Teaching practice is central to the programme’s approach to teacher development and provides students with an opportunity to develop and apply their teaching and reflective skills within the classroom.
The integrated MA programme comprises 300 credits, primarily distributed across the first and third academic years. The second year is dedicated to teaching practice in students’ home contexts, where they work directly with learners in their communities. While immersed in these field‑based experiences, students continue their academic progression through selected online modules that support ongoing learning, MA research, and the integration of theory with classroom practice.
A core thread running across all three years of the programme is the sequence of Teaching and Learning modules, which guide student-teachers from foundational teacher development to advanced professional practice. These modules run alongside all other academic modules, ensuring that subject knowledge and pedagogical growth remain fully integrated throughout the degree. Each module considers IIS Secondary Curriculum, strengthening the connection between academic study and meaningful classroom application. Ìý
- In the first year, students begin developing as reflective teacher‑educators within the UK context, supported by REC‑based practicum experiences. Ìý
- In the second year, students deepen their development through field‑based teaching practice in their home contexts, applying their skills within their own community settings while engaging in practitioner inquiry and MA research. Ìý
- In the final year, students grow into curriculum authors and adaptive educators, exploring alternative delivery models and IIS SC approaches. Ìý
Together, the Teaching and Learning modules form a coherent, practice-embedded professional formation, supported by UK and home-context practicums and enriched by lesson-planning tutoring, mentorship, observations, peer learning, modelling of practice, and Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). Ìý
Throughout the programme, student-teachers compile a Portfolio of Work documenting their development as teachers and reflective practitioners. This professional record captures their teaching experiences across the UK and home-context placements and is assessed as part of the Teaching and Learning modules. Ìý
This integrated approach ensures that STEP student-teachers build confidence, develop versatility, and gain readiness to thrive as educators across diverse educational contexts. Ìý
A core thread running across all three years of the programme is the sequence of  Teaching and Learning modules, which guide student-teachers from foundational teacher development to advanced professional practice. These modules run alongside all other academic modules, ensuring that subject knowledge and pedagogical growth remain fully integrated throughout the degree. Each module considers IIS Secondary Curriculum, strengthening the connection between academic study and meaningful classroom application.
- In the first year, students begin developing as reflective teacher‑educators within the UK context, supported by REC‑based practicum experiences.
- In the second year, students deepen their development through field‑based teaching practice in their home contexts, applying their skills within their own community settings while engaging in practitioner inquiry and MA research.
- In the final year, students grow into curriculum authors and adaptive educators, exploring alternative delivery models and IIS SC approaches.
Together, the Teaching and Learning modules form a coherent, practice-embedded professional formation, supported by UK and home-context practicums and enriched by lesson-planning tutoring, mentorship, observations, peer learning, modelling of practice, and Professional Learning Communities (PLCs).
Throughout the programme, student-teachers compile a Portfolio of Work documenting their development as teachers and reflective practitioners. This professional record captures their teaching experiences across the UK and home-context placements and is assessed as part of the Teaching and Learning modules.
This integrated approach ensures that STEP student-teachers build confidence, develop versatility, and gain readiness to thrive as educators across diverse educational contexts.
Opportunities are available for students to study Qur’anic Arabic as an enrichment, alongside the option to audit classes.
IIS’ Secondary Curriculum adopts an approach to the study of Islam based on humanistic, civilisational and normative perspectives. It seeks to acquaint secondary students with the diverse and dynamic interplay of Islamic expressions – religious, social, cultural, and material – that have become manifest in Muslim societies past and present.
The curriculum employs pedagogical approaches that align with its philosophical framework. It calls for a profile of teachers with a broad set of proficiencies that reflects acquaintance with a range of contexts. These pedagogical approaches invite the active engagement of teachers and students with the curriculum, fostering thought and enquiry into Islam generally and the Ismaili tradition specifically, as they have developed historically and in contemporary times.
More details can be found on the Secondary Curriculum page.
Unique to our programme, and as part of the MA, students will experience an educational field visit to one of the Muslim contexts as a Cultural, Artistic, Architectural and Urban Palimpsest.* This trip forms part of the Aesthetic Expressions in Muslim Societies (with Fieldtrip Abroad) MA modules on STEP. It facilitates a deeper understanding of curricula content and the collection of relevant resources to teach it.
The experiences realised through the field trip will provide students with a unique perspective in their approach to the delivery of IIS’ Secondary Curriculum, in which the study of Muslim societies and civilisations is a crucial element.
What STEP students say?
* It is the students’ responsibility to obtain a visa for all excursions abroad. In the event of travel restrictions due to unforeseen circumstances including but not limited to a global pandemic such as COVID-19, alternative arrangements will be made to take place in the UK or in an online environment.