Flourishing at Newman

I’m currently reading Mrs Moneypenny’s Careers Advice forAmbitious Women by Heather McGregor. It’s a book which is stimulating and helping me think through some important decisions as we prepare to move on in the summer as Karl starts his probationer minister appointment.

Reading chapter one she talks of the importance of qualifications and thinking about where you study. She also says that you should share what has been good about your awarding institution. Thinking about this in light of my own experience I want to explore why I disagree with her regarding the most prestigious is going to be the best.

I’ve recently gone down study wise and done a PG Cert in Chaplaincy and Young People Studies at Newman University. I did this course because I wanted to do a vocational course which gave me some kind of formal accreditation and training as a chaplain.

Now, Newman has an excellent reputation for teaching training and so on but it is fair to say Durham where I did my M Litt has a better overall reputation. However, I have flourished at Newman in a way I didn’t at Durham. Yes, I gained a qualification from both but the confidence and so on she talks about being more important than the qualification itself was definitely developed at Newman in a way it hadn’t been up north.

The reasons for this may be to do with the differences in my personal situation now compared to then but I think it is also that they are very different institutions with different focuses. Durham is a knowledge centered university whilst Newman takes a more holistic view to learning and development. 

The course at Newman allowed me to take my thinking out of the traditional box through a focus on reflective practice. I was able to weave together chaplaincy studies and contextual theology in an imaginative way focused on my own experience. The course involved studying a module on Spirituality and Faith Development in Young People, another on Chaplaincy and doing a placement module (in my case in the chaplaincy where I work). 

The nature of the course is such that you are encouraged to look at what you are doing in light of your own faith tradition. Thus, in studying this I have also had the chance to wrestle with my own faith identity and have gained a much deeper understanding of what it means to me to be a Methodist and think about how this relates to both my view of chaplaincy and my practice. I have found this incredibly useful.

Both are academic but Newman has a more vocational focus than Durham, I think. Now at this point I want to point out the tutors at both were excellent and the standard of teaching at both was extremely high. My supervisors at Durham were absolutely brilliant as were my lectures at Newman. Yet, it was the wider institutional environment which differed for me. Newman provides a more welcoming environment than "the department" in Durham.

The point I am seeking to get across is that the institution which may enable the person to flourish most may not always be the one which has the best reputation overall. The choice of institution has to be right for the person involved. My husband turned down Cambridge University for his undergraduate after getting a place because upon visiting he knew it was not the right place for him to study.

Making this sort of decision can obviously not be taken lightly but I want to encourage you if you make the right decisions it can help you in the long run.