Tag: Initial Teacher Education

Engaging with research – the magic bullet?

Posted on by School of Education University of Bristol

Helen Aberdeen, Senior Lecturer in Education, PGCE Subject Lead, Modern Foreign Languages, School of Education

Background and context

Recent policy documents and reforms in teacher education have led to an ever stronger imperative for teachers and trainee teachers to engage with research. The most recent Ofsted inspection handbook (2020) for initial teacher education (ITE) describes a good curriculum as one which ‘is designed to ensure that trainees engage with up to date or pertinent research findings’.

This aspiration is reflected in the Core Content Framework (CCF) for ITE, published as part of the wide-ranging reforms to teacher education in 2020. The CCF lays out a minimum level of core knowledge and skills which all trainees should acquire during their training. It consists of a series of ‘know that’ and ‘know how to’ statements, aligned to the 8 Teachers’ Standards. The ‘know that’ statements purport to be based on the ‘best available evidence’, and the foreword to the CFF (2019) encourages trainee teachers and their mentors to engage more deeply with the detailed bibliography ‘to support their critical engagement with research.’ (more…)

What’s ‘what’ in RE: Relating the what, the how and the why of curriculum content

Posted on by School of Education University of Bristol

Blog post by Dr David Lewin, University of Strathclyde, and Dr Janet Orchard, School of Education, University of Bristol

We welcome the research report on Religious Education recently published by Ofsted, the inspectorate for schools in England led by Dr Richard Kueh, whose academic engagement with the subject is widely respected.

Kueh’s report has already inspired some interesting responses across the RE community, so we thought we should join the conversations. To be upfront about our own interests here, we are academics currently planning a research project called ‘After Religious Education’ in which we hope to explore many similar issues informed by the expertise of teachers, academics in Religious Studies, and academics in Education Studies. (more…)

Initial Teacher Education during a pandemic

Posted on by School of Education University of Bristol

The School of Education catches up with Beth McEwan, PGCE student, and trainee History teacher to ask her why she chose to undertake her PGCE (Initial Teacher Education) at the School of Education, University of Bristol, and the challenges of studying during a pandemic.

 Tell us about yourself and why you chose to become a history teacher.

I’m Beth and I recently graduated from Cardiff University, where I did my History degree. I’ve wanted to be a teacher since I was about 15 or 16, but I originally wanted to be a primary school teacher. After doing work experience in a primary school, and as I gradually fell more and more in love with History, I realised I would prefer to be a History teacher.

I also feel that the transferable skills gained through studying History are vital. Having the ability to look critically at the evidence and arguments surrounding you, and to frame your own interpretations based on evidence, is becoming increasingly important. If I can contribute to providing these skills to future students, and to help them achieve their ambitions, I’ll find my career deeply rewarding. (more…)