Current issues in Education............

[Lucyellensmumma]

Sorry, i know i shouldnt put this here, and i know i shoudn't be a lazy arse and do my own research but MN is always such a good place to start.

I have an interview for GTP on thursday and one of the questions i have been told to expect is to talk about current issues in Education.

I am SHIT at current affairs - i have looked on the TES and TDA websites and can't pick out anything i would feel in my depth talking about

So, any teachers? parents of secondary school children what are the burning issues?

Theres the thing about school being compulsary til 18 and if not A levels then vocational qualifications - who said that? David cameron? See how rubbish i am at politics

What about exams getting easier?

Is there anything stark staringly obvious that i should know?

If i am totally honest, i saw the ad in the local paper, its a brilliant school for GTP and it sort of galvanised me to think, sod it, im going to do it - so i haven't done that much background research, was totally gob smacked to get an interview

Can only assume its because my subject is science, principally biology but people have said i should definately say i can teach chemistry and physics, im not THAT confident with those subjects, but so long as its not A level i should be OK.

I dont think i have to do a presentation, it didnt say so in my letter, it said there would be a tour and a talk (by them) and an interview.

Should i post this in education? or going back to work - AIBU seems to get the most traffic

I would talk about the 14-19 curriculum

TES has a GTP section where you can post your question to get specialist advice. You have to create a login to post a question, but it's no hassle.

My brain is melting right now, but will have a think and get back to you

oh thanks for that tether - i have had a squint at your link - i say squint, i cant find my glasses - thats a start, thankyou my brain is melting too, so might go to bed - fresh start in the morning

I'm currently on my PGCE, and my second placement school is really big on SEAL (social and emotional aspects of learning) which includes things like managing your emotions and showing empathy and PLTS (personal learning and thinking skills) which is about 'learning to learn', if you like. Things like being an 'independent enquirer' and 'creative thinker'.

Not sure how many other schools push this, and to what extent, but there does seem to be a trend towards cross-curricular skills (such as the Primary curriculum, as I understand it, moving towards broadish areas of enquiry rather than strictly discrete subjects).

Don't look at English as an additional language. I did for my first interview, and failed it on the strength that my topic did not have enough of an academic focus.

Mention Every Child Matters and you should be on to a winner

Not a schools issue, but tying in with it is the Badman Report on home ed, which is much in discussion at the moment. I'm sure you know, but briefly, the report is calling for greater LA control over HE in many ways. In time of course this will impact on schools and on intake. The HE people on the sub-section of the Education threads will be able to give you great advice and opinion on it, some of them are very politically aware (I'm just ruddy opinionated on the effing report so no use asking me, I'll only rant!).

Good luck, you're a braver woman than me. I'll stick to 50 to 80 dogs at the rescue, MUCH easier to deal with!

You could talk about how education fails to meet the needs of the workplace, and in doing so makes the products of the education system virtually unemployable.

thanks everyone - its secondary i am trying for - i feel a bit out of my depth to be honest - having logged onto the TES, it seems i know nothing!

Is it a uni or a school interview? My experience is at primary but I agree that differentiation, SEAL and ECM (Every Child Matters) are worth talking about, also Safeguarding children. Its also worth talking about the changes that may be being brought in to the national curriculum. Have a look on the TES website - its really useful and also google GTP current educational issues - some good TES threads come up.

Also look up APP - Assessing pupil progress which is basically tracking, and AFL - Assessment for learning.

Good luck

If you are going for a Science post, you will want to know about How Science Works. You should also know about issues with getting students to choose science for A-level, especially girls.

MmeBlueberry - what were you doing up at 4.45AM???? But im glad you were, looked up How science works and that is very interesting. So what that is saying is now science is being taught to try and make it relevant to every day issues and not just an academic exercise? somethign along those lines?

So much to look up here, my head is spinning! It is an initial interview at a school, they haven't said that i need to present anything or sit any tests YET!

OK,so my brain is a bit addled but what is differentiation in education? and SEAL?

Prob been said before, but look at Every Child Matters, SEAL (Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning) and the 14-19 Curriculum. Extended Schools?

