Postgraduate Course: PGDE Secondary Professional Studies (EDUA11288)
Course Outline
| School | Moray House School of Education and Sport |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | Adopting a practitioner enquiry approach (GTCS SPR 2.3.2), whilst working towards building a culture of inquiry as stance, this course, taught in multidisciplinary groups, provides student teachers with a range of opportunities to critically engage with policy and educational research, in order to develop an understanding of teaching, learning and assessment. This course explores and reflects on the dominant conceptions of education, educational research, professionalism and pedagogic practices as they are currently constructed, both nationally and globally. Student teachers will draw on their critically informed understanding of these concepts to engage in a systematic small-scale classroom-based study that embeds the principles of sustainability, social justice, linguistic and cultural diversity and inclusion to inform and refine their own pedagogic practices. |
| Course description |
Course content is designed to engage and familiarise student teachers with their role as a critical and analytical agent of change, committed to improvement and development in education, as well as becoming an effective, reflexive practitioner, as they work towards forging their own individual identity as a transformative teacher.
This SCQF level 11 course helps student teachers to engage in new ways of thinking and engaging in practice as they develop the knowledge, skills and dispositions needed for 21st century classrooms. To ensure the core commitments of the PGDE programmes are implemented, this course enables student teachers to draw on principles of sustainability, social justice, linguistic and cultural diversity and inclusion to critique, analyse and reflect on the wider landscape of Scottish education, and the changing nature of a more global educational context. The course also develops students¿ understanding of their professional remit and responsibilities as a teacher in the classroom, in the school and in society. This preparation is firmly in accordance with the GTCS Standard for Provisional Registration and takes full account of the Donaldson Review of Teacher Education (2010).
Students work and learn in multi-disciplinary groups, exploring the implications and expectations of educational theory being employed effectively in practice. As the key part of this process, students are required to read and respond critically and analytically to research based literature, educational policy and government legislation relating to a wide range of salient issues, themes and topics, including, but not limited to: theories in teaching, learning and assessment; the nature, structure and values of the Scottish Curriculum; Social Justice and Inclusion; linguistic and cultural diversity; Learning for Sustainability; and Digital Literacies.
In a commitment to life long professional learning and integrity, student teachers are introduced to the concept of reflective and reflexive practices, and begin to chart their own development in this area through an online reflective journal.
The Professional Studies course helps build a strong foundation in student teachers¿ knowledge and appreciation of the value and importance of teacher research, adopting a disposition towards inquiry as stance as an approach to informing and supporting their professional development, through an evidence based, solution focused approach to improving practice.
In sum, this course teaches, guides and encourages student teachers to engage in: reflective and reflexive practice; group based investigative projects and presentations; critical engagement with academic literature and professional documentation; and small-scale teacher inquiry projects. The overarching aim is to improve and develop students¿, professional skills, dispositions, knowledge and understanding, based on professional values, in order to enable them to become an informed and effective classroom practitioner, as well as an agent of educational change committed to continuous improvement.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2022/23, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Flexible |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 6,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 48,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 1,
Formative Assessment Hours 5,
Other Study Hours 136,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
0 )
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| Additional Information (Learning and Teaching) |
Directed Learning, Collaborative Learning, Presentation Planning, Micro Teaching.
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
i) Part 1: 1500 Word Critical Analysis of two selected Academic Articles. 40% Weighting of Final Summative Assessment Mark.
ii) Part 2: 1500 Word (approx.) Proposal/ Rationale for the planned small-scale, systematic investigation into an element of the student¿s own classroom practice. 40% Weighting of Final Summative Assessment Mark.
Students are provided with feedback from their tutor on a draft outline of the proposal.
iii) Part 3: Live Presentation in which students provide an analytical account of a small-scale, systematic investigation into an element of their own classroom practice. 20% Weighting of Final Summative Assessment Mark |
| Feedback |
Formative assessment
Students regularly deliver small group presentations and facilitate parts of workshop tutorials, throughout this course. Tutors and student peers provide constructive feedback during workshop activities. Collaborative learning projects culminate in practical activities and group presentations. Feedback from tutors and peers is both written and verbal.
