Module: EDU6009-20 Teaching and Professionalism in Secondary School

Level: 6

Credit Value: 20

Module Tutor: Andrew Joyce-Gibbons

Module Tutor Contact Details: 

1. Brief description and aims of module: 

The module is designed to develop your understanding of professionalism and what this means for teachers.  The concept of professionalism will be explored critically through an examination of the roles of teachers and other professionals in the context of cultural and political change. It will introduce you to ideas about how people become teachers. This module would support you in making a shift in your identity from being an undergraduate student to becoming a teaching professional in Secondary Schools and prepare you for professional training.

In addition to the weekly hour lecture or seminar, placement (8-10 days) will provide you with close experience of the role(s) of Secondary school teachers. N.B. You must be in possession of a current DBS certificate in order to take this module. Placements are organized by the Institute for Education Partnership Office. You should be prepared to travel up to one hour by public transport to reach your assigned school where you will be encouraged to take an active role in the life of the classroom working alongside teachers and children. Observation, recording and reflection skills are taught in the seminars to enable you to benefit fully from these visits. Through the placement, you will have the opportunity to explore professionalism in practice; you will investigate the roles and responsibilities through the experiences of a qualified teacher.  The secondary school placement will also help you to understand the roles of different professionals and other workers in schools and how to negotiate and discuss issues in different professional contexts. There will also be an opportunity for you to gain feedback on aspects of your own performance.

This module provides the opportunity for you to develop your skills in talking with different groups of people, justifying your ideas and presenting an account of your own development which will help prepare you for interviews. Maintaining a portfolio provides a good preparation for the personal organization required of students in initial teacher training and will also give you examples of how you have worked on personal targets that you might draw on in interviews.

In particular, this module will enable you to explore the professional attributes and responsibilities expected of secondary school teachers, which include organisation, role modelling, the development of respectful relationships and teacher autonomy within the relevant statutory frameworks.

2.Outline syllabus

● Models of teacher professionalism, including sociological perspectives on professionalism

● What it means to be a qualified teaching professional including a critical examination of the statutory professional standards

● The roles of teachers in practice and the roles of other workers in and with schools

● Routes into teaching; how  people become teachers, the significance of different routes to becoming a teacher and international comparisons

● The place of values and reflection in the development of teachers.

● The relationship between practice and educational theory.

● Considering the kinds of knowledge a teacher should have and how these are developed.

3.Teaching and learning activities

1. A lecture programme will provide a critical exploration of professionalism in education. This will include guest lecturers with particular academic or professional expertise.

2. In seminars the group will work with tutors to discuss the issues and share perspectives. A discourse of critical discussion of professional issues will be encouraged. In some seminar weeks students will have small group tutorials to help them relate the theory to their personal goals.

3. During a placement in a secondary school some specific tasks will be completed and other time will be spent supporting pupils and teachers.

4. Students will be required to maintain an ongoing portfolio of evidence to show how they have addressed tasks set.  Some tasks relate to reading, others to the placement and personal development towards becoming a teaching professional. The portfolio will include reflections that draw on a range of literature. The expectation is that the portfolio will be developed as the module progresses and act as a source of evidence to draw on for the assessment at the end of the module.

Assessment Item 1:

• Assessment Type: CW

• Description:  A ‘viva’ consisting of an individual presentation and individually assessed group discussion with accompanying portfolio

• % Weighting: 100