Education

Keele University has a long established reputation in Initial Teacher Education. The Keele Partnership Secondary PGCE/School Direct Programme is a one year (36 weeks) full-time course.  You will spend a significant amount of time (minimum of 120 days) in school. The University modules are designed to give you experience of the main areas you will be expected to teach.  

The course is underpinned by a genuine partnership between the University, partner schools and the students (referred to as Associate Teachers (ATs)). The University sessions will draw heavily on the ATs’ school experiences and aid them in interpreting those experiences in the light of current theory and practice in secondary education.

'The aim of the programme at Keele is to develop outstanding, critical and creative teachers for the 21^st century classroom'

The PGCE/School Direct Programme at Keele has been designed to be both academic and vocational and is predicated on the requirement to provide challenging expectations of you as Associate Teachers to create a teaching and learning environment which will engage your interest and motivation. The broad aim of the main curriculum component of the PGCE/School Direct programme is to: 

• develop your subject knowledge and teach you how to put that knowledge into practice (pedagogy) in order to thrive in the culture of our schools;

• enable you to become a highly motivated, outstanding effective, creative and reflective practitioner;

• prepare you for a career in teaching that will prove to be successful and rewarding;

• develop in you a commitment to and enthusiasm for continuing professional and personal development;

• provide you with sufficient information, experience and opportunity in order that you might achieve the QTS Standards.

Entry to the PGCE/School Direct programme is conditional on: 

• Achievement of at least a 2:2 and preferably a 2:1 honours degree (or recognised equivalent);*
• Passes at GCSE in English Language and Mathematics at grade C or above (or equivalent);
• Selection based on the information provided on the GTTR application;
• Selection based on a successful interview (part of the interview is conducted within a partner school);
• A medical report which is deemed satisfactory;
• A completed DBS enhanced disclosure which is deemed satisfactory by the University;
• Successful completion of the Teaching Agency’s Professional Skills Tests in Literacy and Numeracy (these are a pre-entry requirement).
• Successful completion of a minimum of 10 days MFL teaching experience in a secondary school/college during the last two years , either before or after selection (before strengthens your application);
• For the SD (Salaried) route, you must have three years of work experience (not necessarily in an educational setting) to be eligible to apply.
• When applying for Schools Direct MFL places, you should check on the school's website to ensure they offer the language(s) that you wish to train to teach. If you can't find that information on the website, contact the school to find out. Although you will not do all your placement at the school you nominate, you will normally do one of them there, so it is essential that they are able to give you classroom experience in your specialist language(s)

* We would normally look for a first or second class Honours degree in Modern Foreign Languages, or a degree in which language features as a substantial part. However, if you are a native speaker, or have acquired a language through your life experience, you may still be eligible if you have a good Honours degree or international equivalent (see NARIC). In all cases, you need to have expertise (both spoken and written, with cultural knowledge) in one or more of the target languages.  You also need to demonstrate an appropriate knowledge of the structure of the language you are offering in order to be able to teach successfully at secondary level.

The PGCE/School Direct Modern Foreign Languages course is designed to be flexible. This means that you can train to be a teacher of:

• French
• French and German
• French and Spanish
• German (as your main language) and French
• Spanish (as your main language) and French. 

When applying for Schools Direct MFL places, you should check on the school's website to ensure they offer the language(s) that you wish to train to teach. If you can't find that information on the website, contact the school to find out. Although you will not do all your placement at the school you nominate, you will normally do one of them there, so it is essential that they are able to give you classroom experience in your specialist language(s)

All Associate Teachers on the Keele PGCE/School Direct course study two foreign languages.

We provide a thoroughly professional grounding, with the aim of making language learning accessible to all young learners. We support you to develop a critical and creative approach to learning and teaching while you are on the course, which can sustain you in your career. It is our experience that many ex-Associate Teachers from Keele advance relatively quickly in the profession. It is therefore important for us to equip you with sufficiently critical understanding of the nature of language pedagogy and the school system to enable you to fulfil a more senior role effectively.

Course content is aimed to provide an understanding of the learner in the process of language learning, including past, present and developing MFL teaching methodologies, the demands of the National Curriculum and new government education policy.

The course has a strong focus on digital literacy and on knowing how to use ICT to enhance learning and teaching, including use of the interactive whiteboard and associated software, and being able to design and produce some of your own teaching material.

Although the Keele course necessarily focuses on the compulsory school years of 11-16, we also provide some preparation for, and engagement with, teaching at 16-19 level. Our course aims to produce teachers who are capable of working successfully with pupils of all abilities. We regard it as equally important that you should be sympathetic towards and able to stimulate pupils who do not find the subject particularly easy as well as extending the most able pupils to the full extent of their abilities.

Within the course, we offer a short element that addresses MFL at Key Stage Two, which encourages some of our Associates to work at both primary and secondary level.

Language Knowledge Development: This is an important feature of the PGCE/School Direct MFL course at Keele, giving you the opportunity to start learning German or Spanish to develop your teaching skills in a language in which you already have competency (French, German or Spanish).

During the course, you will aim to start to learn a new language (German, Spanish or a language of your choice if you are fluent in French, German/Spanish) or to develop an existing second foreign language (French, German, Spanish, Urdu). This language learning is so that you can develop insight into the experience of secondary learners faced with the challenge of language learning, and to enable you to acquire the knowledge and skills base to teach a second foreign language to Key Stage 3. Please note that we welcome Urdu speaker, but because of the current balance of languages taught in schools, you must have sufficient French to teach to at least KS3.

You will be expected to begin work on your second foreign language as soon as you have accepted a place on the course at Keele. A particular route will be suggested to you to suit your individual needs. You will be expected to undertake self-study work on the language before and during the PGCE/School Direct year. Please note that direct instruction is not given on the PGCE/School Direct course, but language modules are available to Associate Teachers in the School of Languages.

We would normally look for a first or second class Honours degree in Modern Foreign Languages, or a degree in which language features as a substantial part. However, if you are a native speaker, or have acquired a language through your life experience, you may still be eligible if you have a good Honours degree or international equivalent (see NARIC). In all cases, you need to have expertise (both spoken and written, with cultural knowledge) in one or more of the target languages.  You also need to demonstrate an appropriate knowledge of the structure of the language you are offering in order to be able to teach successfully at secondary level.

In terms of wider professional issues, you should be able to show that you have a genuine interest in, and experience as an adult, of the secondary school classroom, either by having done some time in schools abroad as part of your degree, or by some paid or voluntary work in the English system. If you are a native speaker from Europe, Africa or Asia, you should look to get some such knowledge and experience in England, so that you can know that this really is the career for you. School environments are very different globally, and the PGCE/School Direct prepares you specifically for the English school system. Some previous experience in it is considered to be essential.

You should contact the Course Tutor (Victoria Door) for further advice if you are unsure that your degree meets these criteria.

Course participants are assessed through written academic assignments and portfolios of evidence. Throughout your placements you will be assessed against the Teachers’ Standards (May 2012).

The Keele Partnership recognises that our ATs come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences and have already completed degree level study or higher, and are in a position to learn from each other. Thus the programme makes use of lead lectures, seminars, group activities, individual and group tutorials, practical workshops, directed activities in professional contexts, school based placements, supported self-study and the use of IT to support learning via the website.