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The Diploma of Teacher Education Course - 60 ETCS
Approved of by PLP’s Executive Committee, 30.04.03, Case 15/03
1. Introduction
The Diploma of Teacher Education gives 60 study points. The Department of Education (IPLU) offers this course both as a full-time course and as a two-year part-time distance education course. In addition to this the postgraduate course is part of the University of Tromsø’s integrated 5-year teacher education programme. The full-time course begins in the Autumn term and the part-time course begins in the Spring term.
The curriculum for the course at IPLU is based on the guidelines given by the Ministry of Education and Research for the National Curriculum for Teacher Education, in which they specify the aims and general requirements for all postgraduate courses for teacher education.
The Curriculum for the Teacher Education Course given by IPLU specifies the necessary requirements for achieving the targets outlined in the National Curriculum for teacher education and the requirements of the University of Tromsø. Based on these requirements IPLU presents here, the aims of the course, the contents, organisation, working methods and form of assessment to be used. The form of assessment for the specific PGCE Course, given as part of the University’s integrated 5-year education, will be developed later.
2. Target group and admission
The Diploma of Teacher Education Course at IPLU is for trainee teachers who have their qualifications in a variety of subject areas, and who wish to qualify as teachers at Middle School, High School, Sixth-form College and in adult education.
The Postgraduate Certificate in Education requires one of the following types of educational background:
- A completed three-year graduate status from university or university-college including a minimum in-depth study of 60 study points in a central school subject.
- A completed three-year profession-oriented study at university or university-college and a minimum of two years vocational practice.
- Subject/Craft Certificate or other completed three-year vocational study at a continuing educational level, general study qualifications, vocational education and a minimum of two years vocational practice. For this group of applicants it is also possible to apply for a place based upon competence from reliable life experiences.
Up to 60 applicants can be recruited for each course. The trainee teachers who take the University’s integrated 5-year education course are recruited from the University’s general entrance applications for full-time studies. Applicants will not be recruited if it is impossible to offer them an adequate didactical education for their particular subject or vocation, or if it is impossible to provide an adequate school experience situation.
Specific recruitment rules will be prepared.
3. Structure and organisation of the study
Each of the three models presented below for the PGCE Course given by IPLU contain two parts, which together give candidates qualified teacher status.
A) Full-time Course
The course covers two terms and each term constitutes one half of the course. Each term is composed of a practical school experience in school and other educational institution, and two theory periods at IPLU. During the theory period there is an introductory and in-depth study of the theory of education and general/vocational subject didactics as well as preparation for the school experience period and reflection about and becoming aware of their own practical experiences.
B) Part-time Course given as Distance Education
The course covers a two-year period, with one year for each part of the course. Trainee teachers that are in a teaching position have their practical school experience period partly in their own classes and partly under professional school mentor supervision in other classes. Trainee teachers that are not in a teaching position are required to have a school experience in each part of the course. Lectures in the theory of educational and general/vocational subject didactics are given throughout the course at collective sessions and through net-based study-work. The trainee teachers are required to carry out different tasks of both a practical and theoretical art between the collective sessions. During this period information and communication technology (ICT) is an important communicative link between trainee teachers and course teacher and between trainee teachers themselves. It is a requisite that trainee teachers on the part-time course have access to a PC with Internet connection.
C) The Teacher Education Course as part of the University of Tromsø’s integrated 5-year Education Course
Trainee teachers, who are recruited onto the integrated 5-year course to be qualified as teachers, participate in the first part of the full-time PGCE Course in the Autumn of their fourth year of study. The second part of the PGCE Course is taken parallel with the trainees’ in-depth subject study at the institute that specializes in their subject. They participate in the collective sessions of the second part of a part-time PGCE Course, but work on their own individually adapted assignment.
A professional mentor-guided school experience period, covering a total of 14 weeks is an integrated part of all three models.
IPLU’s Executive Committee are responsible for the PGCE Course and stipulate the rules to be followed by participants with regard to the implementation of the school experience period and the procedure for and presentation of compulsory work. It is compulsory for trainee teachers to participate in all parts of the course.
4. Targets and contents
In the law for university and university-colleges §54a all the different types of teacher education is formulated. This mission statement is defined in more specific terms in five areas of competence required for all types of teacher education, and which the National guidelines for PGCE is built upon:
- Specific subject competence
- Didactical competence
- Social competence
- Competence in vocational (occupational) ethics
- Competence to change and develop
As a consequence of Chapter 1 of the National Curriculum, which is common for all teacher education, these areas of competence are to contribute to a career-directed teacher education and mirror reflect upon the different work tasks that will be encountered in the teaching profession. At the same time the course should equip trainee teachers with coherent knowledge of the school’s historical, social and cultural role.
It is assumed that trainee teachers, that take their PGCE Course after the completion of their general and vocational subject studies, are competent in their subject, even though the course, and especially the school experience, often requires more in-depth and supplementary knowledge Those taking the five year integrated study route will continue to develop their in-depth subject knowledge parallel, and partly integrated with their Teacher Education Course studies. The National Curriculum guidelines also stress an overall coherence between the three components that are part of the course: general/ vocational subject didactics, theory of education and the school experience.
