About this course
- Entry year: 2012/13
- Course code: Q3X1
- Applications: GTTR
- Level: Postgraduate
- Department: Education
- Campus: Frenchay
- Duration: One year full-time
- Delivery: Full-time
- Study Abroad: No
- Programme leader: Joan Foley
Introduction
The Secondary Postgraduate Certificate in Education is a one academic year (36 week) course that trains graduates to be secondary school teachers of English.
The PGCE programme has been designed to train teachers for the full secondary age phase (11-18). Trainees are assessed against the standards for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) in two key stages, normally KS3 and KS4. In the first half of the Autumn term, some trainees may seek to change this to Key Stage 4 and post-16; this will be subject to discussion with the programme leader.
Whilst you will need to meet students' entitlement to be taught the National Curriculum, you will be able to bring the content to life. You will be supported to create an inclusive, energetic, exciting classroom environment which will appeal to a range of preferred learning styles and draw on a range of resources.
An example of a task set for trainees:
- Choose a poem which moves you
- Read it well to the PGCE group
- Briefly explain why you chose it
- Present the poem in an eye-catching way for display on a classroom wall
Some trainees developed the task by choosing to recite a poem by heart rather than reading it. Others explored the possibilities available through the use of PowerPoint slides.
Each person created a poster-style presentation with, for example, images, objects or additional text alongside the poem. Some presentations were 3D and involved paper mache, balloons, hanging and moving mobiles. The sheer delight in the sharing and showing of these delightful artefacts was a bonus for the group. These were displayed in the English teaching room.
What effect do you think that such a creative display of poems could have on students in school?
Try to notice what is displayed in English classrooms when you go in to a comprehensive school to do some lesson observation before applying for this course.
The course is creative, active and practical, allowing trainees to develop professional competence through work undertaken in schools and in the University. Trainees work with young people, develop expertise in their specialist subject area, share and discuss educational issues and study relevant educational research. The course is just the beginning of what we hope will be a process of continual professional development throughout a challenging and rewarding career.
Our Secondary PGCE programme has recently been graded Outstanding by Ofsted (2011).
Find out more about what PGCE Secondary Education at UWE has to offer in terms of teaching quality, staff expertise and your student experience.
Structure
Content
The course is part of the Department of Education's programme for Initial Teacher Training. Units studied are:
- Enabling Learning
- Meeting Curriculum Challenges
- Becoming a Teacher
These units are studied in both the school and the University-based parts of the course, the work on each site being complementary.
During the 12 weeks of University-based time, you will study the teaching of your main subject in relation to the above components. This includes consideration of a range of learning and teaching styles and resources, including the use of appropriate information and communications technology (ICT), and preparation in all aspects of the National Curriculum including assessment for learning. You will also participate in sessions in mixed subject groups where cross-curricular issues are covered, such as: safeguarding, pupils' learning, managing behaviour for learning, innovative models of curriculum organisation,diversity and equality, the broader professional role and research underpinning decisions and policy in the field of education.
On this course, you will be encouraged to investigate ways in which you can help young people to learn. You will analyse the dynamics of what happens when students talk together about an issue that concerns them and how they use talk to advance their own thinking . Furthermore, you will investigate strategies to scaffold this happening in your classroom. How best to monitor and assess the learning that takes place and identify targets to support your students' development will be important areas for discussion.
You will be asked to read and to understand, analyse and evaluate a wide ranges of texts. If you are sitting in a corner reading the latest novel by a writer of teenage fiction, or an anthology of poetry or lost to the world in a text from the 19th century, you will be working, doing what you are required to do.
You will spend the majority of your time in schools where you will need to be creative, enthusiastic and ready to seize the initiative in the many opportunities that will come your way.
There will be lots of people at the University and in your placement schools who will be only too ready to work alongside you and to support your progress throughout the course.
Hear what our students think about their time at UWE.
Teaching and learning
You will be supported in university workshops to learn how to teach English through a variety of strategies including:
- Contributing to paired, small group and whole class activities
- Observing and analysing the teaching methods modelled by your course tutors
- Engaging in creative writing, drama and film making sessions
- Participating in peer-led ,subject knowledge development seminars on topics as diverse as: madness and fools in Shakespeare's tragedies, the use of the expanded noun phrase in contemporary texts, multicultural fiction written for a teenage audience, reading film
- Reading and discussing relevant educational theory and subject related research into, for example, how to support the development of reluctant or struggling writers.
