Why did you choose to study at Deakin?
Amy: The course specifically allows me to study to achieve a dual stream qualification so I can teach in both early childhood and primary settings, giving me the flexibility I am after in my teaching career. I love the further flexibility of the Cloud campus, which frees me up to continue working in schools as an education assistant alongside pursuing my other interests and side jobs (yoga teaching, music and theatre). Last but not least was the appeal of Deakin’s Global Education Program (GEP), which I was lucky enough to participate in last year. I had a 5 week, life-changing teaching placement in a remote community in the Northern Territory. I believe opportunities such as these will give me a leading edge for employability after graduation and I’m so grateful to have experienced remote teaching as a student, discovering it really is something I am interested in doing.
What made you interested in choosing your study area to pursue a career?
Amy: I have always loved working with children and planned a career in teaching after my delving deep into my performing arts interests in my undergraduate. I find that teaching has many crossovers with arts, especially in the younger years, and I’m really passionate about play-based learning. I am also attracted to the job security with teaching and look forward to exploring more of Australia with remote teaching positions.
How is your course preparing you to be work ready?
Amy: Deakin has a lot of placement hours and most teachers agree that this is where very important learning happens. The Global Education Program NT placement in Borroloola has allowed me to plan for a future in remote teaching, an invaluable insight into this complex teaching environment which I am so grateful to have experienced during my studies.
Tell us about your experience of Deakin’s teaching staff.
Amy: Deakin had a very well established reputation as a leading university for teacher preparation courses in Australia. I believe this is in part due to the high quality staff. As a Cloud student, I’ve found the academic staff to be very approachable and easy to communicate with online which has really helped me settle in to this mode of study.
Have you faced any challenges whilst studying?
Amy: Adapting to the very heavy workload of a Master level degree, delivered through online study, was a big change for me. Deakin have so many awesome resources to help with this transition, such as the study planner which breaks down when you should have research, 1st draft, 2nd draft and final changes completed for any assignment in a realistic timeframe. These types of planning tools are really helpful.
What would you say to someone about to study online?
Amy: You have so much more flexibility to gain experience working in your chosen field alongside studies. As you don’t have to physically attend lectures, you’re more free to pursue other interests which really helps with work life balance. I find time to practice yoga and play guitar alongside scheduling a full day of study and find this really works for me.
Amy Murray is studying the Master of Teaching (Primary and Early Childhood) via Deakin’s Cloud Campus.