OK, so this it, the final element of your UNIT6 asignment – and therefore the whole MA (!).

We have always felt that the structure and ethos of this programme almost expects there to be a ‘life beyond the MA’.

We’ve always wanted the ‘solutions’ you have come up with and the reflection you have gone through to have an impact on your professional practice for some time to come after your postgraduate studies have completed.

So, with that in mind, we would like to see a final action plan – similar to the one you all did for UNIT2.

In this final ‘future’ phase of the MA you have set out your ideas for development in your industry. You have argued these at length and in UNIT6 you will present/exhibit this to key stakeholders. You will also hopefully get some good feedback from those audiences which you can reflect on.

So what happens next?

Your final action plan is the place to articulate this. Many of you have suggested changes to your organisations, or even changes in your profession that you have not yet completed. In your reports for the last unit and perhaps in the exhibition you may have discussed what needs to be done to make your ideas happen. If this is the case your action plan might be an overview of how you indtend to do this.

So it’s not enough to say what needs to change, you need a detailed plan of what you will have to do. This will require you to be honest with yourself about your ability to make these things happen and this is probably the minimum requirement of the final action plan.

However, you might also go beyond this. You plan might also consider how you can continue to plan and implement creative change in your profession. During the degree you have been asked to undertake rigorous investigations into change including the complex process of action inquiry, for example.

Many of you expressed concern that these processes were difficult to do within your day-to-day job. And we know that many of you worked evening and weekends to complete your chosen tasks. So what does this mean for the future? Will you continue to try to change your practice and your organisations without the structure and motivation of an MA? Where will you find the time? Who will you bounce ideas off? How will you evaluate your own progress? Your action plan may consider these issues too.

And there is something else that we have seen happen over the last year or so. Many of you have engaged with intellectual enquiries that are possibly not a normal part of work. For example you have read and written about academic theories and applied these to your practice. As a result you have hopefully developed intellectually. You have also been encouraged to develop a reflective and critical ‘habit’. So how will you continue to develop your intellectual and reflective capabilities? Will you continue to research and read? What, when and how? And again, who will you discuss these ideas with? Your action plan might also deal with these issues relating to your continued personal development.

Of course it may be that you are glad it’s all over; that you are looking forward to not having to check on forums, answer to assessment criteria and force yourself to engage in complex and sometimes awkward tasks. We think it’s fine to reflect on that in your plan too.

So, on the forums we’d now like to see you articulating how you’re going to address these issues.