PROGRAE SPECIFICATION: SECONDARY PGCE 1 Awarding Institution: University of Exeter 2 School(s)/Teaching Institution: School of Education and Lifelong Learning 3 Programme accredited/validated by: n/a 4 Final Award(s): Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) 5 Programme Title: PGCE Secondary 6 UCAS Code (if relevant): n/a 7 FHEQ Level of Final Award(s): 8 QAA Subject Benchmarking Group: Education Studies 9 Date of Production/Revision: January 2009 (revised) 10 Programme Structures and Requirements, Levels, odules, Credits and Awards The full-time PGCE Secondary programme is 120 credits, of which are at level and at H level. The programme is studied over 36 weeks, of which 24 are based in school. The programme is designed to enable students to meet the Professional Standards for QTS (2007) and as specified by the Teacher Development Agency, and to introduce them to the underlying values and principles of education. Students are encouraged to develop a critical understanding of the diversity of learners and the complexities of the education process, including different social and organisational structures of education. The Exeter odel of Cognitive Apprenticeship supports students in developing the ability to analyse and reflect upon educational theories, research and professional contexts. The teaching style of seminars and lectures foster confidence in the articulation of arguments and in collaborative work and in the use of ICT in a professional context, whilst the assignments draw upon skills in interpreting and presenting numerical data, and in organising and synthesising information from empirical or theoretical data. The University's fitness to practise procedures apply to the admission of students to, and their continued registration on the programme. Students undertake a limited period of school-based work during the Autumn term, and an extended period of school-based work during the Spring and Summer terms, during which they are expected to enter fully into the life of the school or schools in which they are based. In addition, they attend further classes at the University during this period. The programme is delivered through three module blocks, the Professional Studies module, the School-based work module, and the ain Subject modules. All students take the Professional Studies and School-based work modules, and select one module from the ain Subject modules. ODULE CODE ODULE TITLE CREDITS LEVEL EES3000 Professional Studies 20 3 ESB3001 School Based Work 40 3 EAR001 ESC001 ESC002 EDA001 EDT001 EED001 EL001 EL002 EHU001 EHU003 EIT003 EA001 ESC003 EPE001 EHU005 EHU010 EED010 EPE007 EL004 EL005 EL003 EL007 EL006 ESC005 Art Biology Chemistry Dance Design and Technology English with Drama French German Geography History ICT athematics Physics Physical Education Religious Education Citizenship with Humanities English with edia PE with Primary Specialism FL with Primary Specialism Spanish andarin Arabic Japanese Science with Psychology
Trainees may exit with: PGCE at level with QTS PGCE at level without QTS (for those trainees who have passed all elements of the course, including SBW module, but who have not passed all three QTS skills tests) QTS only for those who fail the ain Subject level module A QTS only route ensures that those who do not reach the required standard in their ain Subject odule but who do meet the standards in school, can still be awarded QTS. 11 Educational Aims of the Programme This programme aims: to support students development as autonomous professionals to provide students with knowledge and skills needed to apply theory to practice to provide the knowledge, understanding and skills for students to analyse educational policy, theory and practice to provide students with the procedural knowledge to develop conceptual understanding and analyse data to provide the organisational and transferable skills central to professional autonomy to support students ability to define and evaluate complex educational issues drawing on national and international perspectives to develop students' teaching competence through a phased initiation into good practice in teaching under mentorship in partner schools to enable students to achieve a grounding in the application of subject knowledge which gives them both an appropriate level of teaching subject knowledge and understanding for the teaching and assessment of pupils applied to the pupils' National Curriculum and other syllabus requirements to introduce students to what is known about pupils as learners, both from research and professional experience to familiarise students with the organisation and management of schools to enable students to understand teaching as a profession, and how schooling may serve society to provide students with guidance for their Induction year and for continuing professional development. Further information about the programme is available on the School s : www.ex.ac.uk/education 12 Programme Outcomes (a) Subject knowledge and skills: on completion of the programme students will have: identified and evaluated educational concepts and issues related to their specific field of study and engaged in critical debate about current educational issues, drawing on evidence from theory, research and practice deployed a range of personal and professional skills relevant to the workplace and identified and justified solutions to educational problems relevant to their programme of study developed academic and pedagogic subject knowledge relevant to their programme of study demonstrated professional competence as specified by the Standards for the Award of Qualified Teacher Status (b) Core academic skills: on completion of the programme students will be able to: critically evaluate the relevance of learning theory to practice synthesise relevant literature in support of an argument use appropriate technologies for data handling and writing present data and findings in an appropriate form use research data in support of an argument (c) Personal and key skills: on completion of the programme students should be able to: manage their own learning development learn effectively and be aware of their own learning strategies express ideas and opinions, with confidence and clarity, to a variety of audiences for a variety of purposes work productively in different kinds of team (formal, informal, project based, committee based etc) identify the main features of a given problem and to develop strategies for its resolution interpret and use data effectively in learning and skills processes (d) The PGCE programme conforms with and builds on the Education Subject Benchmark Statements.
