Doing Your PGCE at M-level

A Guide for Students

Keira Sewell

• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9781446289907
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education Teaching Methods

What is PGCE at M-Level and what can you expect from the course? How can it help you to develop as a professional?

Master?s-level study is now a well established component of PGCE courses and this new edition of the best selling student guide offers a clear and concise overview of Master?s level aspects in teacher education.

This Second Edition includes discussion of recent developments in education policy, greater coverage of reflective practice in school-based training and up-to-date advice on how to get a teaching job at the end of your course.

With new reflective activities designed to help students develop critical skills, and improved references to additional material, this book is essential reading for students on PGCE courses in primary and secondary education.

Keira Sewell leads Visionary Education (www.visionary-education.co.uk), an education consultancy covering teacher training, science education, strategic development and business and industry partnerships.

Contrbutors to the book are members of the primary and secondary PGCE teams at the University of Southampton, Edge Hill University, the University of Dundee and an independent consultant supporting Higher Education Institutions.

Praise for the book:

" Doing your PGCE at M level is a valuable guide designed to enable students to achieve success. Its approach, using clear explanations and case studies enable trainees to engage at a critical level and understand the potential benefits this can bring to them personally and professionally.

Moving forward from the first edition in a way that incorporates education policy from recent fast moving times this enables trainees to critique and identify how the education arena is shaped. This new edition also enables trainees to develop many of the key skills of M-Level work; the development of reflective activities to enable deep reflection and critical analysis is a welcome development.

This comprehensive text will be a valuable resource for anyone training to be a PGCE teacher." - Tim Roberts, PGCE Programme Director, University of Hertfordshire

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1	What will the PGCE at M-level do for me?
	Keira Sewell and Liz Lakin

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This chapter aims to help you to understand the difference between a Postgraduate Certificate in Education and the Professional Graduate Certificate awards so that you can:

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• decide which PGCE route you should apply for;
• decide whether to opt for the Masters module option once you have been accepted onto a PGCE programme.

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What is the difference between the Postgraduate Certificate in Education and the Professional Graduate Certificate in Education?

In 2004, the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications (FHEQ) was brought into effect and this meant that institutions had to look at their range of awards to ensure that they fitted into the framework. PGCEs were a long-established route in initial teacher training and many understood that their role was to provide a professional qualification for those who already had a first degree. However, the term ‘postgraduate’ suggests that the academic work done will be at a higher level than that done in an honours award, whereas on most courses, this was not the case. This meant that Initial Teacher Education (ITE) providers needed to review their programmes to ensure that if they called their award postgraduate, it did indeed include academic work of a postgraduate nature, that is work at Masters level or level 7. Institutions were free to choose their own route; some decided to offer a Professional Graduate Certificate in Education in which the academic work would be at Honours level (H) or level 6, while others decided on the Postgraduate Certificate in Education route which included academic work at Masters (M) level (level 7). Both routes continued to lead to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). Essentially, then, the difference between the two is the level at which you have to do the academic work: level 6 or 7.

What does a PGCE at M-level look like?

Perhaps surprisingly, there is no guidance on what the PGCE M-level or the PGCE H-level should look like beyond the requirements for QTS. This means that courses can differ greatly yet lead to the same award. When deciding which route to follow it is useful to look at the following three things: the award options, the structure and organization of the course, and the admissions requirements.

Award options

As stated above, in England there are two award outcomes to a taught postgraduate course of study leading to Qualified Teacher Status: the Professional Graduate Certificate in Education or the Postgraduate Certificate in Education. The only difference between the two is the level at which the academic work is done. Some institutions have elected to offer only one or the other, while others offer both. Where institutions offer both you may be required to enrol on one route and then, with guidance from your tutors, elect to move to the other. For example, in some institutions everyone enrols on the PGCE M-level, but if you gain lower grades in your assignments you may be awarded a Professional Graduate Certificate in Education. In other institutions you enrol on the PGCE H-level but if your academic work is considered of high quality you are encouraged to work for the Postgraduate Certificate in Education.

In the Scottish system things are slightly different in that postgraduate study for teacher training leads to a Professional Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE), the details of which are discussed later in this chapter.

It is important to recognize that the Professional Graduate Certificate in Education is equivalent to the award you would previously have gained had you undertaken a PGCE at most initial teacher education institutions in England, Wales or Northern Ireland prior to the implementation of the FHEQ. It is important, therefore that this award is not seen as the ‘deficit’ model, but rather that the Postgraduate Certificate in Education is seen as the ‘surplus’ model.

The Professional Certificate in Education leads to the professional qualification of QTS and achievement is assessed through both academic work (usually practice-based assignments) at level 6 and demonstration of the competences outlined in the Professional Standards for QTS. The award of Postgraduate Certificate in Education requires academic study at postgraduate level, that is level 7, in addition to demonstration of competency against the standards for QTS. It is, however, important to understand that while the academic study is at M-level, the PGCE is not a Masters award. It can contribute to a Masters award if you choose to continue your studies following completion of the PGCE (see Chapter 6 for further detail on this), but it does not automatically lead to one. Whichever award you choose to follow, you will notice that the award title does not include ‘QTS’. This is because institutions do not have the power to award QTS, only to recommend to the General Teaching Council for England (GTCE) that they award this. This is important, as the development of the FHEQ has enabled some separation of the academic and the professional awards, resulting in the range of routes now available for those wishing to teach. For example, the Graduate Teacher Programme route leads only to recommendation for QTS and does not carry with it an academic award. Some institutions have separated out the two elements of the PGCE so that it is possible to exit with a PGCE with QTS, just a PGCE or just QTS, although these cases are rare. This range of awards has led to some confusion in the teaching profession and it is important that you can explain your award to a potential employer when applying for your first teaching post. This is explored further in Chapter 6.

