Programme Specification

Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) Teach First

Awarding body: University College London

Teaching institution:

University College London - Institute of Education in collaboration with partnership schools, Teach First, and Canterbury Christ Church University.

Details of accreditation by a professional/statutory body:

The programme is designed to meet the National College for Teaching and Leadership requirements for the Standards for Qualified Teachers’ status and the University College London - Institute of Education PGCE and PgCE awards. In addition, it meets the national Teach First programme requirements.

Name of the final award:

Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE)

or

Professional Graduate Certificate in Education (PgCE)

Programme title:

Teach First Initial Teacher Education Programme

UCAS code: NA – applications are made directly through Teach First

Criteria for admission to the programme

The following include the current entry requirements for the University College London - Institute of Education and the NCTL requirements.

Please note that the responsibility for the selection rests with Teach First in consultation with IOE. For the small minority who do not have the GCSE qualifications there is an opportunity to complete an equivalency test.

  • Honours degree (normally a First or Upper Second from a UK university)
  • Appropriate subject knowledge to teach a National Curriculum subject (secondary trainees). Checked through an online curriculum knowledge audit.
  • High levels of competencies in: critical thinking, personal responsibility, humility, respect and empathy, initiative, a capacity for collaboration and innovation, leadership potential, resilience, integrity and a commitment to equality.
  • A record of not having applied to other teaching programmes (e.g. PGCE, GTP) in England and Wales.
  • Ability to read effectively and communicate clearly and accurately in spoken and written Standard English.
  • Eligibility to work in the UK and/or have a European Economic Area work permit.
  • All entrants are required to have achieved a standard equivalent to a grade C or above in the GCSE examination in English and Mathematics. Primary/EYFS trainees need to have achieved the same standard in GCSE Science.
  • All entrants must have met the Secretary of State’s requirement for physical and mental fitness to teach.
  • All entrants must meet current required procedures for DBS clearance.
  • All entrants must have the capability to meet the required Standards for QTS by the end of their training and possess appropriate personal and intellectual qualities to be teachers.

Aims of the programme

This programme is part of the Teach First programme and is designed to meet the needs of the particular schools in which Teach First trainees work together with those of the trainees themselves, as well as the expectations of the Teach First organisation. The programme therefore aims enable trainees to:

  • Demonstrate how they can be leaders of learning both within their subject specialisms and key stages and in time, across the school;
  • Demonstrate the high professional standards and values in working productively with pupils and the wider school communities and/or other learning settings;
  • Set high expectations of pupils and understand the particular challenges and opportunities that teaching in a complex urban environment can bring;
  • Demonstrate secure professional and academic knowledge, skills and understanding, including the skills needed to research, prepare and teach unfamiliar material;
  • Ensure that pupils benefit from well-informed specialist subject and interdisciplinary teaching across the primary/EYFS and secondary phases;
  • Inform their teaching with an understanding of the processes of learning, and of the factors that affect learning, including pupils’ social, cultural, linguistic, religious, and ethnic backgrounds, gender, and the additional educational needs which pupils may have;
  • Engage in innovative and creative teaching and learning, with the aim that their teaching has a transformative effect on the lives of children and young people;
  • Develop analytical and critical thinking skills, and an understanding of the role of research in developing and underpinning their practice;
  • Develop reflective practice in which a symbiosis of theory and practice underpins planning, including the setting of expectations, teaching, monitoring, assessment and evaluation, together with taking responsibility for their own professional development;
  • Demonstrate that they meet the Professional Standards for QTS.

Relevant subject benchmark statements and other external and internal reference points used to inform programme outcomes

The national and London Region Teach First programmehas beenendorsedbyOFSTED2011asmeeting thenational standardssetfor initial teacher training.The programmegainedOutstandinginall cells. External Examiners’reports will bereturnedeachyear which benchmark standards against those ofotheruniversityPGCE programmes.

