Education graduates are not just working or aspiring schoolteachers – there is so much more to the prestigious degree.Education is the most ideal subject for educators,of course, but a professional’s opportunities as an educator become much widerafter they get their master’s degree. If you already have a bachelor’s degree in education, we are aboutto give you a few solid reasons to pursue a post-graduate course next.
Educational Consultation or Guidance Counselling for Parents and Students
Educational consultants often work with individual families. In this role, the consultant will act as an education guidance counsellor, helping parents and students by:
- Educating them about recent changes made in the education system.
- Informing them about the various applicable academic opportunities.
- Suggesting educational paths most adequate for the concerned student.
- Suggesting and finding schools/colleges that fit their client’s criteria.
- Helping them through the various application processes and formalities.
Educational Consultationfor Public and Private Organisations
These educational consultants are highly educated experts of the subject who work with different types of clients on a contractual basis. The most experienced and capable consultants generally work with establishments or organisations such as:
- Public and private schools.
- Government agencies related to the education department.
- The education department.
- Business organisations related to the education industry.
- Nonprofit organisations related to educational welfare and development.
- Rural communities.
What the consultant will be required to do will vary, in accordance with the client type. For example, whenemployedby an educational institute, the consultantwill be expected toprovide:
- Help with creating and/or updating education policies and assignment writing services.
- Help with creating administrative policies, as necessary for the institute.
- Information related to the applicableeducation department’s regulations,which the client institute must adhere to.
- Insights about the institute’s present state of compliance regarding theapplicableregulations.
- Actionable suggestions about improving their compliance standards.
Themost respected, well-paid, and influentialjob profiles in this field are held by educational consultants who work with public/private organisations. The onlineMasters in Education program at the University of Exeter excels in teaching curriculum developmentand education policy development, among other subjects. The course comes highly recommended for thoselooking to assume an administrative or leadership position in the field of education policy making.
Education Policy Analysis
The education policy analyst is not only an expert in the subject of education, but also a proficient data analyst. To qualify for the role in a private or public organisation, a background in data analytics is also necessary. Some of the job roles of the education policy analyst can be summarised as explained next.
Establishing or verifying connections in between multiple events in a causal relationship. For example:
- Poor hygiene policies = chronic illness = frequent absence = poor performance
- Overtly strict school policies = high dropout rates
- Overcrowded classes = low average performance = higher dropout rates
- Outdated school curriculum = high rate of post-school failure
Anyone can guess that one might be leadingto an effect and vice-versa, but education policy analysts do not guess. They establish or verify those connectionson an institutional/community/city/county/nationallevel by analysing the available data.
Post establishment and verification, education policy analysts create one or moremultistep solutions to the root problem(s).To whom the solution is offeredwill depend on who their client is. From national government agencies, state education departments, nonprofit educational organisations, private/public schools and universities, to even mass media outlets and investigative organisationsknownto hire education policy analysts.
Educational Therapy
Student guidance counseling may sound similar to educational therapy, but these are two completely different job profiles.While education guidance counselling is about helping students find, apply and enroll for academic programs, educational therapy is centered on helping students who are falling behind in class. Educational therapists require trained expertise over bothapplied psychology and education. To better explain the role, we will summarise some of their most important responsibilities next:
- Educational therapists identify students who are falling behind and/or acting out due to psychiatric or neurological factors.
- Conditions that they identify include, but are not limited to clinical depression, anxiety disorders, learning disorders, ADD and ADHD to name just a few.
- They note behavioral patterns developed by thosestudents to cope with their difficulties (emotional outbursts, avoidance, making excuses, etc.)
- Educational therapistshelp distressed students cope with their learning problems by devising effective strategies.
Each strategy devisedfor aspecial student is uniquely crafted for that student, andcaters exclusively to their specific difficulties, shortcomings, and overall personality.If you wish to help young minds as both an educator and a counselor, very few jobs are as rewarding as educational therapy.
EducationalContent &Standardised Assessment Development
This is a lucrative field, directly related to what you willbe taughtduring yourMA in Education program. Potential employers includecompanies related to the education industry, likepublishers, printing houses, assessment testdevelopment companies, and even statistical educationdepartments of the state. In the role of an educational content developer, you will be expected to:
- Develop, edit, assess, and update content for textbooks, workbooks, andother educational content.
- Write lesson plans and outline lessons within the educational content.
- Gather data on the assigned topic and reformat it as suitable content for the intended students’ level.
If you are also hired forassessment test development, expect additional responsibilities such as:
- Creating and verifyingaccurate statistical models for the assessment tests.
- Verifyingthe existing statistical models in terms of their accuracy in assessing student performances.
A background or education in data analytics might benecessary if the employer deals exclusively with creating standardised assessments.
Aside from the career opportunities discussed here, teachers and professors, in general, are prime educators who also stand tobenefit fromcompleting their master’s in education. Becoming an academic in any given subject can help us attain expertise over that subject, but knowledge alone is not sufficient for teaching others. Simply because we know how to do something, it does not mean that we will be able to teach someone else to do itautomatically. Education and teaching programs are designed to teach experts how to impart a portion of their vast knowledgevia simple methods.These methods are createdto make complex, newinformation, moreengaging for students at various levels.
