Calling PGCE Students and Teachers...

[Porphyrogenitos]

...to help me join your ranks.

This morning I received my letter inviting me for interview for the History PGCE at UEA. I have just under a week to prepare for the interview, which "is likely to involve a brief introductory group discussion and a written task." If anyone knows what kind of thing I should know/should research in that time, teach me! You should be good at it after all :p

I know I'm meant to know the modern problems of teaching and specifically teaching history, so if anyone can throw in their 2 cents on that, it would be awesome. Now I'm going to read everything relevant in the BBCs education section!

[GorillaBearBear]

not helpful, but awesome i am at uea

[Porphyrogenitos]

It is a wonderful place to be. What year/course?

[GorillaBearBear]

first year Lit

[Tweekish]

You have to be prepared to be a parent, social worker, referee, mediator, nurse and caretaker all at once.

I never did a PGCE interview but when I first started my training I was asked things like where do you see yourself in five years time, how much pastoral work (non teaching things, head of year, form tutor etc) would you be involved in, why do you want to teach, what would make you a good teacher, how do you cope under pressure, are you good at working in teams, can you keep to deadlines, do you have any criminal convictions and do you have a clean driving license.

As for modern problems of teaching you need to read some paper. Pick up the TES which comes out every Friday which has both the magazine and newspapery section that talks all about issues in teaching. Plus its a good introduction into what teaching is actually like.

Have you spoken to a school to do a days observation? The people who interviewed me were quite keen on the fact that I already had some experience working in a school.

Whatever you do, dont say "Im doing it for the 14 weeks holiday, woo!"

[Porphyrogenitos]

Yes I do have some experience in schools, that is not so much a plus but a prerequisite now. I've done a couple of days and am looking into more, just waiting on replies, but I think I have learnt a fair bit from what I've done so far, simply because the schools were so helpful in getting me into such diverse classes. I think I should be able to tell them what they want to hear about me personally and my qualities for teaching. Thank you for that, particularly the TES, that looks great!

[SquallLeonheart]

I am currently doing my PGCE in ICT Secondary education, you just have to be yourself in the interview and make sure that you focus on your good points but it is pretty easy to get on the course if you make a good impression. Once you are on the course tho DO NOT LET YOUR WORK SLIP!! I have and I still havent managed to catch up and i work till 2am everyday and in my "non-contact" periods

But either way good luck mate, it is one of the most fun and rewarding jobs ever just highly stressful.

Squall Leonheart

P.S - Your work load in the PGCE year is more than any year to follow so just keep pushing through it.

[Spacemonkey]

I had my interview for PGCE secondary English with Drama at Warwick last November and I got accepted :D

Won't lie, the interview is nerve-racking, but preparation is your allay! Have a look at the national curriculum, be prepared to comment on it. You don't have to be an expert but just enough to prove that you have read it and considered it. If you just google 'National Curriculum' it's the first site that comes up and you can download a pdf version.

I had to do a timed written task, where firstly I had to comment on a journalist's article on the importance of Shakespeare, and then in the second task I had to pick a Shakespeare play and a year group, and explain in detail how I would conduct the introductory lesson. I don't think they're looking for a model answer, they're more just interested in how you cope under pressure, how good your spelling/grammar/hand writing is, how you respond to a written piece, etc.

In the actual interview, there seem to be a fair few stock questions that people get asked, make sure you have good answers prepared. The ones I got asked included:

Why do you want to be a teacher?
What do you think makes a good teacher?
What do you think makes a bad teacher?
What would you say your biggest weakness is?
Why did you choose Warwick?

I was also given a scenario regarding a student that needed discipling, and how I would go about conducting it.

She also asked me a few technical questions about English as a subject itself, and things such as 'what book had a I read recently that I feel would be appropriate for a year eight English group? Why did I think it was appropriate? How would I go about teaching it?' etc I realise that's specific to English but they may ask you something similar.

She wanted to know a great detail about what I'd actually covered in my English degree course, presumably to make sure my knowledge and technical skills were good enough.

She also asked me if I had any questions at the end, helps to think of a few and not just things like 'When can I expect to hear back from you?' as they get asked that by everyone and never give a definite answer. I asked 'If I am successful with my application, what should I do between now and September to prepare for the course?' which seemed to go down well.

They'll probably want to know a lot about your experiences in school was like - things you noticed, good points, bad points etc so it helps to have a few ideas ready to talk about.

As Tweekish said, they may ask you to comment on current issues in education, so it's definitely worth having a look at TES (out on a Friday), the Guardian Educational Supplement (out on a Tuesday) and even the education section of BBC news.

Also, if you join the TES online forums, there is a whole section for 'prospective student teachers', with a very helpful question bank where previous interviewees have shared their interview experiences.

All in all, the interview day isn't too bad, it just feels like it goes on forever. Obviously remember the staple interview rules: dress smartly, be polite, shake hands with the interviewer, etc.

And be prepared to obsessively check GTTR track about 3 times a day. :D

Hope this was some help.

Good luck!

[BobbyNoShoes]

try to keep your erection under control when you say "I'm in it for the kids" after that your golden

[Iball]

I'm in the middle of a Lower-Primary PGCE course at the moment, and would like to echo SquallLeonheart's remark regarding the workload. If you're not prepared for the almost complete lack of a social life that you will have during the course, you may be unprepared to complete it. If you instead consider the year ahead as being one of unending work, then you'll enjoy any moment you do actually have free far more.

Good luck with the interview. I'd agree with the points made so far, and add/reinforce the point that you should try and sell yourself a little. I had to work in a group at one point: you can't afford to be quiet in that situation, so talk even if you risk interrupting someone!