PGCE: Time to teach and learn…

For me, being a mentor to PGCE students has been a real highlight of teaching. Alongside the obvious parts of the job we all enjoy (involving those little people in our classroom!) I have always especially enjoyed being part of the next generation of teachers and their training.

My own mentors were really helpful when I was completing my course. I commuted to the University of Gloucestershire, so my placements could be near my home town. My first placement was in a Year 5 class in a 2-form entry school, where there were 2 part-time teachers. There were some challenges with this placement, as I was paired with another student who did eventually leave the course; there were some obstacles which made it hard to really feel as though I could excel myself.

However, my second and third placements were in a small village school (now part of the academy trust I work for!) in a mixed Year 2/3 class where I had a really supportive, encouraging mentor. I arranged this placement myself through a friend; my would-be mentor had expressed to me she had always wanted a PGCE student and there were shortages on my course. It turned out to be an amazing opportunity.

She helped to nurture my own skills by allowing me increasing responsibility, by allowing me to not only excel but to make mistakes and this culminated in me arranging a whole school history day planned around World War Two. I was given enough guidance and freedom in order to find my own teaching style, whilst really learning from her experience. We, eight years later, are still friends.

My own positive experience with my mentor has made me absolutely love having students myself. Seeing them flourish into amazing teachers honestly brings me such joy; maybe even as much as the children themselves. Not only this, but I also learn a lot from them, too. From new ways to teach topics I’ve done to death, to skills in specialities like Computing I don’t have myself.

So, after some requests about how best to help PGCE students within the classroom, I didn’t want to just give advice from myself. Instead, I wanted you to hear it from a brilliant student I had recently. She first had a placement in our primary within KS1, before having her final placement within my Year 6 class. She got valuable experience of SATs week, a trip to Harry Potter Studios and a whole host of chances to be creative with her lesson planning! Now a teacher in Year 4, she continues to apply her inspirational ideas to teaching her own class. Here’s what she has to say about how to best support a PGCE student, and how to get through the year, from her experience:

I am now officially no longer a PGCE student (yay), but a qualified Teacher, which is slightly overwhelming but incredibly rewarding – what a journey it has been!

I remember nervously waiting to start my PGCE back in 2018, and nerves are okay – it means you care! Your PGCE year will be full on but it will also be a great experience, and as someone who has survived, I wanted to share my experience of the best support you should receive/seek out in order to achieve your QTS with flying colours.

Friends, friends, FRIENDS. I know it may seem a little daunting at first, but it is so important to build relationships with your fellow PGCE-ers. Yes, you will feel slightly anxious, but so will the other members of the cohort. You all have a common interest and you will go through the roller coaster of a journey together. You will share stresses, hopes and achievements, and let’s be honest it’s always good to have a place where you can go on a total tangent about how life is stressful! I am still great friends with the people I met on my PGCE. We share resources, ask for help, find it’s a great way to compare different experiences…and of course still have a moan if we need to.

Do not feel reluctant to ask your tutor for help. I did my PGCE alongside working part time Your life will be busy during the year and because your life is so busy, you can start making excuses for yourself and feel hesitant to ask for support. Your tutor knows best, they have worked with students for years (they have seen it all!) and want you to succeed. They’re there for you! The assignments are challenging and so asking for support and making it clear what they are expecting from the essays is a major tip. 

Your mentor will be your best friend! My biggest support when completing assignments and making sure I had the right evidence plus reflecting well on my practice, was asking my mentor at school (not the mentor you receive from Uni!). Your biggest relationship will be with them, AND they have been through it all! They too have had the assignments, the reflecting, the breakdowns (the list is endless), plus you will see them every day. My mentor had her old evidence book, which she happily allowed me to go through to see what was expected of me and how best to set my work out. Each mentor will support and teach you different things, it is okay to ask them for guidance and help. They would feel puzzled if you didn’t ask for it! I am still friends with my mentor and I STILL ask for help. They are amazing and have the experience which is what you do not have…yet!

