In early spring of 2011, I finally decided to take the plunge and go for my Master of Arts in Education degree. I had been looking at a program for a few years, dreaming about it, but I finally decided that the time was right. In any case, it wasn't going to get any better. So, starting in fall of 2011, I was once again a student.
I quickly remembered why I was so happy when I graduated with my Bachelor's. While I love learning, I hate being a student. I love reading, but hate reading assigned texts. They're long, often boring, and even if the subject fascinates me, they seldom fail to put me to sleep. And then there's all the assignments; reflections on the readings, comparing readings to my teaching, reflections on my teaching, devising new lesson plans (often for a subject, age group, or environment I'm not teaching in), and on and on and on. Almost all of my assignments were valuable and taught me a lot, but they were still hard to get through. Needless to say, when I graduated in spring of 2013, I was very relieved. For the first time in two years, I didn't have to plan my weekends around readings and assignments. I could stay up late reading novels for fun, or even go to bed early if I wanted. So, why on earth did I put myself through this?
1 A lot of what I learned reaffirmed the way I was already teaching. My gut instincts told me something I was doing was good, but now I have research to back it up. For example, the way I treat rewards. If you have attended very many lessons with me, you'll realize I don't give out physical rewards often, and I'm careful with praise. Rather than because I'm mean or stingy, it's because research has shown that external motivation (like prizes) can undermine internal motivation (the drive every child is born with to learn). Praise, too, can have unintended consequences and also undermine internal motivation, as well as make it more difficult for someone to learn.
2 Many of the assignments, requiring me as they did to work with students in a standard classroom experience, reaffirmed my belief that I am in the right line of work. I LOVE teaching. When I have to take time off teaching (like recently, with the birth of my son), I'm very excited to get back to teaching. But being self-employed can be very difficult, so I periodically entertain the thought of working in a school setting. Even just volunteering for a few hours, once a week, in a school setting made me realize how very much I do NOT want to work in a school. Those few hours were exhausting, draining, and very frustrating. I wanted to get to know each student, and be able to work with them individually because it was obvious they all had different needs, but that was impossible. Even when I could work with a student individually on something, it was something that student had no desire or interest in, which was why they were struggling. Teaching private music lessons has spoiled me. All of my students want to take lessons, and they want to play their instrument. I never have to work with an unwilling student. Yes, I am in the right career path for me.
3 Being back in school really made me appreciate NOT being in school. It always seems, that when I'm not in school I look back on that time period with rose colored glasses, and miss it. But as soon as I'm back, I remember why I was so eager to get out. Hopefully, this time I'll be able to remember.
I really did learn a LOT with my master's. If you're interested in more specifics, please do check out my portfolio. I have a page showcasing some of my favorite assignments, a page for each of the classes I took, and then a few essays I wrote about my experiences as a whole.
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