Formative Feed-forward Task
Students trial an observation schedule during Observation Week in schools to inform discussion about the ways in which data collection tools can be employed to capture information within the context of the classroom, and what kinds of information and insight they might possibly garner.
Students are taught how to access and critically engage with selected academic literature, the product of which is then shared and discussed in small groups.
Formative and summative assessment which supports the Professional Studies Task assignment is embedded in this course from the start of the academic year, and allows students to meet the GTCS Standards for Provisional Registration: SPR 1.2; 2.3; and 3.4. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate a critical understanding of the ways in which concepts of curriculum, pedagogical theories and approaches impact on learning and teaching.
- Critically consider and engage in the process of planning for teaching and learning across secondary school education taking account of subject disciplines and local and global educational contexts.
- Critically interrogate theories of learning, teaching and assessment within their subject disciplines and in the wider educational, social, cultural and political contexts of the secondary school community.
- Examine the values and ideologies explicit and implicit in academic research and policy literature and/or about Scottish education and beyond which relate to central contemporary educational issues such as inclusion, additional support needs, fairness, diversity, social justice and sustainability.
- Engage in reflective and reflexive praxis to ensure how, why and what we teach aligns with our individual and collective professional values and actions.
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Reading List
Indicative Reading List
Anderson, L.W., & Krathwohl, D.R. (Eds). (2013) A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (International Ed). Essex: Pearson Education Ltd.
Arshad, R., Wrigley, T., & Pratt, L. (2019) (2nd Ed) Social Justice Re-Examined: Dilemmas and Solutions for the Classroom Teacher. Stoke-on-Trent: Trentham Books Ltd.
Wiliam, Dylan (2018) Embedded Formative Assessment 2nd ed. Bloomington, Solution Tree Press.
Burton, D., & Bartlett, S. (2005) Practitioner Research for Teachers. London: Sage.
Dillon, J., & Maguire, M (eds). (2018) Becoming a Teacher: Issues in Secondary Teaching (5th Ed). Berkshire: OUP.
Elton-Chalcraft, S., Hansen, A., & Twiselton, S. (Eds). (2008) Doing Classroom Research: A Step-by-Step Guide for Student Teachers. Berkshire: OUP.
Kyriacou, C. (2009) Effective Teaching in Schools: Theory and Practice (3rd Ed). Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes Ltd.
Pritchard, A. (2014) Ways of Learning: Learning Theories and Learning Styles in the Classroom. London: Routledge.
Zeichner, K.M., & Liston, D.P. (2013) Reflective Teaching: An Introduction (2nd Ed). London: Routledge. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
1.This course prepares students to engage critically and analytically with current areas of development in learning and teaching in secondary schools and with broader issues and problematised areas in education.
2. Students on this course work collaboratively to design creative and effective approaches to meet the challenges of working with children and young people in the 21st Century classroom.
3.Students are taught to reflect, using appropriate theoretical models of reflective practice on their own practice and their own situated thinking; and to respond reflexively in order to improve learning and teaching. This often means making in-practice decisions in complex situations
4.Student teachers on this course develop the necessary skills to communicate effectively with a range of audiences from children to their professional colleagues, parents and other adults with professional responsibilities for children and young people, adapting communication appropriately to context and purpose.
5. Students must demonstrate their ability to use research papers which include graphical or numerical data to support their understanding of educational issues, and to interpret and use this data accurately and critically.
6.Student teachers on this course work collaboratively with peers and tutors. They learn to take the initiative, to demonstrate leadership and to take responsibility for their professional development as a teacher. Through a blend of tutorial tasks and their practice experience, students develop the ability to think their way critically through complex , diverse perspectives and make ethically sound and well informed decisions which stem from their developing understanding of intra and inter personal skills as well as their sound professional knowledge of learning and teaching.
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| Keywords | secondary education,professional studies,teacher identities |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Mr Steve McLeister
Tel: (0131 6)51 6443
Email: |
Course secretary | Mr Nadir Junco
Tel: (0131 6)51 6449
Email: |
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