12 & 13 Programme Outcomes and Teaching, Learning & ethods On successfully completing the PGCE programme, a student should be able to: A identify and evaluate educational concepts and issues related to their specific field of study and engaged in critical debate about current educational issues, drawing on evidence from theory, research and practice Formative directed activities and summative assessment through written assignments at level Showing interaction between theory and practice B deploy a range of personal and professional skills relevant to the workplace and identified and justified solutions to educational problems relevant to their programme of study Formative activities (such as Action Planning and target setting; and professional dialogue in Supervisory Conferences) and summative assessment through written assignments at level, through the Reflections on Achievement and Progress (of the Standards for the award of QTS) and Formative Reports C demonstrate academic and pedagogic subject knowledge relevant to their programme of study Formative activities (such as lesson planning and independent study related to Initial Needs Analysis) and summative assessment through written assignments at level, through the Reflections on Achievement and Progress (of the Standards for the award of QTS) and Formative Reports. D demonstrate professional competence as specified by the Standards for the Award of Qualified Teacher Status Formative activities (such as teaching alongside an experienced teacher, implementing national educational policy documents, keeping records of pupils attainment) and summative assessment through written assignments at level, through the Reflection son Achievement and Progress (of the Standards for the award of QTS) and Formative Reports
14 Support for Students and Students Learning At Exeter, the University Library maintains its principal collections in the main library buildings on the Streatham and St Luke s campuses, together with a number of specialist collections in certain Schools. The total Library collection comprises over a million volumes and 3000 current periodical subscriptions. Information Technology (IT) Services provide a wide range of services throughout the Exeter campuses including open access computer rooms, some of which are available 24 hours, 7 days a week. Additionally, some Schools have their own dedicated facilities. Helpdesks are maintained on the Streatham and St Luke s campuses, while most study bedrooms in halls and flats are linked to the University s campus network. On the Tremough campus in Cornwall, the Learning Resource Centre contains a library of 70,000 volumes and some specialist collections. IT Services provide a range of central services, including open and training clusters of PCs (available on a 24/7 basis) within the Centre, while some Schools have additional dedicated facilities. Network access is available from all rooms in the hall of residence on site. It is University policy that all schools should have in place a system of academic and personal tutors for their students. A University-wide statement on such provision is included in the University s TQA anual. Additionally, the following units at Exeter between them provide a wide range of student support services: - Student Counselling Service - Student Health Centre - Study Skills Service - Family Centre (Streatham campus) - Student Advice Centre (Guild of Students) - Chaplaincy - International Office - English and Foreign Language Centres - Study Abroad Office - Disability Resource Centre The University Careers Advisory service provides expert advice to all students to enable them to plan their futures, through guidance interviews, psychometric testing, employer presentations, skills events, practice job interviews and CV preparation. All Schools are required to possess Student/Staff Liaison Committees, which allow students to contribute directly to the enhancement of educational and other provision at discipline level. The School of Education and Lifelong Learning has its own teaching, learning and multimedia resources library and a supported resources area to enable the production of teaching and learning materials. 