#PGCE

[astrugglingteachertrainee]

Spent some time studying pre-1066 British History, and saw the most gorgeous floofy creature 🥹

[lizziestudieshistory]

what are your honest opinions on your pgce experience and your subsequent teaching life?? i’m considering applying for a pgce but am unsure/terrified haha

I'm not going to be particularly encouraging here, sorry! I would highly recommend talking to other teachers before making a decision because I can only offer my perspective...

To be blunt, I don't think it was the right choice for me long term. I actually handed my notice in during the summer term and I'm not teaching anymore. I learnt a lot while in school and I found it a real privilege to work with some of the kids I met. However, the overwhelming experience was miserable for me, particularly when I was working as a fully qualified teacher.

I don't want to put you off because for the right person teaching is a wonderful job and most of my PGCE cohort absolutely love their jobs. However, it's not easy and it wasn't the right fit for me. When I was teaching properly it was amazing. I had some wonderful students and I will always be fond of my year 13s and year 10s because I saw them grow so much during the year I was teaching them.

But most of teaching isn't like that. It's hard work, pupils are less disciplined and have more complex needs than ever before. Teachers also have much less authority and are not respected. I spent most of last year firefighting significant problems in my pupil's education than actually teaching history. I'm talking about teaching GCSE pupils how to read, not they're a bit behind. This was huge developmental problems where these kids were systematically failed and I was left to pick up the pieces along with my colleagues. I actually gave up my free time to help a group of year 11s to work on phonics.

On top of this I've never been so poorly treated. I was verbally abused by pupils and their parents regularly with very little support from the schools. I even had a pupil throw a chair at me just because I asked them to move seats. I spent the evening in A&E with a sprained wrist because of it and the school refused to do anything about it other than given that pupil a warning, I was still expected to teach that pupil! (This school was rated "Good" by Ofsted, it wasn't like I was in a particularly rough area. It's just so normalised for some reason?)

I did have a particularly unfortunate teaching experience, but it's not exactly uncommon either. There's a huge number of people who quit teaching within 5 years of qualifying - I also saw 9 of the 12 people on my PGCE drop out before graduating. It's a hard job, it can be incredibly rewarding but it's not the career it used to be when my Dad was teaching. Teachers are expected to be much more than teachers without the respect or compensation they deserve.

[shereadssoftly]

I'm about to start my teacher training and I am S C A R E D

fellow grad students send help rn

[studytimewithtoni]

Planning my first ever assembly!

[richardtheteacher]

10 Rookie Blunders New High School Teachers Make (and How to Avoid Them!)

Richard James Rogers, award-winning author and educator, describes 10 rookie blunders that new high school teachers make, and steps that can be taken to avoid them.

A blog post by Richard James Rogers (Award-Winning Author of The Quick Guide to Classroom Management and The Power of Praise: Empowering Students Through Positive Feedback). This blog post has been beautifully illustrated by Pop Sutthiya Lertyongphati. Starting your teaching career is an exciting adventure, but it can also feel overwhelming. The reassuring news is that every teacher makes…

[cairfrey]

Since I've been studying for one, people have often asked me what PGCE stands for. So I'm answering here so you all know now.

Please

Give

Children

Education

I hope that clears it up for you 👍

[dannysciencefix]

Assessment in Primary Science

Assessment is at the heart of teaching and learning. It allows teachers to make informed decisions about the needs of our learners in order to make further progress. There are two main types of assessment: formative and summative. Formative assessment: Runs alongside the learning and informs the teacher and the children about next steps. Summative assessment: Takes place at the end of a block…

[astrugglingteachertrainee]

About Me:

Hi! I'm Caitlin, a recent graduate from the University of Cambridge, I will be starting a PGCE in Secondary History at the same University in September 2024.

I have set up this tumblr blog to motivate myself to prepare for my course during the summer and document my journey along the way :)

Doing this on tumblr because no one reads it anymore, and I really miss 2014.

[lizziestudieshistory]

06.06.2023 - I did not want to go to school this morning, I could've quite happily stayed snuggled up in the armchair with the dogs (and Ovid) but I did eventually drag myself off to get ready...