The University College London - Institute of Education ITE programmes were endorsed by OFSTED in November 2013 asmeeting thenational standardssetfor initial teacher training.All programmesgainedOutstandinginall cells.

Programme outcomes: knowledge and understanding; skills and other attributes

The learning outcomes are mapped against four key areas that the programme aims to develop in the trainees by the end of the programme: knowledge and understanding, professional skills, graduate skills and professional capabilities.

a)Knowledge and understanding

Participants are able to demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of:

  • development of their professional identity and ideology, based on a clear and well thought out theoretical rationale derived from their practice and understanding of whole-school and wider educational and social issues and statutory requirements;
  • effective subject and pedagogic knowledge and the ability to apply this confidently within their training age range (3-5 for Early Years and Foundation Stage, 5 – 11 for Primary, 11-16 for Secondary and 14-19 for Business and Economics) in a complex urban environment.
  • underlying values and principles relevant to the education of the chosen age range;
  • the diversity of learners and complexity of the education process with special reference to the age phase taught;
  • the different contexts in which learning takes place and the range of roles of different participants in the learning processes;
  • reflective practice, using this to critically evaluate practice and to inform their engagement with pupils, and their own ongoing professional learning and development.

b)Professional skills

Participants are able to:

  • apply inclusive principles to their own practice;
  • demonstrate that their teaching is underpinned by establishing the needs of their learners and then applying strategies and demonstrate creativity, innovation and flexibility in their planning, teaching and assessment for pupils’ learning;
  • plan lessons that set pupils’ learning and assessment at the heart of classroom activity;
  • collaborate with colleagues within and beyond the school setting in order to provide the best possible learning opportunities for all pupils;
  • demonstrate that their teaching requires and supports pupils to take responsibility for their own learning;
  • select and use a wide range of assessment methods so that pupils and their parents/carers have effective feedback to enhance future learning.
  • undertake rigorous investigations at HE level 6 or 7 of matters relevant to their professional development, taking appropriate account of relevant educational theory and research, and the character of their specialist subject (where appropriate) as an academic discipline and in the school curriculum.

c)Graduate Skills

Participants are able to demonstrate;

  • effective communication with others, verbally and in writing, using specialist vocabulary where appropriate;
  • the ability to work collaboratively and as part of a team where required;
  • the ability to reflect on personal achievement, to identify ways to make progress in both practical and theoretical elements of the programme and to manage their own time in order to achieve targets;
  • an ability to critically analysis empirical, theoretical and numerical data, to solve problems and make appropriate decisions.

d)Professional Capabilities

Participants are able to demonstrate:

  • the ability to utilise skills in information and communication technology to support their learning and their work on professional practice placements.
  • they meet all the Standards for Qualified Teacher Status.

Teaching, learning and assessment strategies to enable outcomes to be achieved and demonstrated

Awidevarietyofteachingandlearning strategiesare used across theprogramme. Thesehave beenselectedto both motivate and support theparticipants, to maximiseopportunitiesfor learningandto provide exemplars ofgood practicein teachingandlearning.Theseinclude:teacher-led exposition,discussionand activitiesin pairs,small groups andwithinthewholegroup,individualresearchand presentations,micro-teaching,casestudies and actionresearchundertakeninthe participants’ownschools,focused tutorials includingfeedbackandtarget-setting after teachingobservation.

The assessmentframework ofthe programmeisas follows:

