MEd Learning and Teaching in the Performing Arts

This part-time 180 credit programme provides a unique opportunity for practising artists and teachers in a performing arts education context to upgrade their teaching qualifications and obtain a Masters qualification in learning and teaching that has been designed to develop teaching skills for the performing arts. The programme is delivered through a blend of face-to-face weekend seminars, online classes and one-to-one tutorials, and has five pathways. The following information outlines which pathway may be most appropriate to different educational contexts and roles.

If you are a GTCS registered teacher with a responsibility for delivering dance within the curriculum, you may be eligible for: –

Pathway 1: 2^nd Subject Professional Registration in Dance (GTCS accredited) 

If you are a GTCS registered teacher with a responsibility for teaching an arts discipline within the curriculum you may be eligible for: –

Pathway 2: Career-Long Professional Learning (GTCS accredited)

If you have a responsibility for leading/facilitating learning within informal contexts such as community learning, participatory settings, as a visiting tutor or artist, or delivering in an FE ot HE context at SCQF Level 6 and/or below you may be eligible for: –

Pathway 3:  Teaching Artist

If you have a role in leading/facilitating learning within an FE or HE context at SCQF Level 7 or above (HNC or Degree or international equivalent), you may be eligible for: –

Pathway 4:  Teaching Artist in Higher Education (HEA accredited)

If you have a dance qualification and are seeking to gain GTCS Provisional Registration in Dance to teach dance within a school context, then  you may be eligible for: –

Pathway 5: Initial Teacher Education in Dance (GTCS accredited)

Funded places may be available for Scottish domiciled applicants.

“The MEd has helped shape the way I see my future development as an artist and the importance of engaging in meaningful creative teaching methods.”

Three years part-time

The programme is delivered over a three year period, through a combination of online workshops, distance and independent learning, weekend seminars and work placement or work-based learning.

Year one
You will be introduced to and engage in an Arts Education Community of Practice where you will critically examine your own teaching methods informed by reflection and, using a range of relevant theories, viewpoints and models of learning and teaching.

You will advance your skills in teaching and learning in light of new experiences and understandings. Students on pathways one and two will engage in an exploration of practitioner enquiry, looking at practice-based  research, effective pedagogies and policies in a schools context. Students on pathways three and four will have the opportunity to apply skills, new insights and understanding to their practice, critically examine their impact on their learners’ experience and obtain feedback both from tutors and peers to inform future professional development and practice.

Year two
Alongside continued exploration of your own arts practice, all students undertake a work-based learning and teaching project in their performing arts subject discipline. You will be required to develop effective learning environments and approaches to student support and guidance, design and plan learning activities and/ or programmes of study, teach and support learning, and assess and give feedback to learners.

Year three
In year three, all students will design their own module learning outcomes, content and assessment modes in order to develop, deliver and evaluate a final project situated within their own professional context. You will work with a professional mentor to help you build your project and on completion of the project you are required to find appropriate ways to disseminate your findings to maximise on the impact of the work within your sector.

The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland is in the World Top 10 for performing arts education 2016, 2017 and 2018 (QS World Rankings) 

• A unique programme designed specifically for performing artists and teachers in the performing arts
• Opportunity to gain a qualification at Masters level
• Personal supervision and mentoring by expert teachers and artists in the performing arts
• Opportunities to develop specialist or new skills in your subject discipline or a related performing arts subject discipline
• Access to unrivalled performing arts education provision, facilities and, resources
• Opportunities for artistic and educational collaboration between teachers and artists

“The teaching artist pathway of the MEd in learning and teaching has allowed me to explore my own potential in an enlightening and positive way. I have developed skills I didn’t know I had as well as developing a new and individual look at my own practice within many different creative contexts. The course has given me the confidence to develop, pitch and produce my own workshops and I am excited by my career prospects.” 

“The MEd course has been a meaningful transformative experience for me in terms of my personal growth and artistic development. The bespoke nature of the Med enables you to strategically feed your course work into your current practice or workplace while being offered support to explore, experiment and reflect.”

“As a theatre practitioner in a more rural part of Scotland, the course has been an absolute game-changer for me. I have gone from feeling stuck and isolated to feeling challenged and supported.”

Head of Programme: Jamie Mackay

Dr Rachel Drury, Lecturer (Post 16 and Community based Arts Education)

Dr. Jill Morgan, Lecturer (Early Years to Senior Phase)

Mary Troup, Lecturer

Annie McCourt, Lecturer

Successful completion of this qualification provides evidence of your commitment to professionalism to learning and teaching. We expect graduates to progress further in their careers, increase their employability and be able to work in a host of different arts settings.

