Further education? – ain’t nobody got time for that!

Last year was a big one for me.  I continued my role as Principal in an ever-changing, vibrant, and growing school while managing various family responsibilities that required international travel. There were two other standouts that made the year special: I had a milestone birthday and I finished my Master's in ‘Evidence-Based Teaching’, with thanks to #MelbourneUniversity.

Working in leadership for the past fourteen years begged the question, why hadn’t I done further study before? My justification was that I already had a degree, a post-graduate diploma and lots of experience. Children and life seemed to be the next step, and further study just didn’t seem ever to be the right time.

With a career and family, is it ever the right time for anything else?

Then I transferred from being a Principal in secondary education to primary, and while my ancient K-12 degree gave me the qualification I needed, I knew in my heart, I was out of touch – so it was time to hit the books and re-learn. I was terrified; it had been a long time since I had written an academic essay, and my pride was on the line.

So, if you are considering going back to study this year, this blog is for you. Here are six handy hints on how to get through it while working full-time, having a social life and managing your own children with as few meltdowns as possible!

Step 1:

Before you even start, find someone you trust, preferably in academia, who will proofread and give you writing structure advice and confidence, especially in the early stages. I asked around and was given the name of a friend of a friend – she had the beautiful philosophy that it was good to give back to someone else given that others have helped her. Her advice was invaluable – rearranging paragraphs, questioning meaning, and general grammar will take away the imposter syndrome and dread of terrible marks. Beautiful lifelong relationships develop with vulnerability and trust. 

Step 2:

Navigate the new technical world. Half the battle these days is figuring out all the online content, how to use the learning platforms, and figuring out referencing. Even just enrolling can be challenging. If you are older like me, find a young technical person to help you. It might even be your teenager. I was lucky enough to have help from a colleague who taught me the intricacies of Zotero and had endless patience and encouragement that learning the tool to manage bibliographic data pays huge dividends in the end. It really does and is worth the investment.

Step 3:

Block off time. Let's be real; we all want to find that recommended twenty hours part-time a week, but is it really possible? I decided that six hours on a Saturday while my son was at music school and three hours on a Monday night would be my staple time every week. Anything on top of that was a bonus. The trick is to be regular and keep motivated. Even when you want a day off, stick to the allocated time as it becomes routine, and you can get it all done if you consistently stick to it. Yes, there will be the odd weekend when you need to really add in some hours, but there is no point at this stage in life in pulling the all-nighter we once did. After all, why are you doing this? To learn or to get a bit of paper? If you want more help in creating and maintaining good habits, I suggest getting a copy of, or audiobook, “Atomic Habits” by James Clear.

Step 4:

Be kind to your lecturers. Many lecturers are giving back to education, their pay may be lower than expected, and some are still studying or researching themselves. As tempting as it may be to try to impress our lecturers as we all want our teachers to like us – try not to take over in class, use fancy words, namedrop, or exercise a lack of humility! Instead, make yourself memorable, enjoy the teacher's personalities, enjoy their teaching, be interested and above all, respect them – they have worked academically hard to get where they are, and the fact that they are lecturing means, at that point, they know more! Follow their advice – it is foolish not to, given they are marking your work.

Step 5:

The adage of 75% planning and 25% writing still holds. Remember in the exam hall when you were given fifteen minutes of planning time and didn’t really use it because you just wanted to get on with the writing? It didn’t work then, and it doesn’t work now. Planning is key. Planning content, quotes, structure, flow, and main ideas for each paragraph is what makes a good submission. The most important question to ask is, what are you trying to say? If someone cannot tell what you are trying to say in each essay, paragraph, or sentence, then you aren’t saying it clearly enough. Planning, subheadings, and introductory sentences all assist with signposting, making it an awful lot easier for your lecturer to mark your work and see where you are going when they are reading your essay with the rubric in front of them.

Step 6:

You will get a bad mark at some point, and you will have a meltdown when it all gets too much, and life continues relentlessly. Is it really such a bad thing for your kids (your own or your class)

to see how much you also care about doing well? That is good role modelling for study. Trust and remember why you started this endeavour in the first place. Keep your goal in mind. If it is overwhelming, go back to baby steps, get more advice, follow the game plan and keep the end in sight. It may seem easier to defer, but before you do that, speak to your course coordinator. There might be something they can do to help. Before you know it, the two years are up, and who knows what new challenge will be around the corner as a result of your success.

So, what are you waiting for? Further study is calling as it will make you a better educator.