Sofia is a part-time student on our MSc Teacher Education programme. She works as a full-time Key Stage 2 teacher and coordinator in a state boarding school, alongside her studies. Before coming to the department she also completed her BA (Hons), Primary Teaching with Natural Science and QTS, at University of Chichester.

What degree did you apply for and why was it important to you to study this? 
MSc Teacher Education. I am a young teacher in my career, however, have been given the opportunity to support student teachers and colleagues via mentoring and coaching. I am actively interested in researching academic theory and how this can be applied in practice to be effective teachers.

What do you hope to go on to do once you’ve completed your postgraduate degree? What do you hope to achieve?
Short term, I would like to continue mentoring and contributing to school-based teacher training and supporting young teachers in their professional development. Longer term, I would like to move into Higher Education and be involved in planning and delivering modules on an initial teacher training or PGCE course.

What do you most value about the teaching at the department?
The staff are all excellent with communication and support. They are researchers themselves and can share the best examples of academic research to support our assignments. They go above and beyond to meet with us and provide the best experience considering we’re distanced learners too.

Why do you think it’s important to study education?
Education is the fundamental basis of all careers in life, therefore to best prepare children for later life we need to ensure that they are provided with the best chance for success.

What’s the community (student & staff) like at the department?
As stated previously, the staff are friendly and approachable, and they have facilitated a positive working group between all students – especially given we are distanced learners and an international course. I feel genuinely cared about and that my views and research matter.