Alumni Story | Graduate with Distinction - Frances Lingard

From the UK, Frances Lingard has been living and teaching in Shanghai for over six years, currently serving as an English teacher at Shanghai Fudan International School. Prior to this, Frances held teaching and management positions in various international schools in China and over the world. During her career progress, Frances decided to join the University of Manchester's part-time Master in Educational Leadership in Practice, completing two years of blended study online and in-person via the China Centre in Shanghai. Last summer, she graduated with a Distinction. Together with all the graduates, Frances was invited to the main campus for the graduation ceremony, and was exclusively interviewed as a student representative. 

China Centre recently had an interview with Frances, let's have a look at her story!

"I've been based in Shanghai for six years, working in an international primary school right now. When I got into a middle leadership position, I was thinking about how I could develop myself professionally."

"I looked around at different courses offered in the UK by different universities that would allow for online learning. The University of Manchester reached out to me. They were really helpful and kind, and I really appreciated the chance to do the workshops every six months. It felt more like a community that you weren't going through it alone and that you could get the support from your peers on the course."

Lecturers

"The conferences in my first year were all online due to the COVID, it was not possible for the lecturers to travel to China, but they were managed really well. After that the lecturers did come to Shanghai, and it was great to meet them. I came back during the summer and was in touch and the lecturers still agreed to meet up. It’s really felt like a supportive experience."

Peers

"What I learnt from my peers was that every school is completely different, and when you're looking at a leadership theory, how each classmate would interpret that to work in their own workplace or as their own role. Because not all the classmates were teachers like me, some worked in administration, some were heads of primary, etc. Therefore, everyone had a different interpretation. That was really helpful to show how the core element of the course, the theory, into practice could be applied."

Global Network

"The courses definitely helped me develop my professional global network. A lot of classmates who have worked internationally previously and have moved on from China to go work in different countries or also different cities within China."

"It's great to have the connection with people and hear about what's their experience and make me think about what I would like to do next or where would I like to live next."

Family

"It feels great to be in Manchester for my graduation. My grandmother is actually 101, so she's almost exactly half the age of the University, although sadly she couldn't join this time. But the rest of my family have come, so my parents and my sister, her family and my partner as well have all joined for the weekend."

Peers

"I'm really excited as well to meet the classmates who I've talked to online, on discussion boards, and in web chats."

"The key advice I would give to people taking this course is to plan your time mostly, and try to do things in small chunks so that it doesn't feel too onerous of a task that's ahead of you.

For example, I would download all the resources at the beginning of each unit, so that I could break it down step by step and feel more confident about my progress through each unit."

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