Course overview
It is ideal for graduates wishing to teach their degree subject across a range of settings in the education and training sector.
This course is delivered full-time and part-time across a range of colleges in our Teesside University Collaborative Partnership. The full-time course is a pre-service award for those intending to teach in the sector and is offered at Darlington College and Stockton Riverside College. If you want to teach either adult literacy or numeracy, a full-time specialist route is available at Stockton Riverside College and Darlington College. The part-time award is offered at Darlington College, Hartlepool College of Further Education and Stockton Riverside College. The part-time course is available as an in-service award if you are currently employed in teaching or training in the sector. If you are not in a paid teaching post, a pre-service part-time route is available, but you must be able to find your own teaching practice.
Due to government changes, if you complete this award, you may also be able to gain employment in a secondary school setting, particularly in the post-14 age range - subject to the completion of Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS).This course has been developed to embed The Professional Standards for Teachers and Trainers in Education and Training, and it combines academic study with substantial placement experience and observation of practice.
Both full-time and part-time routes cover a range of topics including planning and assessment, theories and principles for enabling learning, curriculum design and development plus being a professional in the sector. You study specialist modules if you choose to follow the literacy or numeracy subject-specialist programme. Your award title on qualification will also reflect your chosen specialist route rather than the generic award title. You also attend two full-day conferences alongside trainees from across the partnership.
Study this course and you may be eligible for a £2,500 Sir Keith Skeoch postgraduate scholarship.
Course details
You study a range of modules that takes you from preparing to teach through to more advanced practice skills. You also study issues affecting the education and training educational sector, such as educational policy, quality assurance, and your own personal and professional development needs.
If you are studying a subject-specialist award, there are modules that develop your subject knowledge and understanding as well as modules that focus on how you develop this into subject-specialist pedagogy in your teaching practice.
All programmes are mapped to the Professional Standards for Teachers and Trainers in Education and Training – England (The Education and Training Foundation) and are in line with national requirements for Award in Education and Training, Certificate in Education and Training, and Diploma in Education and Training. These are referred to throughout your progression through the programme, as they are the occupational standards used throughout the sector.
Course structure
Core modules (all awards)
Developing Learning and Teaching
You gain a detailed overview of the core concepts underpinning learning, teaching and assessment, which is the starting point for becoming a professional teacher in the education and training sector. The module considers the roles, responsibilities and professional standards for teachers and focuses on the development of a range of practice skills, providing opportunities for trainees to engage with a variety of creative and innovative approaches to teaching and learning. It also focuses on the general principles and processes underpinning: the creation of positive, inclusive and effective learning environments; the development of critical reflective practice skills; the ability to manage data to support the progress of students; and, making evidence informed decisions in practice.
Enhancing Learning and Teaching
You are supported to enhance and extend approaches to learning, teaching and assessment in a variety of complex and challenging ways. You will be encouraged to underpin your learning and teaching with evidence-informed strategies and will develop the skills required to rigorously and consistently evaluate your own practice. You look beyond your own direct experience and consider a breadth and range of educational settings, and to reflect on the broader context of education for your students. You will be supported to demonstrate a depth of understanding in relation to your subject specialism and its delivery. You comprehensively and fully evidence your progression against the professional standards for the sector and develop the skills required to contribute in a meaningful way to development and CPD within educational contexts.
Evidence Informed Learning and Teaching
You research an aspect of your practice to develop pedagogic knowledge, and to explicitly link theory to practice in professional educational contexts. This module will also support the development of professional confidence and contribute to the creation of high quality student learning experiences. You develop your understanding of planning, implementing and evaluating an ethical, rigorous and credible piece of practitioner research. You are supported in becoming effective, professional and research informed practitioners, and to confidently execute and disseminate a piece of research.
Thinking in Learning and Teaching
You critically explore a variety of traditional and contemporary theories in learning, teaching and assessment. You analyse the impact of government policy, curriculum theory, and professional standards on the sector, and consider quality processes and their impact. You also explore wider perceptions of education and training, and trends within your individual teaching specialism.
