If you’ve ever thought about stepping up from your current position to become a leader in secondary school education, Open Universities Australia says there has never been a better time.
As the Australian population continues to grow, so does the number of students moving through the secondary school system. This increase is creating ongoing demand for qualified teachers to take on roles of leadership.
For those already working in the industry, the task of upskilling can seem near impossible. After all, educating the next generation can
leave little time for much else – let alone attending on-campus lectures and tutorials.
While this may have been a barrier to career advancement for educators in the past, the tide is turning. Online education is empowering teachers of today – offering them the ability to fit postgraduate study in with existing school responsibilities.
National leader in online education, Open Universities Australia (OUA), offers more than 25 postgraduate degrees in education from leading Australian universities. This allows education professionals to reach their full potential as leaders through online study – without having to sacrifice income, family or existing school commitments.
The making of a true leader
What are the skills that set leaders in education apart? Petrah Harslett, founder of Teachers On Net and Tap for Teacher, has had countless interactions with principal associations and education experts. She explains, “Being able to apply leadership skills to different areas comes down to emotional intelligence and the ability to get along with others – and build a team around you. Empathy, collaboration and communication are key skills; and this is the case for both primary and secondary schools.”
Value in collaboration
In addition to emotional intelligence, Ms Harslett praises the ability of true education leaders to take a collaborative approach to their work. “If you’re a maths teacher for example, it’s less about how brilliant you are at maths; and more about how well you get along with other staff members and how well you are able to work with them to achieve the desired outcomes.”
Your path to success
Whether leadership means becoming a head of faculty, curriculum coordinator or principal, a postgraduate degree such as a Master of Education is integral to success. Postgraduate degrees in education give students the ability to enrich their critical thinking, inform new perspectives and show employers that they are up to the challenge of solving complex educational issues.
“A Master of Education provides educators with the opportunity to get involved in lots of projects at their school, forces them into opportunities where they have to work on their leadership skills, and offers them visibility,” Ms Harslett says.
Finding the right fit
As thousands of Australians are realising, OUA simplifies the task of finding the right degree for career progression. OUA offers hundreds of degrees and subjects from leading Australian universities in one place – making it easy to compare on curriculum, price and university rankings.
As well as demystifying choice, OUA offers students the ease of studying online – a benefit being taken advantage of by working professionals who are keen to upskill while maintaining their career.
In some degrees, students can even mix and match subjects from multiple universities. This allows those looking for career progression to tailor the outcomes they’d like to achieve. There’s also the option to weight study loads up and down, depending on how busy life at home (or school) becomes.
At the end of their degree, students will graduate with exactly the same qualification from their chosen university as if they had studied
on campus.
Nahin’s journey
Nahin Juma Edmunds, a teacher at Aidi International School in Beijing, chose to study the Master of Education with Curtin University online through OUA as a final step in his education.
As his career progressed, Mr Edmunds became a Head Teacher in his workplace’s art and design program. During this process, being able to juggle his classroom commitments while developing leadership skills was paramount. “Open Universities Australia gave me the freedom to study whilst working at the same time,” he says. “I can work all day and study without having to rely on a particular class time.”
Seize the opportunity
With more than 25 Master of Education degrees from leading Australian universities available to study online, Open Universities Australia is giving secondary school professionals the chance to reach their full potential.
