Postgraduate Certificate In Education Research Articles

Covid-19’s Emotional Toll on Students: Experiences during Online Assessments in an Open and Distance Learning Programme

The Covid-19 pandemic had an immense effect on teaching and learning during 2020. The fast shift to online examinations in reaction to the pandemic and subsequent lockdown underlines the significance of motivationally enriched and emotionally supportive instruction through this stressful time. It cannot be assumed that all students had the same access to online assets or internet-equipped devices such as laptops or tablets. Not all students coped well, as an analysis of student remarks in a qualitative study indicates. The purpose of this exploratory case study was to analyse student reports on emotions experienced during the first fully online assessments in the Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) in order to develop an understanding of the motivating and supportive learning environments in online teaching. A total of 20 students from an open and distance learning university were purposefully selected to answer 15 questions related to their learning needs and, in particular, emotional challenges during lockdown. The study drew on a theoretical framing of five motivational design principles, which link emotions to academic performance. The 17 participants all had access to mobile phones and 12 to laptops for participation in online academic activities. The emotions experienced most by the students varied from anxiousness to restlessness, associated with technology access, and the trend was that emotions were shared mostly with family and friends. The findings are discussed in terms of the need to support student emotions in a fully online university course during these stressful times.

Preparing student teachers for the inclusion of autistic learners in the further education sector

ABSTRACT This research aimed to explore student teachers’ perceptions, experiences, and attitudes towards the inclusion of autistic learners within the post-compulsory sector. Adopting an ethics of care approach, this research was conducted with 10 student teachers in a large college in North-East England. Participants were student teachers enrolled in a Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) for Further Education. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and thematically analysed. Student teachers reported various experiences of teaching autistic learners from no experience at all to placements in autism-specific provisions. The participants’ understanding of autism was varied and based on both personal and professional experiences prior to starting the PGCE and whilst studying the programme. The analysis indicated that although student teachers were positive in their attitude towards inclusion, they had some concerns over their ability to include autistic learners. This study highlights the importance of care and relationships in supporting the inclusion of autistic learners. A caring pedagogy with a focus on inclusion could help to address inequalities of access to education and bring about fairer educational success for autistic learners.

Observing Complexity in Teachers’ Choices: Preparing Preservice Teachers for Work-Integrated Learning

Although preservice teachers are familiar with classroom life, they are largely unfamiliar with teachers’ intentions and reasoning. Those completing a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) have just one year to acquire new insights into teaching. This article investigates whether their school-based learning can be enhanced by preparing them to analyse the classroom practices of diverse teachers. A module used to augment work-integrated learning, Teacher Choices in Action, has introduced more than 70,000 South African preservice teachers to key choices that all teachers make. They see how diverse teachers enact these choices through guided studies of recorded lessons. We use Legitimation Code Theory to compare lesson observation reports written by 83 PGCE preservice teachers at the start and end of completing this module. Initially, most participants gave superficial descriptions of classroom activities with basic explanations of what teachers do and why. Afterwards, their reports contained more complex interpretations of teaching, with more connections between their lesson observations and insights from their coursework. Guided lesson study potentially empowers them to interpret prevalent teaching practices and consider pedagogic choices for their lessons more thoughtfully and systematically, regardless of their educational backgrounds. It may also address some concerns about vastly different mentoring that preservice teachers receive during the practicum.

Students’ and facilitators’ experiences with synchronous and asynchronous online dialogic discussions and e-facilitation in understanding the Nature of Science

AbstractThe existing literature lacks a precise understanding of how online facilitation and dialogic discussions can positively impact students’ comprehension of the Nature of Science (NoS). This study delves into the experiences of students and facilitators engaged in synchronous and asynchronous online dialogic discussions and e-facilitation to enhance our understanding of NoS. An innovative experiment employed a digital dialogue game to engage postgraduate students in a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) secondary science course. The participants included sixty-five PGCE science students and three lecturers specializing in different science disciplines (Physics, Chemistry, and Biology). Qualitative data collection methods and analysis, including transcripts of online discussions about NoS topics, were followed by critical event recall interviews to identify specific online dialogue events that significantly contributed to the comprehension of NoS. The findings contribute significantly to comprehending students’ processes in grasping complex and debatable topics such as Nature of Science (NoS) within online dialogic discussions supported by e-facilitation. They emphasize the importance of establishing an open and expansive dialogic space, with a focus on the crucial roles of e-facilitators. The results also highlight a tension between active and passive roles in both synchronous and asynchronous online discussions. Additionally, the study sheds light on the influence of space, time, and texts in understanding NoS through e-facilitated online dialogic discussions. Notably, the research emphasizes the live chat room’s significance within Interloc, accentuating its role as a social space fostering a sense of community and a safe environment for inquiry in online dialogue which supported understanding NoS.

