Studying for a master's degree with NITE

About Lou

Lou Darvid, a graduate of NITE's Senior Leadership Apprenticeship plus MA in Education Leadership and now a Curriculum Research and Wider Opportunities Lead, shares a bit about her background and why studying a master's has been so beneficial for her career.

Studying for a master's with NITE

My background is in secondary music. I taught this for seven years, led a department and then I moved to Australia, had children, and got into early years music.

When we came back to the UK, I decided I wanted to make the shift to primary music teaching. Although I was qualified on paper to teach 4–18-year-olds, I didn't have any primary school experience, so I started as a Teaching Assistant (TA) – teaching music as planning, preparation and assessment (PPA) cover and volunteering as a class TA. Then, when a job came up as a music teacher, I had already shown my skills. When we became a trust, I became responsible for music across the trust and when I started the master’s, I was the Music and Arts Lead for the trust.

Since completing the master’s, my career has progressed, sideways, in all kinds of different directions and now my job title is ‘Curriculum Research and Wider Opportunities Lead’.

Why did you choose the Senior Leader Apprenticeship plus MA in Educational Leadership?

I was trying to further my own skills and knowledge and I'd been looking at studying for a master’s, but I had been looking at music or music education. Then I received an email about this course. It was a lot broader, and I thought it might be better for my career development. It was the first time I looked at something that wasn't music-focused and this inspired me to consider leadership generally and not just music.

I was also looking at options to fund an MA myself, but this one was funded through the apprenticeship levy, which made it something that would be funded through school, and as they'd be fully aware of what I was doing, I would get some additional time in my working hours.

I was ready. My children were older. I could give it the time it would need. So, it just was very fortuitous.

I chose the MA in Educational Leadership because it was eligible for the apprenticeship levy; it was broad in terms of career progression, it had enough input across primary and secondary sectors and the whole of education, but also really because it was written by educationalists. Headteachers, teachers, people who were still in the profession, who understand it.

It wasn't coming from an academic. Obviously, it has a lot of academic content in it, but it wasn't written by an academic, it was written by people in education. That was a real draw for me.

What were the highlights of your course?

With anything over two years, there's going to be highs and lows. The first residential when I met people I’d only seen online and, all of a sudden, we’re all there in a room. Even after the course, there's three of us who are still really, really, good friends and we're all over the place; one's in Hull, I'm in South Devon, one's in Kent.

A real highlight was hearing other perspectives about different kinds of schools. Regardless of your experience or the school you're in, ultimately the challenges are the same. You can support each other through them.

The evidence base that the course opened up for me is another highlight. I love reading and researching, and I enjoy learning more and trying to improve my own skills. There is such a range of sources, the course has done all that work and pulled all that information together and gone, here you go – this is going to improve your practice.

How helpful did you find the support offered on the course?

The support offered was invaluable. I feel very lucky with the mentor that I had. Certainly, for myself (and I think I can speak for a few others) she was the reason that we got through the course.

Through the ups and downs, my mentor was on the end of an email, on the end of a video call, nurturing us through, keeping us going, not just with marking a draft of an essay, but actually getting us through as humans. And that was essential, I think.

How do you think the course has impacted you?

This course has completely changed my job. Without doing the master’s, people wouldn't have noticed my wider skills, and my voice wouldn't have been heard. One of our assignments was about professional development, so I surveyed all the staff to find out their genuine views, and I think because I'm very much in middle leadership they were very honest, and I was invited to the trust's senior leadership team to present my findings. As a result, we now have career development meetings, specifically about succession planning, looking at people's skills and how they can be supported through development or other courses. And we've brought in coaching, so now I've received some funding to implement coaching as part of my new role. We have undertaken an instructional coaching approach. Our trust's culture has changed and it all started with that piece of work from the master’s.

Personally, I am more confident. I have moved from leading a subject to leading people.

There's been a shift in thinking, but also in my self-belief that I can actually lead people, that I do know what I'm doing, and I can have that qualification. I think it just backs me up a little bit, having the certificate, but also, the knowledge and expertise that goes with it means that people listen to what I say.

What advice would you give to someone else considering this course?

I think you have to be in the right place in your career. Some off-the-job time is essential and if your company or school can't commit to it, there's going to be lots of late nights.

You also need the support from your school because you have to be able to implement your learning. This is where my line manager was so supportive – everything that I learned within the course I was able to take to someone in school and say, look what I found out.

And you also need the flexibility to meet the requirements of the course. The elements you need to implement at work. So, I think if you can be flexible and adaptable, then you can use your new knowledge in your workplace.

I think it can be a career-changing course.