Desperate DfE tells teacher trainers to take all comers onto PGCEs, plus infinite chances to pass skills tests

In relation to this, I've seen on another forum that some unis are actually reducing their compulsory work experience requirements for their PGCE courses. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not. Work experience in schools is hard to get without contacts BUT it's also good for people going for PGCEs to have some idea of what working in a school actually involved.

Lowering the requirements could just lead to more people dropping out, or finishing the PGCE but not progressing to QTS.

Let's see what he actually does, rather than paying any attention to what he says.

Piggywaspushed

I'm sure you do. My point is that there are lots of people who believe someone who can't spell one word should be in the classroom (poor standards blah blah) - not sure who they expect to get to teach their kids, since Carol Ann Duffy and Salman Rushie appear to be unavailable, and Tolkien and CS Lewis are both dead

I know plenty of people who have passed the skills test who can't spell!

The number of people who write posts on MN furious about a spelling mistake in a letter home (not usually even on a child's work), and yet we have people asking, 'What is the point of the skills test?' It's to make sure the people teaching children can spell.

The SKE is done by distance learning, and you are supposed to commit around 25 hrs each week. There is funding available for shortage subjects to pay the fees and a bursary of £200 a week. This is paid monthly, and the first payment is made once you have logged 100 hours.

In order to pass you do have to complete assignments, but some of these may be useful in the future to adapt into teaching resources (e.g. a powerpoint summary of each topic).

For the record I am doing one at the moment, and finding it very useful as a re-introduction to study. I've got a place to teach biology but my degree was entirely animal based- so the unis I applied to wanted me to refresh my knowledge around plants. I think they're fairly keen for prospective science teachers to do SKE courses, as it also gives you access to resources on the other 2 sciences.

WRT Unsalaried Schools Direct places, some do seem to advertise quite demanding entry requirements BUT from talking to people at interviews etc, it seems like people can get places when they don't actually meet these requirements. I'm not sure if this means they are being set up to fail though?

I agree that the unclaimed bursary money could be put to lots of good uses. Perhaps retention bonuses or long service awards for teachers

Yes, my experience of even the unsalaried School Direct places were that they had a teaching element in the interview and were looking for people with a great deal of teaching experience.

I'm doing an SKE. Mainly so I can get up to A level standard in all three sciences and Maths. I think they're great.

As for the salaried positions, I assumed they were really for people already working in schools (TAs for example). It's the unsalaried SD that I was talking about when I mentioned their outlandish requirements.

The university tutor was much more accepting of my knowledge gaps and was prepared to listen to how I planned to fill them.

Of course the university is motivated by the £9250 fee...

Going back to earlier points, I do agree that the requirements for Teach First and Salaried Schools Direct are tougher (I do know of people who have got places on Unsalaried Schools Direct posts fairly easily, but they are mostly science applicants). I do think that if you are expecting people to pay you a wage straight away, then having some level of experience and commitment is a fair expectation.

I also think the introduction of SKE courses is a good thing. They're giving people who's degrees aren't a perfect fit, or who may have a lot of relevant professional experience a route into the profession. What do others think?

Plus , I would say we never really discuss politics at school. No time!! We aren't all sitting in the staffroom with our copies of The Guardian you know!!

Teaching really shouldn't have any issues then because everyone who votes Labour, Green, SNP or Lib Dem (more than the people who are 'right leaning?') should be flocking to do it!

I work with plenty of teachers with rather wishy washy political views (they aren't leaning anywhere)

What a bizarre thing to say!! And actually a recent survey showed a surprising number of teachers do vote Conservative.

I find posters on MN who say they have virtually interviewed a teacher about whether they enjoy their job or not on first meeting a bit odd. I would ass though that hairdressers etc who ask me what I do always then say ' do you like it?' and I am polite, so I say 'oh yes, I love it, The kids are great. ' And I am usually on holiday when getting my haircut! People always say teaching feels like a great job when you are on holiday!

Notwithstanding, I'd like to know what your job your DT guy did before. Of course, some people who change into teaching find it satisfying. On the gourds that something was generally wrong in their previous job.

