Marifatul Amalia - Research pathway | Moray House School of Education and Sport | Moray House School of Education and Sport

'The most useful thing I learned is to always challenge my own assumptions and be critical towards something that we usually take for granted in life. While this seems to be ‘obvious’, the lectures, workshops, and tutorial sessions here are designed so that students have to step back and think critically about the issues before formulating an argument.'

'One of the best universities in the UK and in the world'

The University of Edinburgh, in general, is one of the best universities in the UK and in the world. And Moray House School of Education and Sport, is also well-acknowledged for their top programme in Education, where there are several distinguished professors that fits my interests in inequality in education.

I am interested in education issues and how we can make education policy better for people. I wanted to get more knowledge about education itself, then to apply the knowledge to the current pressing issues, such as inequality.

'What is education for?'

[I most enjoyed] the courses, the professors, and the cohorts. The courses are well-designed such that it begins with answering a question about “What is education for?” then it ends with contemporary issues in education, such as inequalities, ethics, and digital transformation. These all are reflected in the available optional courses.

The professors are well-acknowledged in their field. And the cohort, I could not be more grateful to know people from everywhere around the world and learn about different cultures, and different thoughts, during my programme.

'The most useful thing I learned is to always challenge my own assumptions and be critical'

This programme helped me to develop my critical thinking and academic writing through assignments, presentations and class discussion (or debate). Additionally, as an ESRC-funded student, I had an opportunity to take some compulsory courses in other schools (the School of Social and Political Science). From here, I developed additional research methods from courses that I took, such as quantitative analysis, research design, and finally, MSc dissertation.

The most useful thing I learned is to always challenge my own assumptions and be critical towards something that we usually take for granted in life. While this seems to be ‘obvious’, the lectures, workshops, and tutorial sessions here are designed so that students have to step back and think critically about the issues before formulating an argument.

'See where your interests land!'

The MSc Education programme fits people with any previous educational and cultural background. The programme also covers wide topic areas in education. So, please check the available course options and see where your interests land!

Beyond graduation

I am starting a PhD programme at Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh in October 2022. My research topic is inequality in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education, where I will explore gender inequality and inequality across socioeconomic status in STEM.

I want to, hopefully, work as a university professor with interests in inequalities and education policy. The courses in this programme helped me with a basic foundation in education topics and tools to conduct research in education, which will be useful to develop my research framework in the future.

Alumni advice

It will be good to have an initial idea of your interests. This will be helpful to choose elective courses, plan your assignments, and more importantly, your MSc dissertation. Having initial research ideas or interests will help to make the most out of the year of your Master’s programme. You will also work more efficiently in terms of literature review and building your research methods.

Also, please keep in touch with your lecturers, tutors, and staffs. They can help to brainstorm your research ideas and they may recommend you to their colleagues that will help you with your research.

This article was published on 2024-10-07