15 Admission Criteria The School of Education and Lifelong Learning welcomes applications from all students, regardless of gender, race, nationality, ethnic identity or national origin, socio-economic status, religious or political beliefs, disability, age, marital status, family circumstances, or sexual orientation. The School of Education and Lifelong Learning is committed to encouraging potential teachers from a diverse range of backgrounds and contexts, and the School has received funding from the Teacher Training Agency to support the recruitment of potential students from ethnic minorities. The Secondary PGCE programme welcomes applications from students with disabilities, subject to applicants meeting the DfES Fitness To Teach requirements. Academic requirements: All students embarking on a PGCE programme must have a degree, and appropriate academic subject knowledge to match their chosen ain Subject. They must also have GCSE or equivalent in English and aths. Health requirements: All students embarking on a PGCE programme will be required to complete a form describing their state of health which will be checked against the DfES Fitness to Teach criteria. Legal requirements: All students embarking on a PGCE programme will be required to provide an Enhanced Disclosure from the Criminal Records Bureau to confirm that there are no criminal offences on their record which should bar them from teaching. ore detailed information about this is available on www.disclosure.gov.uk
16 Regulation of and Academic Standards Each academic programme in the University is subject to an agreed School assessment marking strategy, underpinned by institution-wide assessment procedures. The security of assessment and academic standards is further supported through the external examiners appointed for each programme. Their responsibilities are described in the University s code for external examiners and include access to draft papers, course work and examination scripts. Attendance at the Board of Examiners and the provision of an annual report are both required. Clear procedures are also in place for the monitoring of these annual reports at both School and University level. See the University s TQA anual for details of these processes (http:www.ex.ac.uk/admin/academic/tls/tqa). Clear procedures for assessment, examining and moderation are in place for the Secondary PGCE. Academic assignments are assessed in line with university academic marking criteria and a sub-sample is double marked and cross-moderated across subjects. of professional conforms to the specifications laid down in the Professional Standards for QTS (2007) TDA. A team of External Examiners, one for each subject, plus a Chief External Examiner for the whole programme visit in July to observe students in school, to moderate the consistency of judgements made across the programme, and to ensure that academic assignments are marked appropriately. The Secondary programme is subject to a rigorous regime of annual monitoring, in which subject module evaluations, professional studies evaluations, external examiners reports, and a detailed specific triangulated evaluation of schoolbased work are used as the basis of both programme evaluation and programme review. In addition, to the university requirements for programme evaluation, the Secondary PGCE programme has in place a system of annual Action Planning and Review. All secondary subjects are also subject to rigorous external evaluation by OFSTED. 17 Indicators of Quality and Standards The university and its constituent Schools draw on a range of data in their regular review of the quality of provision. The annual Performance Indicator Dataset details admission, progression, completion and first career destination data, including comparisons over a five year time span. In addition, the Secondary PGCE Programme maintains its own data, relevant to PGCE, including degree entry standards, gender, ethnicity and disability data, and an annual benchmarking report is produced comparing the programme s performance with national and regional competitors (using the TDA Performance Profile Dataset) Ofsted inspections consistently rate the Secondary PGCE programme highly with six subjects currently receiving the highest grades possible. In the most received inspection, the programme was awarded a Grade 1 (top grade available) for anagement and Quality Assurance. 18 ethods for Evaluating and Improving Quality and Standards The University has procedures in place for the regular review of its educational provision, including the annual review of both modules and programmes which draw on feedback from such sources as external examiners reports, student evaluation, student achievement and progression data. In addition, subject areas are reviewed every three years through a subject and programme quality review scheme that includes external input. These procedures are recorded in codes of practice contained in the TQA anual. The PGCE Secondary Programme is also subject to regular rigorous review by OFSTED. 20.01.09