module specification

 This module introduces students to teaching and how to acquire Qualified Teacher Status for Primary teaching in the UK. It examines professional practice and career and organisational norms across a range of sectors as well as lines of career development. It examines the place of education and teachers in professional networks as well as some of the challenges that attend this. The module situates these discussions within a critical framework and offers an introduction to historical and sociological accounts of teachers’ lives and to meanings attaching to professionalism as both practice and social status thereby proposing the idea of teaching as a community of practice. Students also undertake a period of work-based learning in relation to their course at Level 6 within an appropriate educational institution/organisation and to gain credit for that learning. Students have the opportunity to apply, to test and to extend the knowledge that they have gained at all levels of their course. In doing so, students are able to enhance and extend their understanding of professional educational practice and reflect on their own professional practice and development and suitability for a future career in teaching.

Students will also be offered opportunities to prepare for the QTS skills tests prior to application for a programme leading to QTS.

The Module aims:
● To prepare students with a fund of knowledge and critical understanding in advance of making important career decisions;
● To introduce the structures and career development pathways for teachers working across a range of educational sectors and institutions;
● To introduce historical and sociological readings of teachers’ lives, beliefs and aspirations and to examine how teachers narrate and lend meaning to their careers;
● To explore teaching as a community of practice;
● To examine diverse notions of professionalism and their implications for institutional and workplace realities.

Students are expected to find and organise their own placement in an educational setting where they get insight into professional teaching and learning practice. This is very likely to involve a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check being in place before the placement starts

Outline of routes to QTS, and introduction to different career possibilities and opportunities in education.

Reflection on personal career choice and exploration of possibilities for personal development.

Understanding of teachers’ lives and teaching as a community of practice.

Development of an idea of professional practice in relation to wider demands and debates.

Discussion of broader aspects of the work experience in the context of professional practice and employability.

Preparation for QTS skills-tests.

Learning Outcomes cover 1-6

The module will be taught through lectures, workshops and guest inputs. These sessions are supplemented by talks from: the careers’ service, teachers, union officials and other professionals working in education.

On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
1. Make informed decisions about their career development and the options available to them if they want to become teachers;
2. Articulate an understanding of why teaching attracts and interests students (or not);
3. Situate their incipient professional identities within the goals, values and mores of teaching as a community of practice and be able to express their relationship to this;
4. Interpret working lives within a specific educational institution and in relation to wider professional demands and debates.
5.   Illustrate how the work-based learning experience can strengthen, alter or provide an enhanced way of understanding of educational practice, policy and theory;
6. Reflect on the experiences gained in placement in relation to their future employability.

1. School or institution profile report (1500 words) 
A detailed report on the profile and context of their educational work placement.
2. Essay (3000 words) on how to plan and deliver an effective lesson/learning experience for their specific work placement context. Students need to think about various aspects of planning, delivery and evaluation. e.g. clear lesson objectives, age group, subject, national curriculum requirements etc. They also need to make reference to the idea of an inclusive curriculum and include thoughts on wider professional standards and developments.
Must also include a final reflective conclusion (min. 500 words) on their own professional practice and development of future employability skills and include an employer report on their placement.

Core texts
Arthur, J. & Cremin, T. (eds.) (2018, 4th Edition). Learning to teach in the primary school. London: Routledge.
Muijs, D. & Reynolds, D. (2017, 4th Edition). Effective teaching: Evidence and practice. London: Sage.
Newland, A. (2014). Working in teaching. London: Crimson Publishing.
Tyler, W. (2012). School organisation: A sociological perspective. London: Routledge.

Additional texts/further reading
Alexander, R. (eds.) (2010). Children, their world, their education: Final report and recommendations of the Cambridge Primary Review. London: Routledge.
Brookfield, S. D. (2017, 2nd Edition). Becoming a critically reflective teacher. San Francisco:  Jossey-Bass.
Day, C. & Gu, Q. (2010). The new lives of teachers. London: Routledge.
Capel, S., Leask, M. & Younie, S. (eds.) (2016, 7th Edition). Learning to teach in the secondary school: A companion to school experience. London: Routledge.
Dunn, D. (2017, 2nd Edition). How to be an outstanding primary school teacher. London: Bloomsbury.
Gardner, H. (1993). Multiple intelligences: The theory in practice. New York: Basic Books.
Gill, S. & Thomson, G. (2016). Rethinking secondary education: A human-centred approach. London: Pearson.
Goodson, I. & Sikes, P. (2001). Life history research in educational settings: Learning from lives. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Grigg, R. (2014, 2nd Edition). Becoming an outstanding primary school teacher. London: Longman.
Hattie, J. (2012). Visible learning for teachers: Maximizing impact on learning. London: Routledge.
Haynes, A. (2010). The complete guide to lesson planning and preparation. London: Continuum.
Lave, J. & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: Cambridge UP.
Leach, J. & Moon, B. (1999). Learners and pedagogy. London: PCP.
Maguire, M. & Dillon, J. (eds.) (2007, 3rd Edition). Becoming a teacher: Issues in secondary teaching. Buckingham: Open University.
Petty, G. (2004, 3rd Edition). Teaching today: A practical guide. Cheltenham: Nelson.
Piaget, J. (2001). The psychology of intelligence. London: Routledge.
Sewell, K. (2012). Planning the primary national curriculum: A complete guide for trainees and teachers. London: Sage.
The Future Teacher Foundation, (2015). How to become a primary school teacher. US: Create Space Independent Publishing Platform.
Tyler, R. W. (2013). Basic principles of curriculum and instruction. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

Websites
Department for Education: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education
Get into Teaching: https://getintoteaching.education.gov.uk/
Qualified teacher status: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/qualified-teacher-status-qts
National Curriculum: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-curriculum
Teacher standards: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/301107/Teachers__Standards.pdf

Preparing for the professional skills tests https://getintoteaching.education.gov.uk/post-teacher-training-application/preparing-for-the-professional-skills-tests