B. Teacher Training System in the UK

B. Teacher Training System in the UK

Teacher training includes all forms of initial and in-service education provided by university schools, departments or facul­ties of education and colleges of higher education. Teacher training colleges are small isolated institutions with low num­bers of students. Some colleges are financed by local education authorities and others by voluntary organizations usually con­nected with a religion denomination. The colleges vary widely in the courses they offer; some students major in primary school work, while others specialize in a particular subject.

To have a good job and career prospects teachers must be approved as "qualified": the Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) may be obtained by entrants to teaching through completing a recog­nized course of initial teacher training.

There are different routes to a teaching qualification for grad­uates and non-graduates. Non-graduates usually do a three or four-year course leading to the Bachelor of Education degree; graduates take a one-year Postgraduate Certificate of Education course (PGCE). The PGCE was originally designed to train university graduates as subject specialist teachers for grammar and independent schools but with the advent of comprehensive schools the PGCE course was reoriented towards this type of schools.

PGCE courses concentrate on developing professional teach­ing skills and relating your subject to classroom teaching.

The professional strand has two elements: professional courses and periods of practical experience in schools. The professional courses give students a basic teaching competence and confidence. The courses are concerned with what is going on in school. With the help of the professional courses students develop a practical view which balances their theoretical knowledge re­ceived in other courses. Much attention is given to teaching practice. Students usually have a period of block teaching prac­tice in each year of the course. They have an opportunity to work with different teachers and to experience various approaches to classroom organization and management. During the four-year course each student has a wide range of experience with the support of practising teachers and college supervisory tutors. There were attempts to improve teaching practice by introducing closed circuit television, college-linked practice schools, team-teach­ing, group (or study) practice, microteaching techniques.