Core modules (Adult Literacy Specialist award only)
Learning and Teaching in Literacy
This module provides you with a comprehensive and practical toolkit for approaching teaching literacy and English in creative ways in a range of contexts, and it encourages you to consistently evaluate and reflect on your own practice. You focus on developing approaches to effective learning and teaching of literacy; formative, summative and ongoing assessment of literacy skills; planning for individual students and groups of students to ensure effective progress in literacy; creating and managing effective, inclusive teaching environments; embedding English and maths across the curriculum; and using technology to enhance the teaching of literacy and English. You explore the development of these areas with specific reference to your own experience and practice. You are guided towards developing and organising your subject knowledge to meet the needs of your learners.
Core modules (Adult Numeracy Specialist award only)
Learning and Teaching in Numeracy
This module provides you with a comprehensive and practical toolkit for teaching numeracy and mathematics in creative ways in a range of contexts and encourages you to consistently evaluate and reflect on your own practice. It focuses on developing approaches to effective learning and teaching of numeracy; formative, summative and ongoing assessment of numeracy skills; planning for individual students and groups of students to ensure effective progress in numeracy; creating and managing effective, inclusive teaching environments; embedding English and maths across the curriculum; and using technology to enhance the teaching of numeracy and mathematics. You explore the development of these areas with specific reference to your own experience and practice. You are guided towards developing and organising your subject knowledge to meet the needs of your learners.
Modules offered may vary.
How you learn
Learning and teaching are central to all aspects of this course. Trainees are themselves students completing a higher education qualification but they are also trainee teachers who are expected to apply the knowledge and skills they acquire to their own classrooms. All aspects of this course are therefore designed to support trainees to develop academically whilst also supporting the development of practical, professional expertise across a range of contexts.
This course is built around a clear focus on developing resilient, autonomous, reflective practitioners who will become outstanding teachers within the education and training sector. The learning and teaching strategy of this course supports that goal and aims to ensure that trainees:
- are introduced to a wide variety of innovative, inspiring and creative approaches to learning, teaching and assessment;
- take every opportunity to engage with research informed practice and to feel confident in evaluating educational research;
- experience the active modelling of L&T strategies within their taught sessions and that they consistently engage in the collaborative evaluation of modelled practice;
- develop a wide-ranging, independent and flexible approach to reflection, reflective practice and the linking of theory to practice;
- acquire the skills and knowledge required to meet the professional standards of the sector, understand the changes taking place within the sector and independently pursue their own continued personal and professional development; and,
- are made aware of current issues and changes within the education and training sector and contextualise these within education as a whole.
How you are assessed
Assessment on this course has been designed to assess trainees’ knowledge, their professional skills and their ability to integrate the theoretical and the practical aspects of their experience. Approaches to assessment have been designed to align with professional standards for the sector.
The overall assessment load has been carefully considered to prevent overload or the bunching of assessments whilst also ensuring that all aspects of the course remain fully integrated and the experience of trainees is a fully holistic one. Throughout the course approaches to assessment are actively modelled for, and discussed with, trainees as an essential aspect of the teacher training process
Specific assessment tasks include completing a Professional Standards Portfolio, an academic poster, observations of teaching practice, and written assessments such as writing a critical evaluation and a journal-style article.
Entry requirements
GCSE (or standard equivalent) in English grade C (4) or above.
A degree in an area suitably linked to subject teaching within the education and skills sector.
Satisfactory enhanced DBS check.
A teaching practice placement of at least 100 hours in an appropriate context (this must be arranged by the student and evidenced via a teaching practice agreement signed by the placement provider).
Successful completion of a formal interview that demonstrates:
• intellectual and academic suitability for the course;
• appropriate attitudes and values expected of a teacher working in the education and training sector;
• ability to communicate clearly and accurately in standard English.
Employability
Work placement
Trainees will undertake a significant teaching practice placement that will form an integral part of their training as a teacher. During their placement trainees will receive support from a designated mentor who will provide formative feedback verbally and in writing.
Mentors receive detailed information about the course and their role and are required to undertake mentor training (this is available via face-to-face sessions, on a 1-2-1 basis or via completion of a distance training package). There is regular communication between mentors and the University-based teaching team.
During placement trainees will continue to be supported by tutors.
Career opportunities
Appropriate careers are in the full teaching role in learning and skills sector educational contexts. Graduates go on to work in a variety of professions including further education colleges and training organisations, secondary schools or higher education. Other students have taken the opportunity to further their studies on relevant continuing professional development or masters’ courses at the University.
Information for international applicants
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