  • Initial assessmenttakes place before theprogrammestarts.Participants complete a Subject Knowledge Audit which explores theparticipants’ knowledge, understandingandskills relatedtotheteachingoftheirsubject.
  • Formative andsummative assessmenttakesplace during the Regional and National Summer Institute, during which participants complete one level 6 assignment and are assessed against the core competencies.
  • Formative andsummative assessmenttakesplace duringeach ofthethree level 7 assignments, the level 6 assignment,andthe assessment of professional practiceandisorganised aroundavarietyofassessmentinstruments including:portfolioevidence of planning,deliveryoflearning andassessment;written assignmentssuch as essays andcasestudies; a small actionresearch projectundertakenintheparticipants’ownschool.
  • Formative andsummative assessmentofprofessionalpractice is evidenced byat leastseventeenobservationswith associatedfeedbacktoaid developmentofteachingskills over the year-long programme. Participants’ progress towards meeting the Professional Standards for QTS is assessed formatively by their school mentors and university tutors at three points during the academic year. The grade awarded is informed by the use of the ‘Monitoring Your Progress’ document and is then reported to the London Region Training Providers Interim Review Boards. Final summative assessment is carried out according to the LRTP agreed protocols.

Programme structures and requirements, levels, modules, credits and awards

Participants on the Teach First Secondary programme will teach oneof sixsubjectspecialisms; BusinessandEconomics, Geography,History, Computer Science & ICT, Mathematics and ModernForeign Languages. The Teach First Primary/EYFS programme does not include any subject specialism.

The Teach First Primary/EYFS and Secondary programmes both consist ofthreemodules, detailed in the chart below. All participants take and must passallthreemodulesofthe programme. The ProfessionalPracticemoduleis primarilyassessed throughtheir schoolplacement,associated tasksandportfolio. Part of the assessment of this moduleis againstthe Professional Standardsfor QualifiedTeacher Status.This carries nocredits andis awardedaPass/Failresult.

Successful completion ofall three modules, including assignments, with the award of 60creditsatlevel 7will result in the award ofa PostgraduateCertificateofEducation(PGCE). Where lessthan60credits are achieved atlevel 7butare successfullypassed atlevel 6a Professional Graduate CertificateofEducation(PgCE) willbe awarded.

Module Title / Assignment Titles & Credit Rating / Brief Summary of Content
Professional Studies / Written Assignment 1 (WA1) – 20 credits at level 6
Written Assignment 3 (WA3) – either 20 credits at level 7 or 20 credits at level 6 /
  • Strong focus on pedagogic theory and professional practice in the chosen age range.
  • Focus on needs of pupils in complex urban environments and preparing trainees for placements.
  • Includes 6 week Summer Institute (4 weeks regional and 2 weeks national)

Subject Studies: / Written Assignment 2 (WA2) – either 20 credits at level 7 or 20 credits at level 6
Written Assignment 4 (WA4) – 20 credits at level 6 / Primary/EYFS:
  • Teaching and learning in the National Curriculum subjects.
  • Focus on subject specific pedagogy and professional practice in one of the age phase and with reference to phases around the one in which the trainees are qualifying to teach
Secondary:
  • Teaching and learning in the specialist subject with the 11-16 range for Business and Economics (14-19), Geography History, Computer Science & ICT, Mathematics and Languages.

Professional Practice / Reflective Journal Assignment (RJA) – either 20 credits at level 7 or 20 credits at level 6
Portfolio
QTS – pass/fail / The trainee will be a member of staff of the school and will have the opportunity,
  • through the journal, to reflect on their professional development and link this to specific standards.
  • to engage in extended reflections including an opportunity to focus on a target that they have been set and this will involve engagement with literature on the topic
  • on one occasion, to reflect on a survey of their teaching and portfolio and their development over the year linked to literature on emerging professionalism

Mode of study

Full-time only, comprising:

6 week Summer Institute: to be completed regionally in London and nationally at Leeds University in June - August preceding employment by schools and enrolment on the year-long programme in September.

Year-long programme: employed by placement school as a substantive member of the teaching staff, with a teaching load in line with the Teach First Key Requirements, attendance at the Subject and/or Professional Development Days at the University College London - Institute of Education and participation in Teach First Leading Learning activities as specified by Teach First.

Inter-cohort Week: 5 days at a Teach First selected university as part of the National Summer Institute in July at the end of the year-long programme.

Language of study

English

Date at which the programme specification was written or revised.

March 2015