Bracing Ourselves: Embracing Policy Changes through a Long-Standing University–Schools Teacher Education Partnership in England

We articulate the principles behind our practices as teacher educators for an Initial Teacher Education (ITE) provider in South-West England working in partnership with local schools. We position them as ‘braces’ that enable us not only to withstand but ‘embrace’ the challenges of the current policy environment, which imposes braces of its own. All ITE providers in England must present their curriculum and teaching plans for approval by the Department for Education, one of many significant changes to ITE required in England over the last decade. Furthermore, for such plans to be approved they must assume a model of schooling based on knowledge acquisition in tension with not only our own motivations but also a broader (global) conversation among teacher educators critical of policy priorities for schooling and professional teacher formation that prioritise success in high-stakes tests and international league tables. The braces/principles emerge through articulating our collective understandings of and concerns with the policy braces. Our principles connect to the processes we feel confident are necessary aspects of ‘becoming’ teachers and can hold our Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) together, going forwards. The braces—becoming an informed educator; becoming an ethical actor; becoming a reflective practitioner—have a distinctive form of reflexivity at their heart and should apply to everyone across our partnership: us, as university-based teacher educators; school-based colleagues; and pre-service teachers. We offer our approach and the braces/principles we have developed to others also struggling to reconcile their own notions of good teacher education with national policy imperatives.

Using a functional multilingualism framework and online learning to develop professional repertoires and racial literacy for trainee mathematics teachers in London, England

ABSTRACT This article is a narrative case study of language provision for trainee mathematics teachers on a one-year initial teacher training course: a Postgraduate Certificate in Education in London, England. It draws on Heugh’s (2018) (Conclusion: Multilingualism, Diversity and Equitable Learning: Towards crossing the ‘Abyss’. in The Multilingual Edge of Education 2018 (pp 341-367) Palgrave MacMillan) description of Functional Multilingualism; Muscovitch’s (2015) Academic Literacy in Mathematics for English learners in The Journal of Mathematical Behaviour, 40, 43-62) to intertwine the development of professional language repertoires with the praxis of school mathematics pedagogy; and digital multimodal literacies to promote writing, professional language repertoires and critical language awareness. It models practices and tasks designed to improve outcomes in the Postgraduate Certificate in Education course and address the lack of confidence felt by trainee teachers when teaching multilingual classes. These develop safe spaces that allow for sharing of school practicum experiences and is a context for discussion of race literacy and other aspects of diversity and inclusion referred to in the Equalities Act (2010). Drawing on innovation over a four-year period (2017–2021) the case study provides a variety of starting points to develop consistency within the many initial teacher training routes leading to Qualified Teacher Status and for collaboration between schools and Higher Education Institutes during further two years of school-based training required in England before final recognition as a fully qualified teacher.

A Reflection on Preparing PGCE English Pre-Service Teachers for Effective Teaching Practices

This paper argued that Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) students in South Africa, as well as other nations of the globe, deserve more attention than their undergraduate counterparts in terms of the training and support they receive at the teacher education programmes. The paper is a reflection journal of a PGCE English grammar lesson, and the observation revealed that the PGCE students had certain knowledge expectations before they enrolled in the teaching profession. It further indicated that such expectation was a function of their prior learning experiences and current experiences of learning in the teacher education programme. The findings from the observation revealed the knowledge gap in their training which the students themselves deem a powerful force in the formation of their professional identity as teachers in training. It is therefore argued in this paper that such a gap, if not well addressed, may leave educationists in a situation where they continue to produce graduate teachers who are not just ill-prepared but who also lack confidence in themselves as well as the institutions that trained them. The paper thus has two implications for practice: implications for PGCE curriculum development and implications for a reflexive pedagogy in PGCE classes in the teacher education programmes in South Africa and globally. Keywords: PGCE Pre-service Teachers, Teacher Education, Curriculation, Pedagogic Practices, Reflexive Pedagogy

The Preparedness of Student Teachers in Open and Distance Learning Environments for the Classroom

