PGCE (Secondary) - Geography – (Grad.Cert.)

Contents

In the Autumn term, you spend the first four weeks at College where we aim to develop a deep understanding of the learning process and what we want children to learn in Geography. As the programme progresses, you learn how to apply these theoretical understandings to practical `live´ teaching situations by visiting your first placement school for one day a week. After four weeks, and until the end of the first term, you then go into school on a four-day week basis, coming back to College for one day to hone the skills you develop in the classroom.

The first three weeks of the Spring term are College-based, and focus on developing constructive relationships with pupils, assessment, and organising fieldwork experiences for pupils. During this period, you spend one day a week in your second placement school before going in to school full-time up to Summer half term. The length of this placement is designed to give you the opportunity to adjust to the whole school culture and develop your competencies over a prolonged period.

The programme places strong emphasis on collaborative learning in College-based sessions. We expect you to play an active role, in order to experience learning at a deeper level, in the same way we aim to encourage your pupils to do.

The programme covers a wide range of topics, using a variety of practical activities. Topics include: the nature of geography and its place in the curriculum; recent and current developments in the subject and its teaching; implications of issues relating to class, gender and ethnicity; the National Curriculum for Geography; lesson and unit planning; teaching methods and classroom skills; use of Information and Communication Technology, media, resources and teaching aids; creating a purposeful learning climate; monitoring and assessing pupils´ learning; examinations; the grouping of pupils; organising and running fieldwork. These are examined in relation to the National Curriculum´s requirements.