Going to University

Going to university/college as a mature student last year was a huge undertaking with many
considerations. Balancing employment, balancing a husband, teenage daughters also about to
embark on intense study for GCSE’s. Being a house wife, generally being a superwoman
how could I possibly do more!
I entered the education system with some trepidation, fortunately for me I was accepted.
Being part of one’s peer group is of crucial importance for most people when entering into
the education system. My peers saw me as an additional More Knowledgeable Other
(Vygotsky 1978) to their tutors citing me in presentations or just acknowledging me verbally.
Now I’m about to embark on second year and I feel all the knowledge I have had to give to
my peers has already been given.
Why did I embark on Higher Education in the first place? It wasn’t because I went straight to
work at 16 or that I came from a disadvantaged background it was simply because my
qualification was no longer recognised as level 3. When I attended a comprehensive school in
the eighties, I was not encouraged to achieve good grades, in fact through careers advice, my
class was advised to seek employment in either the dockyards if you were a boy or if a girl, a
machinist at the clothing factory. Instead I went straight to college to become a nursery nurse
NNEB (National Nursery Nurse Examination Board).
Now thirty-three years after I embarked on a career in early years I wish to continue and be
the best that I can be. My peers have become my More Knowledgeable Others, in
Technology they have helped me with IT, with presentations and essays they’ve helped with
referencing and continue to be supportive to a lady who has not quite kept up to date with
modern technology.
I now have a thirst to develop myself as much as I can, I know that having a higher
qualification will benefit the children in my setting. ‘Settings that have staff with higher
qualifications have higher quality scores and their children make more progress.’ (EPPE
Project 2004:01) it is now time to embrace year two: level 5 and move forward.
References
Institute of Education. (2003). The Effective Provision of Pre-School Education EPPE
Project. Available at: http://eppe.ioe.ac.uk/eppe/eppepdfs/bera1.pdf (Accessed 1 October
2017)
Vygotsky, (1978) Mind in Society: Development of Higher Psychological Processes.
Cambridge: Harvard University Press