Pgce woes

[destiel00]

My nephew is doing a pgce. He's really struggling atm and I'm worried. One of his cohort quit last week! He is working all the hours he can - help literally works and sleeps. He's just finding it so hard to get all the work expected from both school and university done. He looks ill and I'm very concerned. My sister has asked me what she can do but other than talk to his mentor and course leader I don't know what to suggest? Help!

Yes I had to do two of these in my trainee year! And two coursework essays. It was brutal!

I'd tell him he's over the worst of the year and once he hits May half term he'll likely be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Great he's taking some time for himself on the weekends, it's so important!

My mentor told me it was okay to have "off" lessons because the training tells you everything has to be perfect at all times. That's unsustainable especially as a trainee when you're constantly being given feedback!

Lastly, I'd reassure him that there's not only a teaching recruitment and retention crisis but he's in a shortage subject as well. There's no way he won't pass the year! If he's holding himself to high standards I'm sure he'll be a great teacher but he doesn't have to be perfect

Thank you all so much for your advice and experiences.
He certainly seems in a much better place than this time last week.

My daughter is on a PGCE course right now and it is full on! She is working so hard and has very little time to herself. She is finding it very rewarding though. She is doing Dance at Secondary and finds some of the pupil behaviours challenging and her mentor at the school placement is so busy she isn't get all the support she needs unfortunately. She's exhausted every night but is counting the days to Easter when she can rest and recuperate. It will be an achievement your nephew and my daughter can look back on with a lot of pride when they finish this very demanding course...

Absolutely.
It's a very very tough year.
I really don't understand why it has to be, though.
With the recruitment crisis in teaching, surely a more rounded or longer pgce course would make more sense?

There's another two years of training, the ECT years.

It's a tough job, it's not like it's going to get much easier once they've finished the course.

Exactly. There's not much point in lulling trainees into a false sense of security. Unfortunately it's already very common for people to make it through the training and then quit teaching a year or two in.

Not all PGCEs seem to be the same. Dd is currently doing her PGCE (biology) and finding it less intense than her degree course. Her lesson planning is done using plans on the school systems, that they vary. She said first placement was much easier - she was at a "posher" school with very little in the way of behaviour management problems and could concentrate on whether teaching was for her or not.

Her second placement is a large academy with significant behaviour issues, so she is finding it a bit more challenging.

But... her mentoring team at both placements and uni was/is absolutely marvellous and on top of things 100%. They give generous advice on pacing and effort alongside the general day to day. They have been mentors for multiple years and it shows.

The training is tough in part BECAUSE of the recruitment issues. Few have spare time to support the trainees properly.

You need a bit of slack and money in a system to train up new people effectively.

See also: NHS.

Dn's mentor was supposed to review his lesson plan for tomorrow earlier, but didn't get time.
So, he's quite frustrated but equally realises it's an issue with capacity.
Makes a bit of a mockery of the mentor system if they can't actually do the job, though?
🤔

My last mentee was horrified to find out that not only was I not being paid to mentor, but I wasn't given any time to do it either.

I’m not surprised he’s finding it tough. On the PGCE they don’t teach you how to teach but instead throw you into a classroom and watch to see if you sink or swim unless you are very lucky.

My PGCE year was the hardest year of my life. How I then managed to get through my NQT year with very little support, then a further 12 years in teaching, I really don't know.

It did me the world of good in some ways, but not in others. I've left now and I feel like a bitter mess. I have so much anger and frustration towards the profession and how it's ruining people's mental health and goodwill.

He needs to look after himself.

I did the same course and as full on as it is, it really will prepare him for his future in teaching. No he won’t have assignments to complete but he will have so much more paper work and the real full responsibility of the class.

It takes a while to get your head around but he needs to start prioritising and realising that the to do list is never complete but you learn what needs done quickly and get better working through it all.

If he’s fully committed to becoming a teacher then he will adapt to it all, it’s just a massive learning curve about the amount of work you need to do. Soon he will learn all the different ways of making lesson plans and resourcing easier. There are times of the year which are much busier than others. He will be unwell every holiday but your body also builds up a stronger immune system.

He just needs to decide if this is really what he wants.
The mentor thing is annoying, I always try my hardest to support students and ensure their observed lesson is the best they can do but sadly things do come up.

That's the thing.
His mentor obviously just doesn't have thd time to do it.
Seems a ridiculous system to me 🤷‍♀️

DD has to put lesson plans for approval a minimum of 3 working days in advance.
I think some areas seem more prepared for PGCE students than others.

Would suggest he speaks to his placement lead at uni, some placements are not suited to the student, some students are not suited to the placement. How often is his uni lead in contact with him?

DDs cohort have had 2 drop out, 3 change placements and that is it out of 40+ students.

(None in STEM... though, that may be more due to the bursary than the course)

Dn's course has had 2 drop out.
Usually cohort is about 30.
8 this year, now 6.
I'd love to know where the 6500 new teachers are coming from! (Not to mention that 6500 is a 10th of current teacher vacancies!)

Sadly, it don't think this mentor is as good as his first 🤷‍♀️
Is it too late to request a move?

Preparing lesson plans and schemes of work from scratch is part of the PGCE. I wish I could say it gets easier. He will have two Early Career Teacher years to pass, as well. I did 26 years post-qualifying and was completely burned out by the end.

TES account - Google TES resources, filter by subject and price low to high. The last time I used textbooks in high school teaching was 20 years ago. It does get easier and quicker to create PowerPoints with years of practice.

The PGCE is brutal, the ECT years are brutal. It is only once you have taught the same subject/year group for a year or so, do you have time to breathe a little. If I were he, I would look to cheat a little and adapt already existing lesson plans so he is not reinventing the wheel every time. I can understand the requirement to plan from scratch, but I would question the need to do it for everything - just one year group/subject should suffice? Anything your sister can do to help him - shopping, cooking, preparing packed lunches, laundry - will help, but he also needs to help himself by speaking to his tutor and finding out if he is doing too much and seek some help on organising and prioritising his workload. I wish him the best of luck. We need STEM teachers.

If I were he, I would look to cheat a little and adapt already existing lesson plans so he is not reinventing the wheel every time. I can understand the requirement to plan from scratch, but I would question the need to do it for everything

I absolutely do question this. How on earth can it be considered ‘cheating’ to use already existing lesson plans? Creating a really good lesson needs something which a PGCE student has none of - experience.

Besides, I’ve been teaching 20 years and I never create lessons from scratch, why would I? What a waste of time.

@noblegiraffe
Did you make lesson plans in your ECT years?
I'd love to be able to say to him - hee, looks this and just adapt it!

He's just phoned me on his way home.
He sounds quite defeated.
Observation was today, not tomorrow and his course leader said he has shown progression and timing is better but apparently his mentor has complained he is unprofessional bevause last week - when he was at breaking point - he handed 2 lesson plans in with less than 24 hours notice.
This has made me utterly furious! 🤬
I'm not sure this is the right placement for him - can he request a move?
They just aren't supportive at all from what I can see.

He can request a move, sometimes a placement just breaks down, can't be helped.

But (meant kindly) he does sound a bit sensitive to criticism, and one of the things on second placement is that they will critique everything.
He is showing progression and improvement in timing - always a big thing to get right. So he's doing well there.

Yet he has probably focused on handing lesson plans in late - it is unprofessional and obviously needs to change... but he can improve on that. His mentor isn't being particularly supportive, but has he spoken to them and asked for help? Same with his uni mentor/lead.

Good luck to him.

PGCE year is very hard. The thing is during this year you make some resources you can use again. Next year if he passes he'll be teaching more classes.