Teaching practice is crucial to preparing teachers for teacher education globally. Studies on open and distance learning (ODL) environments, in which collaboration and discussion play a crucial role, ought to inform the design of distance learning. They should also force a more in-depth examination of and interest in teaching practice in higher education. Learning is seen as a positive experience, whether entirely lecturer-room-based or distance-based. It is essential to combine theory and practice with efficient distance training as part of work-integrated learning. Consequently, this study aimed to determine the perceived classroom skills of ODL student teachers during the teaching practice sections associated with their Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) course. The objective of ascertaining the preparedness of ODL student teachers after their PGCE program carries substantial importance in guaranteeing the quality, efficiency, and influence of the education system by cultivating competent and well-equipped teachers. A qualitative research approach was used to gather, analyse, and interpret data. Fifteen (15) student teachers registered at a College of Education of an ODL organisation were invited to participate in the research voluntarily. In the light of the research findings, it is suggested that extra care be given to the collaboration between academic lecturers, mentor teachers and student teachers, as well as to the expectations and duties of these role-players.

A realist evaluation of a London general practitioner trainer course

ABSTRACT Clinicians with teaching and training roles should be adequately trained and assessed. However, some debate exists as to what the nature of this training should be. Historically, a postgraduate certificate in education was a pre-requisite to becoming a GP trainer but this is changing with growing concern that such a pre-requisite might act as a deterrent to potential GP trainers. This research examines the impact of a scheme designed to provide an alternative, more practical and focused, pathway to becoming a GP trainer. We interviewed 26 course participants and stakeholders of the London GP Training Course (LGPTC), observed teaching sessions, and analysed course materials. We asked what elements of the course were and weren’t effective, for whom, and under what circumstances. Here, we present a summary of our main findings – that GP trainers want to know practically, not theoretically, how to be a trainer; formative assessment boosts trainees’ confidence in their own skills and abilities; short, practical GP training courses can help enhance the numbers of GP trainers; important questions remain about the role and value of educational theory in education faculty development.

The Quest for Recognition and Curricularisation of South African Music Education in Basic Education

Framed within curriculum inquiry theory, this article argues for the necessity to merge music curricula with music educator curricula in the existing Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) offered by the South African Department of Basic Education (DBE). Currently, being educated in music does not qualify a graduate to be a music educator, as an additional qualification is necessary. Music-trained educators leaving universities are required to undertake a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) to be recognised as music teachers in public schools, hence the need for reform. The main purpose of this article is to discuss the quest for Recognition and Curricularisation of South African music education in basic education. The study adopted a qualitative research method to collect data, using previous and recent scholarly writings. The findings of this article were presented in themes developed through the questions presented. The over-arching conclusion is that South African universities’ music qualifications should be recognised as teaching qualifications. Keywords: Basic Education, Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS), Music Educators, PGCE, Skills

Student teacher learning in rural contexts: Challenges and opportunities

In this article, I explore particular aspects of the learning of Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) student teachers in the context of a collaborative partnership between a university and rural schools in the Wild Coast Rural Schools' Partnership Project (WCRSPP). This focus is especially important given the neglect of rural education in South Africa, and of student teacher preparation for placement in rural schools in particular. In considering how student teachers might be prepared to teach effectively in deeply rural circumstances, with its challenges and opportunities, my objectives are to understand the complexity of the process of what student teachers learned and how they learned in this context. Using case study methodology within an interpretive paradigm, I draw on the lived experiences of selected student teachers and their university tutors, as revealed in interviews and reflective journals. I frame the learning of the student teachers in the potentially generative nature of rural contexts and seek to illuminate the transformative potential of these in challenging their understanding of teaching and their motivation and performance as teachers. Therefore, I highlight the situated nature of the student teacher learning as well as the multidimensional and expansive nature of the learning that emerges through significant moments of mediation. By highlighting the potential for deep learning that can emerge in unexpected ways, I challenge the notion of student teacher learning as being clearly defined and stable.