Funded places may be available for Scottish domiciled applicants to the MEd Learning and Teaching in the Performing Arts.

For all other students the following fees apply:

Tuition fees for academic year 2020-21

• UK/EU Students – £4,188
• International (Non-EU) – £4,188

Scottish/EU students

New Scottish and EU domiciled students may be eligible for a Postgraduate Tuition Fee Loan. All eligible students will be able to apply directly to Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) for a non-means tested loan of up to £3,400. See the SAAS website for further details of the PSAS scheme.

Scottish domiciled postgraduate students on eligible courses can also apply for a Postgraduate Living Cost Loan up to £4,500 towards living expenses. This is in addition to the existing loan available towards the cost of their tuition fees.

Scholarships

Any potential student who auditions for a place at the Royal Conservatoire will automatically be considered for a scholarship. They are awarded on a combination of talent, potential and financial need. More information about Scholarships is available here

Sources of external funding

For more information about alternative funding sources, including external scholarships and bursaries, please visit here.

The Conservatoire’s International and Student Experience team are available to advise and assist applicants and current students in respect of queries about funding your studies at the Conservatoire. Please email or telephone +44 (0)141 270 8281/ +44 (0)141 270 8223 for further information.

We accept a wide range of qualifications, including international qualifications, but would recommend that applicants have a good degree, or its overseas equivalent, in a performing arts subject area relevant to the programme and/or hold a teaching qualification at undergraduate level. Consideration will be given to relevant professional experience which is deemed to compensate for any traditional education.

In addition, applicants for Pathway 5 must have:

• A national qualification in English at SCQF Level 6 (Higher) or equivalent
• A national qualification in Maths at SCQF Level 5 (National 5) or equivalent.

More information about entry requirements can be found on the GTCS Memorandum on Entry Requirements.

Pathways 1-4  are designed to be studied alongside and through your own existing professional contexts and it is important that you have established opportunities to teach or lead/facilitate learning in order to be engage fully in the modules. As an Initial Teacher Education route, students on Pathway 5 do not necessarily require to have an existing teaching role, however they must be able to engage in 18 weeks of school placement over years 1 and 2 of their studies.

International English Language Testing System score (IELTS) (if applicable) level 7.5 with a minimum score of 7.5 in speaking and with a minimum score of 5.5 in all parts.

All Postgraduate Learning and Teaching Programmes are delivered through a mix of face-to-face weekend sessions, online classes and one-to-one tutorials.*

Face-to-face sessions 2019-20 will be delivered at RCS on the following dates:
Weekend 1: September 21st and September 22nd
Weekend 2: November 9th
Weekend 3: February 1st and 2nd
Weekend 4: April 25th

Online sessions will be delivered on a fortnightly basis on Thursday mornings from 10.00am – 12.00pm (BST) and repeated on the Thursday evening from 6.30 – 8.30pm (BST). This duplication is specifically designed to accommodate students who are studying in significantly different International time-zones.

International students can attend weekend sessions remotely for the duration of their studies.

*Students on MEd Pathway 5: Initial Teacher Education in Dance will also have to undertake 18 weeks of school placement over the first 2 years of their studies.

• Part-time study
• Blended learning model
• Designed to integrate with existing professional teaching commitments
• Funded places may be available for Scottish domiciled students

Application process

You need to submit your application for the course online through UCAS Conservatoires.

Interview process
The interview is designed to provide the programme team with an insight into your level of suitability for study on the programme.

The interview will comprise two parts:

• Short presentation (no more than 10 minutes)
• Interview (20 minutes)

Presentation
Your presentation will focus on your ideas for the ‘Final Project’ module of the programme which enables you to design and undertake a substantial project that will synthesise your personal understanding of your learning and teaching philosophy and practice and your professional arts and education practice into one cohesive piece of work.

You are invited to share some initial ideas for how you might use this project. For example, you may choose to focus on investigating:

• Gaps in the existing provision of learning within your specialist profession
• Opportunities within your specialist area that you could engage with
• Areas of your specialist area that you believe would benefit from further research
• Ways in which you might use this final module to address gaps in your own development

You will be requested to provide some evidence to support your initial proposals, drawing on published journal articles, books or other key sources and to be prepared to provide some critical analysis of these in light of your project ideas.

Interview
Following your presentation, there will be a 20-minute discussion about your presentation and application with the Head of Programme and a member of the delivery team. This will be used to explore your educational background, experience, opportunities and aspirations and you will be invited to address the following questions:

1. What has led you to apply for this programme?
2. How do you see this programme contributing to your professional development?
3. What opportunities will you have to work with learners during the programme?

Decision
The decision to offer you a place on the programme will be based on both your application and the interview.

This will be communicated to within two weeks of your interview.