Now I'm back and rewarding my self-imposed suffering from the Tracy Borman book and school with The Farthest Shore! I hadn't realised how long I've been "currently reading" this book without making any progress because I was saving it for when I'd finished the things I felt like I "should" be reading... Well, I'll reread the first two chapters and get back into Earthsea! (Nobody let me do this to myself again.)

Currently reading: The Metamorphoses by Ovid; The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. Le Guin

[missaudreystiara]

[j-trow-95]

I’m really regretting using my name in all my socials 😂 the PGCE prep is in full swing, and so is me changing every social media platform/removing every mention of my surname from my posts so students can’t find me 🫠

[blewthecandleout]

because I don't wanna be all doom and gloom about things, I think I really need to start focusing on the positives because there's a lot of nice, funny things that happen every week when you're working with kids.

like last week, me and the other pgce student in the art department ran our first art club session where we got the kids to draw their fav anime/cartoon characters, to then make mono prints out of them, and we weren't really sure how it would go (because it was very last minute) but we *just* about pulled it off

anyway, on thursday I got switched to a new form and there was this kid who was at art club there, and when he came into the room for form time he marched straight up to me and stood there and then was like. "thank you for yesterday miss!!" and the form tutor who was pretty stressed was like ERRRMMM NOBODY SHOULD BE OUT OF THEIR SEATS PLEASE!! and the kid was like "I was just saying good afternoon to miss!!" before making his way to his seat. anyway it was so adorable and it genuinely was just a chink of light in an otherwise really crappy week

[reactionimagesdaily]

So we're calling you Boss now? Neat, ATAT. (Assigned Title At Tumblr)

Assigned Title At Tumblr lmao, I love that

Like the AT-AT walkers from Star Wars...

[astrugglingteachertrainee]

Task: Building an overview of historiography - What would you like teachers and students to know about the period c. 1000 to c. 1348?

In this article I read about various historians' statements on what they would like teachers and students to know about the period c. 1000 to c. 1348, again challenging popular myths and perceptions of this period and providing new insights.

Stephen Church:

The period c. 1000-c.1340 was one in which England, Scotland and Wales became intertwined with mainstream of European civilization which was predominantly French.

In England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, this period witnessed the beginning of state formation – although it was still largely “an age of estates”.

The early building blocks of a “state” was starting to form during the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries, such as the shires which played the role of the smallest part of the structure of royal administration.

The shire had important implications. Justice was dispensed, tax collected, armies mustered, and it made the king’s word and authority “real”.

During this period the Parliament emerged too, holding those in central authority’s actions accountable.

Urban communities were created and were starting to become more “politically and economically” central to the kingdoms they inhabited

Katherine Harvey:

Harvey would like students to be aware of the human dimension of medieval history

Under the context of the Norman Conquest – what was the human cost and how did the English feel about their new rulers? Castles were an “important tool” but it would also be important for students to learn about the people who inhabited them.

Regarding religion, Harvey also highlights that she would like students to consider the “individual experience” of medieval Christianity, as well as the people who were not Roman Catholics.

These variegated experiences would help us to both relate to and understand people from the distant past.

Eleanor Parker:

Multiple cultures were co-existing and interacting during these centuries – there was no single “homogenous” medieval culture.

For example, different cultural influences came from the Vikings and the French.

Parker challenges the notion of “continuity” and encourages both students and teachers to think about the rapid changes during this time, as well as paying attention to the “romantic, re-imagined version of the culture” by the Norman elites.

Levi Roach:

Under new social, political and economic pressures more “formalized” means of government and commerce were starting to emerge

Coinage allowed complex trading networks to develop in cities, and increased agrarian surplus in the countryside allowed coinage to circulate back in the countryside too

Increasing wealth generated taxation opportunities

Increased wealth also led to physical and visual legacies, as exemplified by the construction of different churches, cathedrals and other buildings

Sethina Watson:

People were constructing ways of understanding and organizing life, faith, government and society – Watson wants teachers and pupils to know that this is a period of rapid change and development not only regarding the materialistic aspects but also institutions and beliefs

New forms of religious lives and heretical challenges flourished

There was the rise of universities and connections between scholars across Europe, this resulted in ideas concerning how life was “understood and lived”

Urbanisation occurred with population growth fuelling the expansion of markets, towns, migration and trade

Watson highlights the idea that in the Middle Ages the perception of “change” was not necessarily positive as it usually brought controversies and challenged the previous social and political order