Terra’s University Course

Thought I’d briefly share some information about why I’m here in Bristol and what I’m studying. I searched a long time all across Europe (on the internet, of course) for a perfect university programme that would suit my needs and interests. I was attracted to University of Bristol because of its high international profile, its research reputation in this field, and the course itself.

The programme is one year and I will graduate with a Masters in Education (MEd). The name of the programme is Educational Leadership, Policy, and Development. Within the programme, I am focusing more on the policy and development aspect, while others take courses designed to position them for education leadership jobs such as school headmaster or principal.

This term, I am taking three courses. They are: Introduction to Educational Inquiry, which covers how to conduct educational research; School Effectiveness and Improvement, which covers the concept of school effectiveness, how schools can make improvements and how those can be measured; and International Development, Comparative Research and Education, which broadly covers the agendas in the international education development field and how those agendas impact education systems across the globe.

My professors are very competent, well respected professionals who have done research across the world. My fellow students come from many different countries. I am only one of three US citizens in the entire MEd division, and the only one in my specific programme. We have many students from Africa, Asia (particularly China), parts of Europe and South America. Interestingly, opposed to Jason’s programme, we have very few students from India and the Middle East, whereas those countries are heavily represented in Jason’s MBA cohort.

My classes are only on Tuesday and Wednesday – between 1.5 to 2 hours per class. The UK system of higher education has very little contact time with professors, but is highly demanding of students to spend many out of class hours in studying, and reading what you want within the field. That has been a new journey for me, coming from a US system that provides you textbooks and tells you exactly what to read. Weekly, I have required reading for the classes, but am also expected to be reading within scholarly journals about my interests within the themes of the classes. This will prove useful when it’s time to write my end-of-term assignments.

I have no examinations, but am graded on my academic writings of one 1,000 word, one 3,000 word and two 4,000 word essays. Most are due after the completion of term in January. I must also give some group presentations, but they are not graded.

The study has been very enlightening, and I feel myself agreeing with the positions and research of my professors and classes, which tells me that I have made a good choice and that this programme is a good fit for me!