Enhancing Self-Efficacy of Beginner Teachers in the Use of E-Portfolio: The Role of a Mentor Teacher

The term “beginning teacher” describes those individuals who have less than one to three post qualification years in a teaching profession and or individuals who are entering the teaching profession directly from university. A need exists for a beginner teacher in their first year of teaching to have a mentor teacher that will assist them to improve their self-efficacy so that they can be able to achieve quality teaching and learning in any learning environment. Recent studies have shown that there is growing concern with beginner teachers’ self-efficacy on how to deal with and manage the realities of teaching in modern classrooms. A mentor teacher is a teacher who has a wealth of knowledge, learned from experience and is willing to share. The aim of this study was to investigate how the use of e-portfolio may enhance beginner teacher’s self-efficacy with support from their mentor teachers. The beginner teachers are faced with challenges in their first years of teaching; hence they need mentoring, support to improve their self-efficacy. An e-portfolio might be a means which can assist in monitoring and evaluating the professional activity of the beginner teachers, their achievements and develop them. E-portfolio provides openness and transparency when mentoring the teachers. Qualitative data were collected through focus group discussions with fifty-six (56) randomly selected Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) students at a university of technology and thematic analysis was employed. Findings of this study indicated that beginner teachers needed guidance and support from their mentor teachers for beginner teachers to transform and build their self- efficacy positively and improve in their use of e-portfolio. The study recommends that induction support be used as an approach to improve novice teachers’ teaching performance and self- efficacy in the use of e-portfolio.

The master’s element in initial teacher training: what is its value?

A theory–practice divide has beset initial teacher training (ITT) for many decades. In England, there are multiple ways to gain qualified teacher status, which can be broadly categorised into school-led or university-led, with underlying arguments about the relative importance of theory and practice, and how far learning to teach should be seen as an apprenticeship. Government policy has moved towards more prescription with its ITT Core Content Framework, a curriculum that suggests that there is a right way to learn to teach. In this climate, it is important to establish what value universities – and, in particular, the master’s element of the Postgraduate Certificate in Education – add to student teachers. Thus, this article asks: What is the contribution of a research-informed master’s module to ITT? The findings of the research indicate that the master’s module offered opportunities to alter preconceptions and beliefs about teaching and learning; the process of essay writing enhanced critical reflection, which inspired more confidence in the classroom; and the potential theory–practice divide can be viewed as offering opportunities for enhancing self-efficacy. These findings suggest that master’s study has an impact on teachers within their ITT period and beyond it, and have implications for learning processes and content for programmes both in England and internationally.

Development of teacher knowledge in an initial teacher education programme qualifying mathematics teachers

South African teacher education policy expects initial teacher education programmes to introduce integrated and applied knowledge to underpin a teacher’s practice in diverse classroom contexts. This paper explores how a one-year Postgraduate Certificate in Education responds to this expectation in terms of training prospective teachers to teach high school mathematics. Exploration involves a qualitative case study of semi-structured interviews with six teacher educators and five newly qualified teachers, supplemented with document analysis. The stages of research involved a literature review, piloting the semi-structured interview questions, conducting semi-structured interviews, and analysing all accessible documents linked to the Postgraduate Certificate. All collected data were merged into one document which was read to identify codes, themes and categories. The paper finds that the Postgraduate Certificate does equip individuals with professional teacher knowledge to function in diverse contexts, albeit unevenly and highly dependent on the quality of each teacher’s past engagement with mathematics. The broad nature of policy knowledge type definitions and the lack of clarity in differentiating ‘specific specialised subject matter’ and ‘specialised pedagogical content knowledge’ are key contributing factors to uneven development in a Postgraduate Certificate. As a recommendation, we suggest that policy should differentiate ‘specific specialised subject matter’ and ‘specialised pedagogical content knowledge’ in more detail to promote the development of each as important types of knowledge needed by teachers.

A Self-Study of My Parallel Journey of Unlearning and Relearning Using Blackout Poetry in a Literature Didactics Module

ABSTRACT As a teacher educator of literature methodology in Mauritius, this arts-based self-study is rooted in the need to improve my professional practice. It emanated from a critical incident during the COVID pandemic when I used blackout poetry during an online synchronous session with in-service teachers for a Postgraduate Certificate in Education. The data production tools for this self-study include my own blackout poem, a reflection on the critical incident and an autobiographical resume. In addition, I engaged in dialogic discussion with the in-service teachers who served as critical friends. These tools empowered me to reflect on how I use blackout poetry as a creative writing activity and as a form of poetic inquiry with in-service teachers as andragogic learners. It also provided me with the opportunity to learn how I could become more empathetic to the learning experiences of in-service teachers. The thematic analysis revealed that the blackout poetry activity had not been fully optimized for creative and reflective purposes. First, there was the misassumption that this activity would interest the in-service teachers and intrinsically motivate them to engage in deep reflection and dialogic discussion. Second, I had overlooked temporal and technological challenges faced by in-service teachers. Lastly, the inability to align andragogic (adult learning) theory and practice and renegotiate learning expectations impeded the in-service teachers’ learning experiences. This study thus valorizes how reflexive blackout poems, alongside other data production tools, can contribute to the unlearning and relearning of teacher educators to better teach adult learners.

Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) Students’ Experience of Mentoring

The school practicum is an essential component of pre-service student teachers’ training in the PGCE qualification, affording opportunities to develop mentees’ own identities. Along with a range of competences. This study explores how student teachers at Nelson Mandela University perceived their School-Based Learning (SBL) mentoring experience about the roles that mentors should fulfil based on an adapted seven-factor framework (Hudson, 2004, 2009) by adopting a post-positivist paradigm. The findings showed that both groups of participants who would like to return to the same mentor again or those who wish not to do so indicated that these seven factors played a crucial role in their decision-making.

Experiences Of Student-Teachers During Teaching Practice : A Critical Analysis And Suggestions As To How They Could Be Better Prepared

This article explores the experiences of Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) Life Orientation (LO) student-teachers in Contact (face-to-face) Institution during teaching practice in Gauteng schools. Teaching practice is an integral component of teacher training. It is, however, not certain what the student-teacher’s experiences in the teaching and learning environment are. This study is concerned with the question: What are the experiences of student-teachers during teaching practice? Qualitative research was used as the mode of inquiry since this study is concerned with the lived experiences of student-teachers. Furthermore, the theoretical framework underpinning this study is experiential learning and reflective learning theory. PGCE (LO) student-teachers were purposefully selected. These student-teachers were identified as at-risk students. Furthermore, during student assessment, I observed that they were not performing well in their teaching practice. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven (7) LO student-teachers and a reflective journal, student-teachers’ reports as a tool for document analysis was used to provide contextual details. Thematic analysis was used to identify themes and analyse the data. Findings revealed that student-teachers were not adequately prepared for the actual teaching and learning environment at some schools. Furthermore, in some schools there was no support from the mentor teachers and other key role players involved in student support during teaching practice.

PGCE students’ learning through reflective journaling during teaching practice: An exploratory study

In the study reported on here the reflective journals of student teachers enrolled for the Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) were explored to determine what new learning they had acquired during their teaching practice. Reflection is a process of reviewing an experience of practice to analyse it for improvement. In this way, reflective journals could be viewed as a tool that moulds and harnesses the professional development of student teachers. Critical emancipatory research was adopted to reflect on student teachers’ journaling as an important assessment tool to be used to empower students with pedagogical content to convey knowledge to learners. In the study we purposively sampled a selected group of 10 PGCE students’ reflective journals. We found that students’ reflective journals are important tools that shape student teachers’ professional identities during teaching practice. Furthermore, we found that student teachers’ journaling is an emancipatory platform that allows students teachers to think independently and innovatively to free their thoughts on real teaching and learning situations. We recommend that teacher training institutions should emphasise the importance of journaling in teacher training programmes with a focus on critical thinking and problem-solving innovation.

Exploring the mindset and resilience of student teachers

ABSTRACT Previous research has shown that a growth mindset can alter the way we think and learn. With teachers’ retention being a problem in the United Kingdom, this article presents the findings of a study examining student teachers’ mindset and resilience. The participants included student teachers across seven different Post Graduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) subjects (n = 118), who completed a mindset and resilient questionnaire during their PGCE year, with follow-up interviews with their PGCE course leaders. The student teachers’ mindset and resilience are explored in relationship to their achievement on the course, their gender and the subject area. There was no difference in mean resilient scores for teaching grades, but student teachers who received a ‘satisfactory’ teaching grade were more likely to have a more fixed mindset than those who received a ‘good’ grade.

Fostering reflective practice in Post Graduate Certificate in Education students through the use of reflective journals. Developing a typology for reflection

ABSTRACT This research argues a need for a shared understanding of reflective practice across all the stakeholders involved in initial teacher education and develops a typology for assessing reflective writing. During the course of the research, the experiences of eighteen Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) secondary students were explored. This was achieved through the use of questionnaires, semi- structured interviews and the analysis of reflective journals. This data collection was supported by post-course interviews of 4 students. A grounded theory informed approach was adopted. The results show that over the course of the year, all of the students improved in their ability to reflect, both in discussion with their mentors and in their written work. The typology that was developed as an outcome of the research is a useful tool to use with Initial Teacher Education (ITE) students when exploring what reflective practice is and how to write reflectively and as such has been used extensively within my own institution to support the development of reflective practice.