It is okay to have a ‘moment’: you need to be your biggest supporter. PGCE is a tough year, but that is what you need to remind yourself – it is only a year! The assignments, lesson planning, marking, classroom stresses etc. It can be incredibly daunting and all you want to do is hide in a quiet room and eat chocolate – which is totally okay to do (I still do this now as a teacher!). You will get there! The PGCE is very fast paced with a lot different things to think about at once, I had my ‘moment’ when I printed 60 pages of Maths wrong and had a small cry – yes a printer took me down! This will stop you in your tracks and allow you to just take a breather. It will be moments like these that you will look back on and laugh at yourself!

You can follow Rosella on Twitter: @MissMcNally1

I’m sure you can agree that what we can take from this is that support is VITAL for a PGCE student. From this, my top tips would be:

• Allow them to not only do things correctly, but also make mistakes. Getting everything right doesn’t mean good learning – we know this from when we teach the children! Allow students to experiment with their own planning and teaching ideas – sometimes they can use it to dissect the lesson and reflect what went wrong…or sometimes they might just surprise you with something that works when you thought it wouldn’t!

• Remember that their teaching style might not be the same as yours. Although they need to, as closely as possible, follow rules, policies and routines that keep daily life safe and typical for the children, we also need to again, allow them some space to find their own feet. I sometimes sit just outside the classroom (we were lucky to have a ‘burrow’ to do small group work) so they felt more like they ‘owned’ the classroom – but I was still on hand if I needed to be as I could see and hear what was going on. This really lets the student feel like the class teacher and try out new AfL techniques, behaviour management or to explore their teaching style without feeling your eyes on them!

• Most importantly, I think it’s essential to know how confident they’re feeling. I like to ask my student if they’re ready for more than the course says. One student felt confident trying out a whole class lesson before the course would have technically ‘allowed’ them to. I let them have a go! If they’re ready, how amazing is it to give them that confidence early on? If not, well they learn this too. You can step in to team teach (as pre-agreed) or there is plenty to reflect on after to develop them to this point next time. This goes for subjects, too. Ask what they feel most confident teaching and work this into their timetable where possible!

• Ask them if they need help. I don’t know about when you were a student, but I – even with my friendly mentors – felt like I was being a nuisance by asking more questions. Or, I felt as if I should already know the answer! Make sure you take time to ask if they’re doing okay, or if they have any questions. Not just in a mentor meeting, or at the end of the day, but when you have plenty of time to talk.

• Just be supportive! It sounds simple, but all of the above will help them to feel comfortable in your classroom and really have room to grow.

• This might sound cheesy…but learn from them too! I’ve seen some fantastic ways of teaching topics I hadn’t considered myself which were so engaging and had brilliant progress!

Of course, there may be some placements which don’t go as smoothly. Hopefully these are few and far between, but they can happen.

If you’re the student – don’t fret. First, is there another teacher in school who can be a support? Sometimes, popping next door to a friendly face can give you a boost. Just be sure not to undermine your mentor and remember to keep it professional. You can ask them for support – but they probably won’t want to hear negative comments about a colleague! If this still hasn’t helped, then try to have a professional conversation with your mentor; if this isn’t productive then, as a final resort, seek guidance from your University tutor.

If you’re the class teacher or mentor and things aren’t going smoothly then my recommendation would be to be as honest as you can. Don’t just give constructive feedback, but give them support in finding a solution to their weak areas; ask them how they learn best – do they need to observe you more? Other teachers? Plan more for small groups first? If there are still difficulties, then set our clear guidelines using the University support plan. This should give them really clear areas to focus on, with smaller targets. Finally, contact the University tutor in order to pass on your concerns.

However, even with more challenging moments, I’ve always found this to be a really rewarding experiencing that has enriched my own practice. I hope you all have this experience, too!

Good luck to all the students and mentors who are still working their hardest, despite the challenging current conditions.

Emily x