The value of master’s projects for the professionalism and self-image of teachers and other professionals in pedagogy

• Published in: Netla
• Main Authors: Guðjónsdóttir, Hafdís, Jónsdóttir, Svanborg Rannveig, Gísladóttir, Karen Rut, Óskarsdóttir, Edda, Wozniczka, Anna Katarzyna
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Icelandic
• Published: Menntavísindasvið Háskóla Íslands 2022
• Subjects: master's degree project; teacher's agency; teacher empowerment; professionalism; research-based teacher education; reflection; meistararverkefni; atbeini kennara; valdefling kennara; fagmennska; fagleg sjálfsmynd; rannsóknartengt kennaranám; ígrundun; Iceland
• Online Access: https://ojs.hi.is/netla/article/view/3618; https://doi.org/10.24270/serritnetla.2022.87

Teaching degrees in Iceland require specialized education at university level, consisting of three years of undergraduate and two years of master’s-level study. Until 2020, it was mandatory to complete the master's program with a 30ECTS final project (MEd). As a result of Act No. 95/2019 on the education of teachers and administrators of schools, student teachers now have the choice of obtaining a Master of Teaching (MT) degree through coursework only, without doing a final project.After completing a master’s degree, teachers should have acquired good academic expertise, be able to apply key research methods, and know how to ground their opinions and decisions in the research. Teachers should be professional leaders, able to create a development-oriented learning community (Act No. 95/2019). It is, therefore, important to ensure that teacher education prepares teacher students for diverse and challenging work.This study highlights the value of final projects for master’s students in teacher education. We examined the impact of master’s-level studies, concluding in a final project on teachers’ professionalism and practices. The research question was: How does working on the final project affect master’s students’ practice and professional identity? The theoretical framework builds on the concepts of research-based teacher education, professionalism, critical thinking and reflection, teacher agency and empowerment, and learning communities.This was qualitative research of educational practices that involved collecting meaningful data and critically analyzing that data. Fifty-eight of 91 graduated students responded to a qualitative survey and 20 students participated in focus group interviews. We applied a horizontal analysis of survey responses and a vertical analysis of interviews (Gaudet & Robert, 2018), first individually and then as a group. Through this analysis, we achieved a multi-dimensional overview and depth in shaping our understanding, setting out results, and drawing conclusions. The results were ...