Ed Balls was on Radio 4 this morning - going through the proposed bill to force faith schools to deal with sex/contraception/homosexuality etc. My understanding is that up to now, faith schools have been able to opt out. The proposal is that they no longer will have that option, though tthey will be able to reflect their own faith in the discussion.

I think this brings up very interesting questions about school authonomy etc and ties up very neatly with a discussion of the Badman report.

sprry if it's been said before

every child matters
personalised learning
life-long learning
investigative/exploratory learning vs didactic teaching
different learning styles
assessment for learning (AfL)

get the tes for a while and have a read...

thankyou. you are all brilliant!

EAL - english as additional language

I can talk for hours about that!

Talking of learning methods (and I'm a parent, not an educationalist) DD2's school has switched to a 3-lesson day, meaning that various teaching styles have to be employed within a lesson due to their length, which the school says has been a brilliant development.

frankkinaround - I thought it was an awesome topic, but got royally served.

Glad I didn't end up at that Uni, now.

LEM, HSW has quite a broad remit. On one level, it covers Scientific Method and the planning of experiments (the old SC1).

The other aspect is how Science interacts with society and influences decision making. There are lots of 'hot topics', such as global warming, pollution, nanotechnology, homoepathy, alcohol, influence of computers, etc.

IMO, HSW is vitally important, especially to lower achievers as it provides important lifeskills (think about the bad science stuff you read here and want to scream about). However, I think it is way overdone and the time devoted to it is taking away from teaching basic scientific facts, and associated higher order learning skills.

If they ask you why you think that Science should be a core subject, you need to have the right response. There are four key reasons - do you know what they are?

If you're just entering GTP, you won't be expected to know all the educational terms off by heart.

Firstly, prove you know your subject...that's extremely improtant.

Secondly, speak sincerely about why you want to teach. You'll need to make it clear that you see students as individuals (every child matters). That you want to help them progress in all ways, not just science (SEAL). They might ask you what you think makes a good lesson...I'd say it was one where the children enjoyed the lesson, engaged with the learning and every child made progress. (This vaguely reflects the ofsted criteria)

You don't need to quote politicians, I've no idea what David Cameron thinks and it's not affecting my GCSE results.

Have you done any observation in a school environment? It's worth organising this if you can.

Good luck!

No Mdme, i don't know them - care to share? I feel exactly like you describe though about science - that it shouldn't just be for the high achievers. Its funny, im not partularly bright, i just have an aptitude for and enjoy science - it blows me away tbh. I am constantly astounded when people say to me "oh you're a scientist, you must be soooooo clever" im not - i just believe that if you are interested in a subject enough, it doesn't actually matter how complex it is, you'll get past that. Relating science to every day is imo absolutely vital - even when i was doing my PhD, what motivated me was thinking how one day my research might actually in some small way, have a positive effect on an actual human being! lol.

I am very nervous and kind of wish i thought about teaching sooner, as now ive applied i really really want it - i dont feel particularly confident though, i feel like i need about a month to bring myself up to speed with it all.

I dont really have any school experience, but am defo going to try and organise this - just got to get this week out of the way, if that makes sense. I do have experience of teaching undergrads and what i got a total complete buzz from was having students say things to me like "oh, you explain things really well - i just didn't get it but you make it easy" and seeing the stress melt away from their faces when they "got" something that was giving them a hard time. Of course, i had the benefit of the crib sheet!

I am concerned re my rustiness, do you think i should mention this or just not flag it up, i did notice that some universities offer subject refresher courses that run alongside the PGCE but will this be the case for the GTP?

Loads of what you said in your last post would sound great in your interview!!

OK, the four reasons for having Science as part of the core curriculum:

• for the academic joy of learning
• to produce future scientists
• to develop skills (such as measuring and following instructions)
• to evaluate data and evidence.

Of these, the first two are more relevent to those who want to take science further. The other two are vitally important to everyone - they are lifeskills. It doesn't matter who you have in your classroom, they need to have these skills - to follow recipes and flatpack instructions, and to decide whether to eat organic food, give their child the MMR, or breastfeed.

I imagine if you are applying for a place on a Science teaching course, they will definitely ask you this. If you are passionate about all these objectives, you will impress the interviewing panel.

The other thing to get across is a sense of 'Awe and Wonder'.

I agree, Abbie