PGCE Upper Primary Interview Presentation - Teaching as a Masters profession; the need for continued debate

[PGCEQueen]

Forgive me for the name change - I've colleagues on here that I don't what to know I am attending an inverview and am thinking of a career change.

I have an interview and as part of the process I have to give a 5 minute presentation on this subject. When I first saw the heading I thought it would be straightforward as it was obvious to me that a PGCE was at masters but having read the paper a gazillion times it appears not to be as clear cut and there is some dissent or lack of agreement as what a masters actually is or is for. People teaching PGCE's dont appear convinced.

I think that when I am studying for my PGCE and as an NQT(assuming I dont mess up the interview and they hate me) that I will be too busy worrying about fulfilling all the professional requirements and standards to think about whether I'm learning at ML but when my career has advancesd a bit, I'm sure I will appreciate having a masters.

Anyway are there any thoughts you could share with me about what I should include in my 5 minutes? What do you think as teachers - does it matter whether a NQT has a masters?

Thank you for any words, I am terrified dont mind admitting it.

Well a PGCE, whilst at M level, isn't a Masters. In fact it's difficult to see how one would meet the essential research requirements of a Masters and the essential practical requirements to teach. Also you can get QTS alongside a Bachelors in Education or Primary Teaching or similar. So it's definitely not automatic.

Think about what studying at M level really means.

Think about what teaching really means.

Think about how one can balance the need to be an autonomous and reflective practitioner who is able to understand and keep up with developments that affect practice (which requires advanced understanding and a lot of the skills taught in a Masters rather than a Bachelors) with the need to be able to teach on a day to day basis. Are those things incompat

They are likely to be angling for you to explore this academic/practitioner conundrum.

Btw I teach in a country where you're now required to have a Masters, but you don't have to have a university degree in the subject you actually teach as long as you can pass the exam to become a teacher (which is knowledge based exclusively for the first round).

Your first sentence is what I think too. Though years down the line I guess I might return to study and the credits would prove helpful but I'm sure my PGCE year will be taken up with planning and improving my classroom practice.

You know when you tie yourself up in knots with nerves? That's where I am now. I do appreciate your reply and if I may come back here with my main points.

There's usually a time limit on cashing in your points, and some places say you can choose to do assignments at M level or PGCE level so you'd need to think quite carefully from a planning perspective.

There are so many ways to do teacher training that whether it should be academic or practical based may be a more fundamental consideration than whether we require all teachers to have a Masters, and whether that Masters should be in education... But I digress! It's an interesting and knotty subject.

Oh and the fact they've titled it 'the need for continued debate' is a big clue to what they're looking for IMO

See I am a practical sort and 'the need for continued debate' to me means "whoever thought this nonsensical idea would work, is an absolute eejit" but subtlety isn't my strong point