DD on cause for concern PGCE

[feelikeraindrops]

My DD is on her PGCE, she has been on a cause for concern which has been reviewed and she’s been told she’s made good progress in some of her targets but there are some areas that need fine tuning and working on still. Because of this she has been put on the next stage of a cause for concern.

DD is feeling worried about passing but I’ve told to try her best and just listen to and respond to feedback, which she is determined to do.

If she's uncomfortable interacting with the children, then sadly, teaching really isn't for her.

I was shy whe I was young, and am still introverted. But I never had a problem with the kids, and I was able to do the acting bit of teaching. When I was a new teacher, in some ways I was more confident at work than anywhere else, because it was a role that I was acting. And then I basically faked it until I made it.

I know that loads of people have already said it, but teaching, especially now, really is brutal. If she doesn't have the self-confidence to interact with the kids (and her colleagues) to stand up for herself professionally with stroppy parents (and chat warmly to all the parents), and deal with all the stress and pressure involved, she really does need to think again about her choice of career.

There's an issue with trainers not failing students who really aren't up to the job. There are way too many young teachers who shouldn't have been passed, and consequently they have a horrible time in their first year/s, their confidence is shattered, and they end up leaving or being pushed anyway. Much better to make an active choice to bail on the course and do something else. It might well be that her trainers are doing her a favour by giving her a heads up.

Not an unreasonable ask. Its part of the job really.

Not that hard to fix either - and once you start you soon get into a comfort zone doing that.

Chattering with children makes other parts of the job easier/ possible.

If your DD really can’t do this then one has to ask is she entering the right career?

I’m naturally quiet and shy - but I managed this quite easily.

Generally schools and colleges rarely fail pgce students. This is a fixable thing - or should be.

In my career in teaching I’ve only known 1 fail - and he was rscorted off the premises.

If she loves teaching but is struggling with communicating with the kids she could take up a drama class to help her with the ‘performance’ aspect of teaching. If she is naturally introverted she will always find the social interaction aspects exhausting but she can learn to act confident. (Some people describe this as masking)

It's not extremely rare for someone to be on Cause for Concern. I tried to do a Secondary PGCE, we were a farly small group and at least one woman was on it at one point. She passed fine.

I was one of the two that dropped out. I didn't like not having my evenings free etc and found the day incredibly draining. What they ask isn't human/humane really IMHO. I had a lot of undiagnosed mental health issues too which mean I don't handle stress well. Just not for me.

@feelikeraindrops She has virtually lasted to the end of the course. So I imagine she'll be fine. x

Is this her only school placement? Tbh some schools are better than others with training.
Would hope that she would have an opportunity to try out in a different school
Most important thing to begin with is establishing respect, and engaging in the classroom imo. Relationships follow, in time, so hard on short term placement.
Establishing relationships also is a vague target.

I appreciate it might seem like a vague target but she’s been given clear advice on what the school would like her to do.
Establishing respect and engaging in the classroom is almost impossible to do with most children without building a relationship with them.
I agree that some schools are not great at supporting trainees but that doesn’t sound like the case here.

If it's any consolation to your daughter it will be a massive bullet dodged if she leaves teaching...believe me...i did it! Awful job.

I left a pgce in April. I was going to fail, there was no point continuing. It was the best thing I wouldn't have been a good teacher. There's no shame in leaving the course if she decides it's not for her.

Frankly the playground thing sounds like nonsense. They should be looking at how she interacts with kids in the classroom. The students in class need to be confident she is in charge and feel secure to answer questions. All teachers have their own personality. It sounds like they are criticising her personality rather than her skills.

Maybe it's not for her, just be there to support her.

Frankly the playground thing sounds like nonsense. They should be looking at how she interacts with kids in the classroom.
Yes, obviously they should be looking at how she interacts with the children in the classroom as well but presumably this was an example of what the student had been told. Not the reason for the cause for concern in it's entirety.

And you do have to talk with the children in the playground. It's where you can spend time getting to know them as individuals. Sometimes it might be the only time that day you connect with that child. It's an opportunity to see who they are as people when they have the freedom to do what they want with who they want.

Does she know any playground games? She could start a lunch club or something about something she loves?

If she is shy, has she thought through the amount of interaction with other people that is inevitably involved with teaching? It's not just the children in the playground, it's parents, governors, inspectors etc, plus running school clubs or activities and doing their bit at school fairs etc.

DSis shy and spent around 10 years teaching. She did pretty well, becoming head of year, loved the children, got on well with her colleagues, etc. But she found teaching extremely stressful and, now she has left the profession, would never go back to it.

I am not a teacher... But I would have thought this is quite basic!

If you show an interest in the children outside the classroom... Surely this will translate into better formed relationships in the classroom.

Cna you help her, or can she independently, come up with ideas what she can chat to the kids about in the playground?

Questions are always good I think!

Seems a very minor thing. I barely speak to kids in the playground as that's their chance to be away from adults and do what they want( within boundaries) with their friends. Having said that, since it's flagged it's really to ask kids what game they're playing etc. What else is cause for concern?

Sorry to say she will in the minority. She's got two months ish left and can't form relationships with pupils that is a cause for concern as it's a foundation of a good teacher.

I'm a secondary mentor and have been for 8 years and only had one student on c4c

I don’t think she’ll like teaching then

maybe cut her losses?

I get it! Your DD needs to learn the art of ‘chatting’ without actually saying anything!

I teach secondary and the younger ones - Year 7, 8 and 9 are still chatterboxes.
children LOVE talking about themselves!
If your DD is approachable and smiley they will come to her!

Many want to tell me all about their weekend, dog, new kitten, the drawing they did last night, where they went for tea, what they are doing at the weekend.

I spend a lot of time at break and lunch saying :
Oh, that’s lovely
Are you looking forward to it?
Who are you going with?
What are you going to call it?
Thats very nice
When do you go?
Oh, you’ll have a great time.
Oh dear, isn’t that sad?

In other words, listen and give them affirmation. They often crave emotional support and encouragement.

She also needs to be able to end conversations when it’s time to move on:
Right, I need to get on with this now, you go and have your break.
I’m going to go and talk to Mr. X now, Where are you going next?

Tell your DD to ask the children questions and show an interest in what they are doing! The rest will follow!

Good luck to her! PGCE is hard!

And the point of this post is?

There's absolutely no shame in changing direction. I'd suggest your DD thinks seriously about whether teaching is really the right choice for her

Is that directed at me or the OP?

Its quite obvious what the point of the thread is and obvious what my post is about.

You posting on behalf of your adult daughter is a perfect example of the issue.
If she’s not good at interacting with children or speaking then maybe teaching isn’t the right profession for her.

Unfortunately I don't think being shy and teaching go very well together.
You need to be strong enough to teach and control an entire class yourself, within that class will be many different personalities and possible behavioural difficulties.
In addition to this you have to deal with parents all the time and manage issues that crop up. I would never want to be a teacher personally