There have been no major issues, and it’s been relatively smooth sailing.
Will there be much of an emphasis on behaviour management?
One thing I will say is that I feel like there hasn’t been heaps of support in terms of practical classroom strategies. Placement was obviously very good for this - you can learn a lot from your mentor teacher - but classes haven’t touched on this too much yet. Perhaps they will in second year!
Thanks so much for joining me on my uni journey this year. It’s been a really interesting experience going back to uni, and I’m looking forward to starting (and finishing!) second year.
All the best for the rest of the year!
