Is a masters worth it?

[CheesecakeAddict]

I've been offered a place on an MEd but now I'm wondering if it is worth it. Two years and £10k is a long time and a lot of money if it's not necessary. How likely is my career to progress without one, and say, just the npqslt?

I'm interested to hear from those that managed to progress without one, but also those that did one, do you have any regrets?

[Soontobe60]

None of the Headteachers I've worked with have had a Masters.

[LolaSmiles]

I did one for my own interest with no expectation that others would value it much.

Personally, I found it interesting and has made me a better practitioner. The down side is I'm getting increasingly irritated at the rise of people thinking reading a blog from Twitter makes them some sort of research guru go push their own teaching and learning agendas. In that respect it's made me even more cynical about initiatives that are full of hot air or oversimplified takes on 'the research'.

[bettybattenburg]

In my experience it is more about proving what you know than actually developing further.

[NeurotrashWarrior]

A close relative is a professor of education though retired. In his opinion, in terms of career, it's only worth doing an MA to deeper your own understanding of something and to lay foundations for a phd.

It would possibly be worth it for say autism but imho you need to do all the key courses as well such as pecs, SCERTS etc.

The teachers I've worked with who have mas or phds haven't been any "better" as a teacher and indeed one was the only teacher I've ever worked with who I felt wasn't a good teacher.

[MiniChoc]

My understanding is you need to do it for your own learning. Not career progression. I've just deferred my place- meant to be starting in Sep but with covid changing everything I've put it off for a year.

[CheesecakeAddict]

Thank you all for your opinions and insights.
I've been sleeping on it for a few days and decided that this is something I've wanted to do for years but finding it so hard to commit to as I'm a bit scared (work full time, single parent, bit of a mental personal life) but as my divorce comes to an end, I think if I leave it any longer, I'm going to start telling myself I'm too old. I am going to do it online given the uncertainty around covid and also so I can fit it around parenting. I am really excited!

[Sewingbea]

I agree with what @LolaSmiles has said.
I think that my masters has certainly got me interviews as it shows commitment. I've applied for four jobs in the last twenty years since I completed my masters, got interviews for all of them and got three of the jobs.
Choose your course carefully because it will take a lot of your time.