"... a very practical university" - Alison Dengate

Find out more about studying Master of Teaching at UWS.

Alison Dengate, Master of Teaching (Primary)

It’s a long way from Campbelltown’s St Patrick’s Ladies College and an even longer way from Canada for Australian Alison Dengate but she’s come back home from her adopted country to undertake a Master of Teaching (Primary).

She’s chosen to do the accelerated 12 month program and while that option is not for the fainthearted she’s enjoying the immersion and intensity of the course.

The choice to finish the Master’s degree in one year was an important factor in Alison’s decision to study at UWS. Coupled with the flexibility to start mid year and her positive experience gaining her undergraduate degree in Theatre from UWS, her decision was easy.

Additionally the University course came recommended from someone she trusted.

“I also had a really strong recommendation from a really good friend who had just finished the Masters of Teaching Program,” she says.

Now that she’s actually doing the course how has she found it?

“The practicality of most of the subjects is very engaging. You’re not just sitting there taking notes,” she says.

For Alison this is a huge motivator.

“It is really important that I achieve mastery because as a teacher I want to be the best teacher I can. That’s what they promote, that the teachers out there teaching the children can’t just be at a pass level, they really need to be at a mastery level,” she says.

“There are a couple of reasons why I chose UWS. They did a mid year intake which was really important to me and I could do it in 12 months which is important to me financially as well,” she says.

And she’s also enjoying the enrichment she’s experiencing as she learns  alongside those who’ve come to the  course from very different backgrounds.

“Everyone has a very varied experience which is great with this Master of Teaching program. We have students who have just finished their undergraduate program and we have students who have been working out in the field for 20 years who have come back to do this.”

The diversity doesn’t stop there. Her friends doing the course come from Marketing, Performing Arts and Human Resources backgrounds.

It makes for a vibrant experience.

“In my group of friends we have great discussions about what teaching means to us and how we need to implement the curriculum in the classroom,” she says.

And she doesn’t expect to stop learning once the course is over.

“They teach you how to learn yourself. They can’t give you all the information in 12 months but they can give you the strategies to go away and learn about it yourself,” she says.