Personal support
We recognise that embarking on a new course of professional study can be a challenging undertaking. PGCE trainees have three main sources of support and information from the University during the course: firstly there is your Group Tutor in their subject area who will monitor and support your progress .Secondly, each trainee is allocated a subject specialist Personal Tutor who will review progress twice during the year with you. Finally, all trainees can access support on a range of issues from the Department Student Adviser. The programme includes contact time when on school/college placement with a Senior Professional Tutor and a Subject Mentor.
Find out more about our academic staff, their teaching expertise and research interests.
Assessment
In order to pass the course, trainees are required to pass each unit. You are assessed on a number of written assignments and also on classroom
practice against the standards specified by the Secretary of State for the award of QTS. Before the end of the course it is strongly recommended that trainees take the computer-based QTS skills tests in Numeracy, Literacy and ICT which are set by the Training and Development Agency (TDA).
Special Features
Placements
24 weeks are spent on placement: a total of eight weeks in one placement during the Autumn term and 16 weeks in a second placement during the Spring and Summer terms.
In June, there is an opportunity for you to spend time in a primary school and some trainees may also visit other institutions, such as special schools or colleges of further education, Museums, Field study centres.
Study facilities
The Department of Education provides a pleasant environment in which to study. Its modern, purpose-built facilities provide high quality teaching rooms with state-of-the-art technology available. The School has excellent IT facilities and houses an Open Learning Area with the latest equipment including an interactive whiteboard, CD burners, scanners and a range of equipment that can be booked out and borrowed, including digital cameras and laptops, with friendly staff on hand to help when needed
Careers/further study
The Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) programmes now includes 40 credits of assessment at Master's Level (Level M). For candidates who opt not to attempt the requisite credit at Level M, a Professional Graduate Certificate in Education will be available as an alternative award.
Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA)
For general information about teaching as a career, including teachers' salaries and the professional standards set out by the TDA in Qualifying to Teach, contact the TDA by calling the teacher information line on +44 (0)845 6000 991 or visit the website www.tda.gov.uk.
For information about the national curriculum and subjects taught in secondary schools, visit the National Curriculum online www.nc.uk.net.
Hear from past UWE students about how studying here has enhanced their career prospects and opened up new opportunities.
Entry
Entry requirements
Applicants normally have:
- An honours degree (normally 2:1 minimum) with at least 50 per cent in a related subject (relating to the subject you want to teach)
- GCSE grade C or above in mathematics and English language. (University tests in mathematics and English language may be available for some applicants)
- To have spent a minimum of 1-2 weeks in a classroom observing English being taught in a comprehensive school, within the previous two years.
Additional requirements
Applicants must pass an initial selection process and short-listed candidates will be interviewed at the Department of Education. Entry is subject to satisfactory interview to assess professional suitability and subject to successful medical and Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) clearance. If you would like information regarding issues that could disqualify you from teaching training, please contact us on +44 (0)117 32 83333.
TDA Standards and requirements
Following the review of Standards and Requirements for Initial Teacher Training (ITT) by the Secretary of State in 2007, the Department of Education has designed its full-time courses to be compliant with the latest standards and requirements. For information on the latest standards please visit the TDA website.
General Teaching Council Registration
Please also note that since 1 September 2008 anyone commencing a course of Initial Teacher Training (ITT) in England leading to the award of Qualified Teacher Status is required to be provisionally registered with the General Teaching Council for England (GTCE). You will need to complete a suitability declaration to enable the Council to identify any reason which may prevent registration. At the point of the offer of a place on an ITT course at UWE, you will be sent a GTCE Suitability Declaration form which will need to be completed and returned to the University. Providing that this declaration meets the requirements you will be recommended to be registered with the GTCE. The Government has announced a proposal to abolish the GTCE but until Parliamentary legislation is enacted registration is still required.
For further information on Provisional Registration and the suitability assessment please visit the GTCE website.
Fees
For details about fees and the UWE Bursary, please see our fees and funding web pages.
How to apply
Please apply online at: www.gttr.ac.uk.
For further information
Page last updated 14 December 2011