PGCE Secondary (Music)

This PGCE course prepares you to teach your specialist subject in either the 11-16 (with post-16 enhancement) or 14-19 age phases. It is a very practical course with around two thirds of the time spent in schools, mostly working with teachers and pupils, and around one third spent on directed study, with partnership training in the University and school. 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.

The aim of this course is that you should become a reflective practitioner – a teacher who thinks about their experiences and learns from them in order to improve their practice. During the course, you will study two academic modules. The first of these, ‘Subject Knowledge and Pedagogy’, allows you to explore several different pedagogical approaches to a particular project that you are going to teach. A chosen pedagogy is justified, taught and then evaluated, clearly linking theory to practice. In the ‘Classroom Focused Development’ module, you will undertake a small research project in school having explored relevant research methods. You will also have a focus on the professional learning needed to meet the Teachers’ Standards, including looking at planning, assessment and classroom management along with the underpinning theory.

This PGCE secondary Music course draws upon the strong heritage and tradition of BGU within the field of Teacher Training, within the University’s School of Teacher Development. The course tutors are experienced Music teachers and performers who delight in the opportunity to work with the next generation of Music teachers. The course will equip you to become an outstanding secondary school teacher and facilitator of Music. This inspiring course includes taught seminars, active workshops and 1:1 tutorial support. Music trainees work in a supportive group, sharing classroom experience, teaching resources, and sharing individual expertise. BGU ‘enjoys an excellent reputation locally and employment rates are high’ (Ofsted 2010). 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). The course benefits from a close working relationship with the Lincolnshire Music Service, providing experiences across Key Stages and within the wider school community. Additionally, the course includes outside enrichment such as visits by specialist instrumentalists and teachers.

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.