It feels like CPD opportunities have never been so plentiful for teachers. There are seminars, webinars, videos, blogs, courses and master’s plus the huge wealth of knowledge that is available 24/7 via Twitter. I have always embraced CPD; I have taken every opportunity going throughout my career because my love of learning has never left me. However, I have never really had a plan, I just went with the flow, doing things that seemed interesting and that were available. That didn’t matter when there wasn’t so much on offer but now that there is an endless supply, making more considered choices feels essential. It is overwhelming at times and knowing what to opt into and what to ignore can be a challenge. With time being such a scarce commodity, choosing wisely is so important.
Two and a half years ago I made possibly the wisest choice I could ever have made; I would go so far as to call it life changing, a bold claim I know. I applied to do my MA in Educational Leadership and as I reach the end of that journey (6000 words of my dissertation to go!) I have been reflecting on how I came to make that choice and what the implications have been for me. As adverts for virtual university open days keep popping up on Twitter, it feels like an appropriate time to pause and think about how I came to make the decision to apply and what it has meant to me as leader.
There is a long and short version of the story of how I came to apply. I’ll go with the short version; it cuts out the agonising back and forth conversations about why I shouldn’t do it and why I wouldn’t be good enough (notice the imposter syndrome striking hard there!) and gets straight to the point. So, the short version, I read a book, it was interesting, I did some research, I shared this with my colleagues, my Head made a passing comment of “you should apply to do a master’s” and it planted a seed that grew and grew until I couldn’t ignore it anymore. Fate played a part as his comment was made two weeks before the open day at my local university and once I had mentioned all this to my best friend, she offered to treat me to cake if I went for a chat with the course leaders and boom, my fate was sealed. I applied, they offered me a place and so it all began.
In my mind I was going to read some books, meet some interesting people and write some essays; there was no grand masterplan about career progression or financial gain, I just wanted to do something interesting. I hadn’t thought about the impact all of that would have on me or my day to day job as a Faculty Leader. That was naïve to say the least! I can confidently say that I now lead my Faculty. I make conscious, informed, considered decisions that are based on what I have learned. I understand the nuances, the subtleties and the complexities of what I am doing. Prior to my master’s I was doing the best I could, but it was largely based on gut instinct and luck than any informed judgement. Not because I didn’t want to do better but because I didn’t know that there was any other way.
It isn’t just studying educational leadership that has made me a better leader, the theoretical side of it has been interesting, but is the impact on my professional confidence that has been the biggest change. I have changed as a person; I have had the opportunity to discuss educational issues with lots of different people in different settings and that has developed my thinking. Having a greater awareness of issues and myriad viewpoints means that I feel confident that my decisions have a sound rationale and that makes me far more confident at putting my views forward. I have found my voice. I believe (most of the time!) that what I am going to say has value and that it is worth sharing. This confidence has been nurtured by my tutors and my fellow students; having a safe space to develop my voice has been transformational.
I have also discovered a renewed love of writing (hence the blog!) and I have reached a point where I feel able to share my thoughts. Twitter has provided a vehicle for sharing my thoughts with others and I have discovered a community of supportive, engaging and interesting people out there. I still feel like I am new to the whole online world but I am finding my way slowly but surely, thanks again to the confidence developed by studying.
So, how does this link to CPD? I am not advocating everyone sign up for an MA. It is a big decision and it wouldn’t be the right path for everyone. I have shared my story to highlight the value of choosing wisely in this time of abundance. There is so much CPD that pausing and thinking about what it is you are trying to achieve and what professional development you can do that will get you there. For me, I started on a quest to indulge my love of learning and ended up a more confident, self-assured leader who has met some amazing people and been lucky enough to have had the opportunity to share my writing with lots of people via different blogs. I have had my eyes opened to a whole other side of education, academia, and suddenly my world has got bigger and full of more possibilities that I could ever have imagined. Embrace CPD, choose the activity that lights a spark in you and see where it takes you. And should you want to do a master’s, I can recommend a really good course!
Creating Cognitive Classrooms 