I haven't yet attempted a masters degree, and I'm not sure if I will. I did get accepted into one a few years back - its focus was on digital technology. Sounded interesting, but I just didn't get around to starting it.
I get how you feel about middle school STEM. I teach Year 7 Maths, and find, at times, that it can be particularly trying and energy sapping. I'd never really thought a great deal about the why - I always just chalked it up to "that's the nature of Year 7's", however, after some of your comments here, I may have opened up a whole new way of thinking about it.
Perhaps master's degrees do have something of worth in them! Thanks for sharing your insights and how you are travelling with it all.
I find that the study is quite interesting, as there are things that make a lot of sense after looking at research from psychological and team management sort of perspectives. Of course, I get driven nuts by the somewhat unwieldy bureaucratic reporting that seems to be needed... I think that things would be much easier if there wasn't funding bodies (education departments) and parents that needed to be appeased... it sets the wrong priorities on things.
However, much of what I'm learning in the Masters is more theoretical. Very little in the way of HOW to implement it well... plus, I'm told that much of what we learn... is resisted heavily, by parents, by schools, by education boards, by textbook manufacturers...
... we were told... be idealistic but practical. Survive, and make the change when we are in positions of power. Sigh...