The MSc Education - Essay Example

The MSc Education The MSc Education (Comparative and International Education) is particularly appealing to me because it holds out the prospect of disseminating acquired knowledge in the international and comparative education field. Doctoral research in comparative education studies and the role of international financial agencies and transnational agencies (IMF) in teacher education and the contributions of nongovernmental institutions in resolving education issues closely corresponds with my career ambitions. I am considering a career in English Language teaching in an international setting or education policy-making specifically in Eastern Europe. This course is therefore ideal for providing me with an excellent academic background necessary for facilitating my career path. The opportunity to explore the changing education systems and developments within the context of globalisation, as well as the prospect of reshaping conceptual and methodological frameworks that run parallel to economic, social and educational policy changes changes excites me. I would therefore like to further investigate the comparative education field and the interplay between the global and local spheres. My undergraduate degree together with the experiences teaching young learners English as a foreign language as a part-time voluntary appointment at university and Multicultural English summer schools; as full-time employment during the summer breaks (2004-2009), significanlty contributed to my resolve with respect to Education related goals. From my own observations during the process of language teaching, I was able to understand the impact of socio-cultural and socio-economic forces on learning and receptivity. I was able to discern that various factors such as age, influence, personal motivations, and the overall learning environment, including social and intercultural settings, contributed the classroom dynamics. I found a new appreciation for the essential role of a teacher in facilitating the development of linguistic skills and effective communication within ethnically and culturally diverse contexts. In coming to this realization, I altered my approach to teaching during the course of my English Language teaching in summer school programmes to accommodate diversity. My educational and hands-on experience are a manifestation of that fact that the internationalisation of curriculum content form my core interests within international education disciplines. My enthusiasm for MSc Education naturally follows from my conviction that it will allow me to explore each of the above facets more substantively. My undergraduate degree is especially helpful in terms of preparedness for the MSc Education (Comparative and International Education) programme. This is because my undergraduate degree joined two fields: BA in English Language and Linguistics and International Relations (57.9% 2.2). My coursework in English Language and Linguistics course focused on syntax, morphology, phonology, semantics, pragmatics, lexis and discourse constructs. The Language and Society module helped me to develop a critical awareness of issues such as multilingual societies, speech communities, language socialisation as well as language planning and policies, specifically focusing on researching language in society via research design and data collection issues. The Sociolinguistics module also heightened my research interest as it involved an investigation of the main theoretical traditions of Sociolinguistics, including social and critical theory, and their fundamental assumptions. I have focused my research on linguistic relativism, language variation, sociology of language interactional sociolinguistics. Moreover, my postgraduate study, which I am currently pursuing, focuses on International Law (LLM) and supplements my undergraduate studies in internationalism and language/cultural diversity. My academic portfolio demonstrates my commitment to diversifying my educational experience through the exploration of cultural relations and international exposure. Fortifying and using my academic experiences I took placements in European Union funded projects , namely; the European Commission's Youth in Sweden, the Kreissau-Initiative Berlin and Polish-German exchange project in Germany, Poland, the Anglo-American Polish Association in Poland and the ESOL and EFL courses organized by Teamgate Learning Centres in the UK. I interacted with a peer community of diverse nationalities bringing together a new plane of cultural and linguistic interface. Being able to compare and contrast the educational systems in Sweden, Germany and Poland I was able to identify the curriculum differences, distinctive teaching methods and the similarities and differences in educational finance and management structures and developed a keen awareness of a range of comparative education studies. Additionally my employment at Global Water Intelligence which involves worldwide water politics is relevant as it augmented my ability to relate formal training with practical issues as it involved meeting strict deadlines through individual drive and teamwork. This position, together with my role in setting up events such as Open Days and Postgraduate Fairs at university has helped me appreciate the role of organization in communication and equipped me with the ability to take a practicable approach to problem solving. Read More