Finally, it must be acknowledged that there are many opportunities for continuing professional development (CPD) at Master’s level in addition to full Master’s programmes. Individual Master’s level modules are also available as part of CPD programmes. However, whatever form the programme takes, it should be distinct from undergraduate study in that it is not ‘more of the same’ but takes the student ‘beyond’ undergraduate learning.
| ACTIVITY |
Access your local university’s postgraduate prospectus and find out which Master’s courses they offer. How do these relate to the three types of Master’s courses described above?
BEING A MASTER’S STUDENT
There are also a number of themes that have been identified about Master’s study that it is important to consider. In an ethnographic study of postgraduate students by Tobbell et al. (2008), themes that were identified included the following.
Policy
There is a clear difference in approach to undergraduate and postgraduate study within the UK, with a governmental finance framework to support undergraduate students (student loans, fee framework, grants for less-advantaged students, etc.). Universities benefit financially from meeting agreed targets for undergraduate student recruitment while, in contrast, postgraduate students are responsible for identifying their own sources of funding, with a limited number of sources of financial support being available through specific institutions, professional bodies or employers.
Academic status
The postgraduate students in Tobbell et al.’s (2008) study reported feeling an enhanced sense of their academic status within the university in contrast to their undergraduate experience, and relationships with staff were more collegiate and more informal.
University systems
Perhaps because the majority of funding is for undergraduates, who represent the majority of the student body, postgraduate students reported that university facilities reflect full-time undergraduate patterns of study. Postgraduate patterns of study differ. Programmes do not necessarily run in normal working hours, with evening and weekend classes being used and, indeed, some postgraduate programmes are taught exclusively in the evening and weekends to accommodate the fact that postgraduate students are often working full-time alongside their studies to finance them.
| ACTIVITY |
Consider your Master’s course or the course you are considering taking. How have you funded/will you fund the course? What hours does the course run over and how does this fit with your personal or work commitments?
What impact did or will the funding and the taught hours have on your decision to enrol?
Life outside the course
Most Master’s students face a range of issues that need to be negotiated and problems that need to be addressed in order to enable them to participate fully in their studies. There is no escaping the interaction of normal life and the course, and it could be argued that engagement in university practice can depend on the negotiations that take place in order to deal with the complex demands of students’ lives. Data research (Tobbell et al., 2008) shows that, to a greater or lesser extent, Master’s students from the first term of study struggle with the demands of ‘real’ life and study life. This can be dependent on being in employment or, for mature students, having family commitments. Many postgraduate students are giving up time and money, which indicates a commitment and involvement with the process, but this exists in parallel with the tensions of family demands and self-denial (Tobbell et al., 2008).
| ACTIVITY |
Many universities have significant resources to help students who are experiencing difficulties. Think about your university or place of work. Who would you approach if you were experiencing a personal or financial issue that was impacting on your ability to attend the course?
Pedagogic practice and participation
Participation in postgraduate study requires active desire and considerable motivation. The postgraduate students in Tobbell’s research reported greater levels of motivation and active participation in their studies than they had experienced as undergraduates, facilitated by smaller class sizes where there is opportunity for interaction and activity. More emphasis is placed upon autonomous learning, learning through discussion and activity, collaborative learning and independence from ideas and approaches of tutors. The pedagogic practices used on Master’s courses, particularly to develop critical thinking skills, will be further discussed in Chapter 2.
WHAT IS ‘MASTERLY’?
The whole crux of Master’s level work is that the student shows a degree of ‘mastery’ in an area under investigation. Denby et al. (2008) give a clear framework for what this actually means:
| • | Masters demonstrate that they know what is written about the area (through literature review). | |
| • | They can discuss its features and failings and recognise the points of consent and contention (criticality). | |
| • | They can examine their own practice (through reflection). | |
| • | They can act as a change agent by using their examination to change practice (reflective practitioner). |
What is the difference between degree level and Master’s level study?
The word ‘degree’ comes from the Latin word gradus meaning ‘step’ – a step towards achieving mastery in a subject and towards understanding the truth about their particular academic discipline. Masters are not, therefore, expected to merely assimilate knowledge, but to explore the parameters of their particular subject area in order to achieve ‘mastery’. For health and social care professionals, this must also mean that they can bring their ‘mastery’ to bear on their own professional practice.
| ACTIVITY |
Think about the abilities that you would expect someone in your profession to exhibit if they had truly become a master of their professional area. It may help you to think in terms of:
• their knowledge;
• their skills;
• their behaviours and/or attitudes.
How are these different from the knowledge, skills and behaviours of someone who had studied only as far as degree level?
Regulation of higher education
As referred to previously, it is important to remember that the curriculum of higher education (HE) courses is closely regulated. The primary responsibility for academic standards and quality in UK HE rests with individual universities and colleges, each of which is independent and self-governing. However, the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) checks how well they meet their responsibilities, identifying good practice and making recommendations for improvement.The QAA publishes a set of reference points, known as the UK Quality Code for Higher Education, which institutions use in maintaining academic standards and quality. The Quality Code comprises three components: Part A: Setting and maintaining threshold academic standards; Part B: Assuring and enhancing academic quality; and Part C: Information about higher education provision (QAA, 2012; available at www.qaa.ac.uk/AssuringStandardsAndQuality/quality-code/Pages/default.aspx).