Retraining and changing careers at any point in your life is a significant decision filled with uncertainty but having completed the Master of Teaching (Secondary) at UQ I am positive that it was the right one. Becoming a teacher has always been an ambition of mine and I believe that the Master of Teaching (Secondary) has given me the classroom management skills and pedagogical knowledge to be successful in my new role which I will start in January 2020.
Despite this as anyone who has spent time in the classroom knows, no amount of study can fully prepare you for the realities of the classroom and time spent in the classroom is essential. With this in mind, the significant amount of time spent on placement is one of the best aspects of the program at UQ and one of reasons why I choose UQ.
The teaching staff at UQ were very supportive throughout the program and made the effort to model effective classroom teaching strategies which gave me first-hand experience of seeing best practice in action. Additionally, lecturers teaching subject specialisation courses were either currently teaching in high schools or had recent classroom teaching experience. Furthermore, courses were generally taught through tutorials and workshops rather than lectures which encouraged student participation and provided more opportunity for role-play and discussion. This was another aspect of the program which I found to be really valuable as teaching is a skill which is best learnt by doing.
Overall, I found the program at UQ to be very hands-on, with lots of time spent in real classrooms and for those reasons I would highly recommend to anyone considering a career in teaching to choose The University of Queensland.