Structure and organization of the award

In terms of structure, it is useful to see the PGCE as having two elements: the academic element leading to a postgraduate or professional award which is governed by the institution, and the professional element leading to recommendation for QTS which is governed by the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA). The key difference between the awards of Postgraduate Certificate and Professional Graduate Certificate is the level of the academic element, as the requirements for the professional element are the same in each. As Figure 1.1 shows, theory, research and practice link the two elements in both awards.

Figure 1.1 The structure of the Postgraduate Certificate in Education

Let us first examine the academic award-bearing element of this structure. While the FHEQ outlines the exit criteria for a PGCE at M-level, it does not specify the number of credits which would lead to this award; neither does it specify a structure which all PGCEs must follow. As a result, different institutions organize this element in different ways. Most institutions have taken the guidance offered by the Universities Council for the Education of Teachers (UCET), the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA), the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) and the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), and consider the PGCE M-level equivalent to 60 credit points of study at level 7. This could be arranged as two modules, each of 30 credit points, or three modules each of 20 credit points, or some other combination that leads to a total of 60 credit points studied at level 7. One of your decisions should be how many assignments you want to do. Look at the programme specification for the PGCE at the institution of your choice, which will tell you how the modules are arranged and assessed. Some institutions have also elected to include level 6 credit points, often applying these to assessments designed to demonstrate competence in the Professional Standards. These could be credit points given to successful completion of school placements or assessments in specific subject areas. As a result, a PGCE could include up to 120 credit points, made up of both level 7 and level 6 work. Again, it is important to note that the number of credit points included within the PGCE will often be reflected in the number of assignments you are required to complete – those having 120 credit points sometimes require up to five assignments.

Not only does the number of credit points an institution applies to its PGCE vary, so too do the assessment strategies used. Some have written, theoretical assignments only, while others include small-scale research projects, presentations and critical evaluations of work undertaken in schools or even extracts from teaching practice files.

The professional element of the PGCE is governed by the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA), which has provided institutions with the statutory requirements of the Professional Standards for QTS and the Initial Teacher Education requirements which underpin these. At the time of writing these are under review but, whatever format they will take, they govern everything from what criteria are required for admission to a teacher training programme to how many days trainees must spend in school during their training. As a result, there will be more commonality between PGCEs in this element. For example, courses have to be structured so that students normally spend a minimum number of days in school (90 days for a primary course and 120 days for a secondary course); they have to complete the QTS Skills Tests in English, mathematics and information and communications technology; and they must be able to demonstrate competence against the Professional Standards for QTS for the age range they are being prepared to teach. There will be some variance in practice as institutions are free to decide how such things as the number of days in school are organized, how competence against the standards will be recorded and assessed, and the amount of time allocated to each subject area. For example, institutions may have two, three or even four placements, each in a different age phase (Key Stage 1 and 2 in primary, or Key Stage 3 and 4 and A level in secondary).

Depending on their locality, some institutions may also need to consider how certain competences can be effectively supported for trainees. For example, the demographic of partnerships between schools and teacher training institutions means that certain standards which require you to engage all pupils and personalize learning appropriately to meet the needs of individuals may be more wide ranging in some areas than in others. This is particularly pertinent when partnerships are largely with monolingual schools and trainees have less opportunity to develop their understanding of how best to support children for whom English is an additional language. In this case, trainees may need to meet this through focused work in short-term placements in specially selected schools which provide the opportunities and experiences necessary. You may wish to consider this when selecting your training institution.

In the PGCE M-level, perhaps the most important element is the way in which the course organization supports the level of study required and it is this area which has required institutions to think carefully about the ways in which this can be best achieved. While the M-level element of your PGCE will permeate through both your school-based and your university-based work, a premise explored in greater detail in the following chapters, there may be additional elements to a PGCE M-level programme which would not be evident in the PGCE H-level. These could include specific study skills sessions focusing on such aspects as writing in a critically reflective way, accessing and reading journal articles, using methods of referencing texts consistently, research methods, and data collection and analysis techniques. These may be offered as part of the taught programme but some institutions offer optional sessions either during the programme or during the summer vacation prior to entering the course. These are designed to recognize the fact that you all come with a range of backgrounds and it cannot be assumed that you will be able to write or conduct research in the manner required for this award.

Study at M-level requires autonomy, independence and time for reflection and many institutions will try to allow opportunities in the very hectic PGCE programme for you to develop these skills. There will be a requirement to carry out directed tasks or independent study, thus extending the actual time of the PGCE well beyond the structured, taught programme.

Admission requirements

The admissions requirements for both awards are very similar as most of these relate to the QTS element of the course. For appl...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• About the Authors
• List of Figures and Tables
• List of Abbreviations
• Introduction
• 1 What will the PGCE at M-level do for me?
• 2 What can I expect my PGCE at M-level to look like at subject level?
• 3 What can I expect my PGCE at M-level to look like during my school-based training?
• 4 What is the relationship between research and development as a professional?
• 5 How does academic writing at M-level make me a better teacher?
• 6 Getting a job with a PGCE at M-level
• 7 Continuing your studies
• Index