Citizenship PGCE

This programme offers you the opportunity to be involved at the leading edge of citizenship education and to become one of the first generation of trained citizenship teachers.

The PGCE will develop your curriculum knowledge and explore a wide range of topics related to teaching and learning. We focus specifically on areas relevant to citizenship education, such as teaching controversial issues and increasing pupil participation.

Sessions at the IOE are highly interactive, and we encourage you to collaborate with your fellow students throughout the year. The programme will feature visits to sites around London as well as a wide range of guest speakers.

Schools organise the citizenship curriculum in different ways, so your teaching experience may include contributions to PSHE, and we will encourage you to gain some experience of teaching at least one other subject. Religious education, history and geography have been popular choices for previous students.

In addition to teaching curriculum subjects, you may have opportunities to contribute to your school's Active Citizenship programme, perhaps through working with the school council or helping to set up community projects. We will try to give you the opportunity to experience post-16 teaching wherever possible.

Features

This programme has been designed to enable all students to demonstrate that they have met the standards across Key Stages 3 and 4 (11–16 age range Qualified Teacher Status).

Wherever possible, we provide opportunities for trainees to gain experience at Key Stage 5 (post-16 age range), even where their qualification is for 11 to 16 teaching.

Attendance

In your placement schools or colleges, your responsibilities will be equivalent to those of a practising teacher, but on a reduced timetable. The working day starts at approximately 8.30am and ends at 5.00pm. Sometimes it is shorter, but you will need to plan your life to reflect the demands of the school day and the school term dates, which may not be the same as the published IOE term dates.

Days spent at the Institute include keynote lectures, subject lectures, seminars, workshops, tutorials and directed study days. In addition, time in the evenings and at weekends is needed for further study and planning.

Assessment

You will be assessed in two ways:

• on your practical teaching and your progress in achieving the standards for Qualified Teacher Status
• on assignments, portfolio tasks and, for some subjects, practical projects.

We will monitor your progress throughout the PGCE, and you will record this in a Career Entry and Development Profile statement. This will form part of a portfolio that links into the induction year (your first year of teaching) and your continuing professional development.

Subject entry requirements

You should have a good first degree, ideally with a substantial element of social studies, UK politics or law. Candidates with other relevant degrees, relevant masters degrees or work experience in a related field will also be considered.

It will be beneficial for you to have recent experience of working with young people, especially in an inner-city setting. This experience is often gained through voluntary work in schools or youth clubs and organisations. We expect you to have at least visited secondary schools recently.

You should also have a genuine interest in education, good communication skills, a commitment to teaching as your chosen career, a willingness to take responsibility for your own learning, and the ability to work within a team responsible for curriculum development.

Where do our students go?

Citizenship PGCE graduates are currently working as:

• teachers of citizenship, RE, politics, humanities, psychology, sociology, philosophy, health and social care, geography and history
• education officers for charities and museums
• local authority education advisers
• researchers and writers.