The MSc in Education Business Management is now in its second year. This Masters programme is being actively shaped and developed by the programme team and the students: together they are creating a uniquely rich and varied programme to meet the diverse needs of those in the frontline of knowledge creation for a new profession.

This way of working provides students with rich opportunities for learning together, supporting each other’s learning and learning directly from each other. Our students have come to school business management from hugely varied backgrounds, some from running their own businesses, others from other industries and professions. Their roles in schools are very varied, but all are involved at strategic leadership levels within their schools.

The programme is still working with only one small group in each cohort, giving us the luxury of working almost exclusively on a seminar basis and able to provide individually tailored routes for each student’s electives. The programme is designed to be very flexible to correspond with the school business manager role that remains undefined, open and entirely dependent on the needs of individual schools. Students on this programme are genuinely excited by the range of opportunities that are available to them and have chosen this MSc partly because of this approach and also because the content is located in strategic levels of thinking.

A number of our students are particularly attracted towards opportunities to develop consultancy skills and to develop international perspectives, while others are more interested in developing skills in finance, project management and information systems. Whatever elective choices students make, we create collaborative learning opportunities for sharing learning. This way everyone benefits and the collective body of knowledge about school business management is enriched.

One of the students comments:

I chose this course for my development for the future. I have moved on from an operational role and was attracted to this course as the core units are not based on operational skills. I hope to further develop a strategic consultancy role.

Judith Williams, Judith Williams Training and Consultancy Ltd.

Cohort 1 has just entered its second year. All of the students have completed the mandatory core units and are working on their elective units, with only the dissertation remaining. These students will be the first graduates ever with a Masters in Education Business Management, graduating in July 2010.

Five of the Cohort 1 students have taken the International Unit, creating opportunities for international visits, three to the United States, one to South Africa and another to China; four have engaged in live consultancy in schools other than their own, others have taken other units such as Sustainable Development, Urban Education, or Project Management. They have availed themselves of opportunities to study alongside students on other programmes and with much excitement have brought their experiences back to share with their colleagues.

Cohort 2 is just at the beginning of this journey and promises to be just as rich and just as exciting.

We are recruiting now for Cohort 3, which is scheduled to start in October 2009.

If you are interested, you can request more details or an application form from the Programme Administrator, Charlie Odell
tel: 0161 247 5716, email: c.odell@mmu.ac.uk

Applicants should normally have a 2:1 honours degree or equivalent.