Sample PGCE Assignments & PGCE Essays
Compare and contrast your experiences in your two placement schools during your PGCE and offer a final summative evaluation of the process.
My experiences in my placement schools
From the very outset of my PGCE training, it was made reasonably clear to us that our two school placements would be designed and chosen so as to provide us with two very differing experiences. The theory behind this was to expose the prospective teachers to the range of possibilities they may face in the 'real-world' of school teaching both academically and behaviourally.
School A was situated in a green-field site between two major cities. It's A*-C GCSE rating was upwards of 75% over an average of ten years. The roll was a relatively small 750 with no 6th Form. It was hugely oversubscribed and regularly had to undergo appeals and tribunal processes from parents who were disappointed not to have gained a place for their child.
School B was situated on the outskirts of a major city, itself a 'New Town' development of the late 1960's. It's A*-C rating was significantly lower, with an average 24% over the last ten years. Compared to School A, it was enormous, situated over three large buildings with a total roll of approaching 1800.
The immediate difference noted was the sheer volume of both staff and pupils. School A's teaching staff of 42 would have fitted neatly into just one of School B's three staff-rooms. I immediately felt that this was an unusual concept as, in the three months I spent at School B, there was a good 75% of the teaching staff I had absolutely no interaction with.
I found that this was a difficult notion when it came to liaising across departments or following up incidents of ill-discipline. In contrast, all of School A's staff met each morning for a 5 minute briefing, thus enabling much better communication and familiarity.
Don't believe everything you see in the press...
...sometimes, though, they do tell you the truth!
A most noticeable difference between Schools A and B
Were the number and severity of incidents poor behaviour and how they were dealt with. At School A, examples of poor behaviour tended to be, specifically in Contrast to School B, much less severe and serious. What I found extremely difficult therefore, as I tried to establish myself at School B, was judging the depth of indiscipline.
As a result, I had to contextualise behaviours within the ambience of each individual organisation. For example, swearing (under the breath but still clearly audible) at School A would be the pre-cursor, at the very least, of a three day suspension.
However at School B, this happened so often that, to exclude every student guilty of such an offence, class numbers would be too severely depleted. Early on at School B, I realised that the resultant procedural and administrative log-jam that such actions created were frowned upon by the somewhat overwhelmed staff.
As part of my time at both School A and B, I spent periods observing other teachers teaching. This was extremely informative as it gave me a significant insight into both the difference in abilities of the pupils and the very significant problems faced by the staff.
However it also highlighted to me the discrepancy in some of the levels of preparation and delivery of teachers in varying circumstances. At School B, there was considerable evidence of teachers being more concerned with the completion of the lesson rather than perhaps trying to challenge the pupils academically.
To that end there seemed to be a surfeit of photocopied worksheets and lessons where video or DVD resources were deployed in order to allow the teacher to expend their energies on managing the conduct of their class rather than to challenge them in a more traditionally academic sense.
This was further highlighted by the differing approach each school employed to the notion of homework. At School A homework was not only an accepted part of school life but, following recommendations of a working party of staff and parents, a homework timetable was introduced to more formalise the practice. At School B, homework was accorded much less significance and among the lower ability sets was simply ignored totally.
This was very difficult to adapt to from my point of view. It forced me to completely alter my teaching approach both during individual lessons and in relation to my schemes of work as I couldn't get through the amount of work I had originally thought.
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My experience of school leadership
Was also different in the both placement schools. At School A, the Head Teacher led briefing on a daily basis and operated an 'open-door' policy for staff to drop in and discuss matters both professional and more personal. At School B, I didn't actually speak to the Head Teacher during my entire placement period and saw him perhaps only six or seven times.
While this was clearly due to the respective sizes of the two schools and the demands placed on the time of the two Head Teachers, I still felt disappointed by the idea of a teacher having little or no contact with his senior manager.
Conclusion
On reflection, I am in complete agreement with the policy of the teacher training institution to try and encourage practitioners to experience two such hugely disparate establishments during their PGCE year. The contrast provided is invaluable to the trainee teacher as it allows them to understand the extremes of the profession they are about to enter. What is equally important is that it highlights the whole range of skills a teacher requires.
Experiencing two such disparate environments, as in my placement schools, allows the trainee to appreciate the difficulties of meeting academic requirements and the expectations of both well informed students and their parents. In contrast, it is also crucial to engage in a situation where academic achievement is perhaps less important than striving to maintain a secure and safe environment for the pupils in your care.
Additionally, the idea of two differing placement schools also helps the PGCE student to experience the potentially enormous differences in fellow teaching staff, school leaders and parents.
Please note: The above essay was written by a student and then submitted to us to display and help others. Thanks to all the students who have submitted their work to us.