I don't hate my job and wouldn't put anyone off who wanted to be a teacher. But there are systemic issues recruitment and retention at the moment and voting preferences are not part of the issue.

That's a really interesting point about school's-based providers having set the pace on pushing for things like teaching experience, noble. I think you're right. When I was applying for PGCE places, a lot of the school based schemes were aimed at graduates who had been working as teachers previously, and the scheme was pretty much a formality + teaching of (some) educational theory.

The left leaning credentials of many teachers would stop me feeling at ease with them

You only want to work with people who vote the same way as you?!
Why do you think teachers are ‘left-leaning’? Maybe it’s because they see at first hand the damaging effects of Conservative policies. When you have children coming into your classroom every day illustrating the inequality in our society, then yes, you can get a bit lefty.
Maybe the politics is informed by teacher experience, rather than left-leaning people choosing to become teachers.
Having said all that, I’ve met a lot of ‘righty’ teachers.

I actually think spending some time in school should be compulsory - or, at the very least in the Staffroom on MN
You actually do need to have an idea of what you are letting yourself in for, or you are just wasting a space on a training course.
No, you shouldn't be expected to teach a lesson to get on a course, but I'd expect some experience in teaching / tutoring / training / coaching somewhere along the line - be it as a Brownie Leader or a football coach or a mentor in another profession.

I'd love to be a dt teacher! No marking!

I’m a teacher and I also love my job. I’m also aware that I work in a tiny SEN school (40 boys), in an English department of two, the students leave at 2:30 (1:30 on a Friday), the deputy head thinks it odd if the teachers stay beyond 4:30 and almost freakish if they are in during the holidays. And I get paid more due to the SEN allowance.

Context is everything: I know my experience does not reflect 99% of teachers at the moment.

I met a secondary DT teacher at the weekend who said he loved his job and loved his long holidays. 12 weeks he told us. Great for his family. He had changed career and didn’t regret it for a second.

Other Teachers can be so negative about the job it’s putting people off. Speaking to this guy who was in his 40s, it was clear it can be a great job. If teachers keep complaining then it’s no surprise people will find something else to do. Who wants to do a job when all you hear are the negatives?

Are there are any Conservative teachers? The left leaning credentials of many teachers would stop me feeling at ease with them. It might stop others too.

If anyone is interested, you can try a practice skills test on this website sta.education.gov.uk/

They're not especially difficult imo, and if you have passed GCSE Maths and English you should more than cope, and the pass mark is around 66%- so room for the odd error, especially on the timed sections. However, some prospective teachers do really struggle with them, especially the maths- and if you are going to teach, say secondary art, do you really need to be able to do mental maths?

The big hindrance imo is that it isn't always easy to book dates- especially if you need a Saturday date because you are working or at uni. Some test centers do get busier than others, as well.

WRT the school experience, I think it's good, in the sense that it's good to go into a school (or multiple schools) before applying, so you have some idea of what is going on. When I went for mine, I was actually pleasantly surprised by the standards of behaviour, and I got a lot out of it in terms of seeing different teaching elements and listened in on some fascinating discussions about GCSE mocks in the staff room.

I applied for a shortage subject- so I expect it's different for PE or primary where there still seems to be plenty of applicants- but I had a week's experience (plus experience working with teenagers in a non-school setting) and that was plenty for everywhere I applied.

I do think it can be difficult for career changers, I took a week of annual leave to do my experience, which not everyone can manage.

It's also hard to find schools willing to have you- I was lucky to have relatives with contacts as no-one was willing to take me as an "unknown". Ironically, some schools were unwilling to take me because they didn't have enough permanent staff in the department I wanted to observe.

I think, to be honest, they don't need to make applying easier. The bursaries are very attractive, and do encourage people to apply. It should be a competitive process- if you can't manage the application, then you're surely not going to cope with the PGCE?

I think the most off-putting part of the application process for me was at interview, when we were told everybody would need a car, and we'd be expected to deal with 1hr+ commutes to placement (at Exeter the placements could literally be be uncommutable from the uni).

A lot of people my age (mid-late twenties) just won't consider teaching though- because of their perception of the behaviour in schools and perception of the workload. Until that changes, a lot of people won't apply.