English with Drama, Secondary PGCE

Tutor: Ms Karen Lowing

Duration: Full-time 10 months

Requirements: Other than in exceptional circumstances candidates should hold a 2:2 Honours degree or above and should ensure that their degree includes at least 50% English Literature.  However applicants with either a Drama based degree, a Masters in English Literature or a closely related subject at degree level should contact the university tutor for eligibility information.  Top-up courses are available through the Open University. Applicants must have a GCSE English Language and Mathematics at grade C or above before commencement of the PGCE Course.

School Experience: Some recent experience in a Secondary School is required by the time of interview.

Important note: this course fill up very quickly and in previous years has closed in December

Course descriptionbooks

By successfully completing the PGCE, you will gain the professional qualification QTS (Qualified Teacher Status). This will give you the skills that you need to teach Secondary level English and Drama.

The Secondary PGCE course in English and Drama has been developed in partnership with schools in the region.

The course draws upon recent research findings and OFSTED reports into the implementation of English in the National Curriculum. The University Tutor is actively involved in research and writing about various aspects of teaching.

Course Aims

The course aims to enable trainees to

  • begin their careers with good experience of teaching English and Drama
  • gain a sound understanding of approaches to the subject
  • build an awareness of the role they will play as a member of staff within a department and a school
  • develop full knowledge of the demands of the National Curriculum, G.C.S.E. and post-16 English and Drama teaching.

Course Outline

The course is jointly delivered with Subject Mentors in the partnership schools who share responsibility with Curriculum Tutors. Both assist students in the acquisition and development of appropriate skills and knowledge and supervise them in their school placements. The English programme has been planned around cycles of learning so that the school-based and university elements complement one another. This ensures continuity and coherence between the various locations of the course.

Course Content

Course content includes:

  • planning lessons and schemes of work
  • teaching literature
  • the use of drama and media education in English
  • developing pupils' language skills and knowledge about language
  • classroom management and control
  • the National Curriculum, G.C.S.E., and A-level
  • assessment 
  • information technology and its role in the teaching of English
  • fitting into a department and a school
  • preparing for job interviews
  • facing the first year of teaching

First term

The first term, leading up to a five week diagnostic teaching placement, focuses on introducing the following aspects of English and Drama teaching: English and Drama in the National Curriculum, planning and implementing schemes of work, basic teaching and classroom management skills, understanding the processes of pupils' learning and the basic principles of assessment.

Second and third terms

The second and third terms, during which the long teaching placement occurs in a new school setting, build on and develop teaching and learning strategies introduced in the first term. Students will also look in more detail at planning and assessment in the light of the National Curriculum requirements, including preparing pupils for public examinations. Teaching and learning strategies at post-16 level are also considered along with wider professional concerns arising from the first year of teaching.

Coursework and assessment

Trainees will learn about, experience, and practice a range of methods of teaching, so that they can select appropriate methods and carry them out effectively. Therefore, approaches to the teaching of the course are varied, including seminars, workshops, tutorials, interactive activities and lectures.

PGCE Enquiries:

Tel: 0191 222 6581
Fax: 0191 222 6546
E-mail: pgce-education@ncl.ac.uk

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