PGCE Secondary (MFL French, German, Spanish)

This PGCE course prepares you to teach French, German and/or Spanish in the 11-16 age ranges with opportunities to gain experience of teaching post-16. It is an integrated academic and professional preparation for teaching, combining study at either postgraduate or professional level with practical training to meet the Teachers’ Standards.

This course has a number of different learning options, please see the full list of UCAS codes in the Entry Requirements section for more information.

The PGCE Secondary Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) course at BGU is for people wishing to train as secondary teachers of Modern Foreign Languages, 11-16 with post-16 enhancement. Whether MFL teaching is your first new career choice, or you want to return to teaching after a career break, or you are looking for a career change by using your languages in different and more rewarding ways, your application will be given serious consideration. The course aims to create a dynamic and diverse mix of trainees, not only from different ages, backgrounds and cultures, both locally and nationally but also internationally. We, therefore, expect a typical MFL cohort to include a good mix of native speakers. Trainees following this course are encouraged to explore a wide range of creative approaches to planning, teaching and evaluating MFL lessons, covering communicative language teaching, developing classroom language, the four language skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing), as well as focusing on learner strategies and learner autonomy, the role of grammar, cultural awareness and new technologies in language teaching. The course is built upon principles of inclusion and diversity in teaching and learning for all pupils, whatever their potential and achievements. Throughout the course, trainees study different methods of assessment and how they support classroom learning and teaching; in particular, the role of formative assessment in the development of metacognitive skills and language learning strategies.

You will consider the broader aspects of teaching, contexts for learning, the latest government initiatives and contemporary issues in teaching, learning and assessment. You will also work alongside trainee teachers of other subjects to consider cross-curricular aspects of education. These topics will introduce you to your career in the teaching profession.

Throughout your year of study, you will explore all aspects of your subject. This includes those areas that are your strengths, as well as areas you may need to improve upon. You will study how pupils learn in your subject area, how you need to assess them and how to keep abreast of new developments within your subject. You will learn how to plan and deliver topics in ways that include all types of learners in meaningful ways.

You will spend two thirds of the year in partner schools and other educational settings gaining rich and varied experiences designed to support meeting the standards for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). Working with peers, tutors and school-based colleagues, you will develop your abilities to promote effective learning among 11-16 year olds. You will also have opportunities to gain experience of the key stages before and after the ones in which you will qualify.

This course is demanding and stimulating. We aim for you to be prepared to take responsibility for your own learning, be open to creative and innovative ideas, and be competent, reflective practitioners both in your training year and beyond. Success on the course means you will have completed a postgraduate (with 60 credits at Masters level) or professional graduate qualification, have met all the Qualified Teacher Status Standards and be ready to start the next year as a Newly Qualified Teacher.