Bernadette's story

I am currently in my third year of study with the TLI. I deliberated for two years before finally signing up. I was terrified and feeling very unsure of myself in the first two weeks of studying, wondering what on earth I had signed up, constantly comparing myself to my peers, who were, mostly, much younger than me.

Over two years of the foundation degree, I felt my confidence grow immensely in forming an evidenced opinion, analysing evidence from different viewpoints and discussing the many different topics with my peers. Collecting evidence from my setting was, at first, daunting, but with experience and a very supportive setting, I have studied a whole range of topics and researched them all thoroughly. Learning about children’s development, what motivates them, children’s mental health, teacher-pupil relationships, and many other subjects, but the most important learning has been what I have learnt about myself on this whole journey.

All the tutors are very supportive, really going out of their way to help and guide us all on a spectacular journey of study. It has been tough, and sometimes, hard-going to self-motivate myself when dealing with real life too, but the rewards have been immense, so much so that I signed up for the full BA (Hons) degree, by completing a third year of study.

The final year has primarily been online due to lockdown, which has been very different but we have survived and I am now writing my last and most important assignment. Time has actually gone very quickly!

The right time to sign up for this course, will be when you decide to do it. I took a long time to decide, but it had to be right for me. It’s a decision I certainly do not regret making. A thoroughly interesting course with great support and encouragement from the tutors.

Claire's story

I am in my third year of study with The Learning Institute, in the final stages of completing my dissertation ready for submission in a few weeks! I remember how I felt when I started this course 3 years ago: anxious and worried but also excited about what the future would hold for me.

I have learnt so much about education practice over the past 3 years. A large part of the course, and indeed practice generally, is comparing literature and theory to what happens in educational settings: this worked perfectly alongside my full time job as a teaching assistant in a junior school. My understanding of the curriculum, teaching and learning styles, child development, motivation and special educational needs and disabilities has increased extensively. This is due to the extremely knowledgeable and professional collection of tutors that have taught us over the past 3 years. Not only has their knowledge and experience been invaluable to us as students, but their support has exceeded my expectations particularly during the past year where the delivery of our modules has been online. They have supported and inspired me throughout my studies and will continue to do so as I progress into an education practitioner myself.

The next leg of my journey will involve completing my teacher training qualifications to achieve my current goal of being a primary school teacher. Of course there have been challenging times, but I have got through it with my determination and motivation to be successful, and with the support of my cohort and tutors. No one said managing and balancing a full time degree with a full time job would be easy, but it has definitely been worth it. I cannot wait to see what the future holds for me, and I am very proud of how far I have come already.