PGCE CertEd

**The information provided on this page was correct at the time of publication (November 2024). For complete and up-to-date information about this course, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas.** <br/><br/>**Admission via UK Governments Department for Education.** <br/><br/>The Oxford Internship scheme, as the PGCE programme is known at the University, is a one-year, full-time course of teacher education for graduates, involving a close partnership between the University department and local comprehensive schools. This enables all aspects of the course to be planned, carried out and evaluated jointly and results in a course that integrates work in the University and in school throughout the year.<br/><br/>Student teachers are known as interns during the PGCE course.<br/><br/>At Oxford, interns are prepared to teach in secondary schools (11-19 age range) in one of the following subjects:<br/><br/><br/>- English<br/><br/><br/>- geography<br/><br/><br/>- history<br/><br/><br/>- mathematics<br/><br/><br/>- modern languages (French, German, Spanish, Mandarin)<br/><br/><br/>- science (biology, chemistry, physics).<br/><br/><br/>The programme has been developed with colleagues from Oxfordshire partnership schools and covers the key professional skills of:<br/><br/><br/>- lesson planning and preparation<br/><br/><br/>- assessment, recording and reporting<br/><br/><br/>- responding to individual learning needs<br/><br/><br/>- classroom and behaviour management.<br/><br/><br/>This is a full-time course, which will involve travel to your placement school, although most partnership schools do lie within the Oxfordshire county boundaries.<br/><br/>The greater part of the autumn (Michaelmas) term is made up of joint weeks, in which time is spent both in your first placement school and at the Department of Education. The spring (Hilary) term consists primarily of an extended experience at the same school. For the summer (Trinity) term, you will move to a second school, which provides an opportunity to consolidate and extend your understanding of teaching and learning. Between the two mainstream school placements, you will also spend one week in a special school or specialist base, developing your knowledge of effective approaches for young people with special educational needs or disabilities, so helping you to teach in more inclusive ways. <br/><br/>There are two interrelated course components: curriculum subject work and the professional development programme. The curriculum tutor leads University seminars and liaises with the school-based mentor to co-ordinate subject-focused classroom activities. The mentor provides guidance and support and gradually increases the interns teaching responsibilities. The professional tutor in school co-ordinates school-based activities related to teachers wider professional roles (eg pastoral responsibilities) and liaises with the University-based general tutor, to plan seminars related to school-wide policies and practices. University tutors and guest specialists lead the University-based components of the professional development programme intended to develop an understanding of educational policy and of whole-school and cross-curricular issues. <br/><br/>Experience and reflection underlie the whole course with the emphasis on you as a critical learner, considering a range of perspectives and testing your own ideas within your practice. You are encouraged to take responsibility for your own professional development and develop your own philosophy of teaching and learning.