In keeping with the above comprehensive aims the PGCE Course at the University of Tromsø is based on three main themes, which together form the basic knowledge necessary for entry into the teaching profession. The four competence areas, which come as a supplement to the professional subject knowledge, will act as a link throughout the three themes and will appear in different forms and with different emphases.
First Main Theme: The planning and implementation of teaching and learning
This theme is to a certain extent similar to the area of competence covered in subject didactics and is concerned with how to transfer the trainee teachers’ professional subject competence towards a goal-oriented teaching and learning process. That requires an ability to analyse and use the National Curriculum for school education in the planning and implementation of colleague-based teaching. The PGCE Course at the University of Tromsø, is especially interested in qualifying trainees to be aware of and to ensure that there is, a local and regional perspective in their teaching and learning and that use is made of the local community as a learning arena. This is an important requisite when complying with the terms of the Norwegian National Curriculum for education with regard to differentiation and the exploitation of the students’ own background, knowledge and expectations. In general a North Norwegian teacher education will naturally reflect on the Sami and Kvensk cultures, but will also qualify trainee teachers for the greater cultural diversity that is a feature of schools today. In connection with internationalisation, part of the course could, for example, be executed in other countries, and would be an important contribution towards the understanding of cultural diversity, both with regard to the situation for students themselves and to the school as an organisation.
Making a systematic use of the school’s own local neighbourhood: trade and industry, organisations etc., will in many instances demand new ideas and development. Teamwork between schools and their neighbourhood will provide good conditions for developing students’ practical entrepreneurship. The Teacher Education Course will provide the possibility for teacher trainees to acquire experience with developments of this kind as well as other ways of developing this part of the given mandate for schools.
The above is just one of a number of areas that require the ability and the will power to further develop subject contents, approaches to teaching and learning and evaluating. Another area of development is connected to new technology and especially Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a learning and communication tool for students in school who have different learning abilities. Collaboration between general and vocational subjects in sixth-form and technical colleges is a third area in this main theme section. A more general aspect the present National Curriculum for education is concerned with is more stress on the teacher’s role as mentor. With regard to this factor and others it is therefore important that the PGCE Course includes and provides for both a theoretical as well as a practical basis for the development of general and vocational subjects. IPLU has in its research profile stressed school related action research to which trainee teachers can both participate and contribute.
Planning, implementation and assessment of the progress of teaching and learning often involves ethical considerations and dilemma. The choice of contents and themes must at times be balanced between being relevant and life related, but without becoming intrusive or personal. All assessment must be built upon criteria that students are informed about, and which aims for both objectivity and justice. This means that trainee teachers need to acquire social and communicative competence as a tool to be used when they meet their own students, who according to the curriculum and law are to be participants and collaborative partners in planning and evaluation of teaching and learning.
This first main target demands a great deal of teamwork and integration between the three course components. General and vocational subject didactics is responsible for taking into consideration society’s reasons for the subject and its role in school and other educational institutions in the past and present. Further it is responsible for: approaches to teaching and learning, ways of evaluating, and the subject’s methodological development. In the theory of education responsibility is taken for a more general perspective about the National Curricula and the relationship between them. During their school experience trainee teachers will be able to try out and learn from actual teaching sequences.
Second Main Theme: Organising for Learning
The way that classes, schools and companies are organised is an important factor to be taken into consideration when working with teaching and trying to ensure that the educational requirements for both its professional and general targets are met. The organisational possibilities are great, but can be placed under two main categories. The one is concerned with the structural aspect of classes, schools and on-the-job training, the designing of timetables and school days, collaborative routines, leadership and the division of responsibility at class and school level, and at on-the-job places of work. The other category focuses on the cultural basis for teaching, learning, collaboration and leadership. In foundation studies it will be especially important to give trainees a theoretical and practical basis on which to develop an including, democratic classroom arena in which learning is promoted. Such a learning environment can help to develop preventative measures for and tackle bullying and conflicts. In some cases such conflicts will be connected to situations outside the school. This demands the ability to support and follow-up children and youth in difficult life situations, also through collaboration with parents and professional people responsible for the students’ home background and environment.
An additional important aim in this component is to give trainees motivation, knowledge and skills, which will be of constructive help when working with fellow colleagues. This is a necessary condition for being able to carry out the curriculum’s intentions with regard to interdisciplinary cooperation and to be able to develop good learning environments.
This second main aim also touches upon central aims of competence. Participation in a professional community at a class, department/section or school level demands the ability to be able to collaborate and to be socially competent. This in turn, demands ethical commitment and loyalty in relation to the guidelines and norms for collaboration with colleagues, students and those who have been commissioned nationally and locally. A high ethical standard involves for example, a professional secrecy with regard to information that has been obtained through conversations with students in schools and other educational institutions and from other sources. It also demands the will to change and develop the schools’ organisation, structure and culture at different levels, when these are unsuitable for the targets set by the school.
Although the second main aim touches upon all three study components it is first and foremost mainly concerned with the theory of education and trainee teachers’ school experience as it touches upon the conditions required for teaching and learning in and with interdisciplinary subjects.
Third Main Theme: Knowledge and Learning
This last main target, ‘ knowledge and learning’, is in many ways a foundational element for the two previous themes, and should give trainees an introduction to central learning theories, educational traditions about knowledge and the role of the school and other educational institutions in society past and present. Trainees should be able to reflect about and give information to their students, parents and other joint venture partners about the school’s views on education and learning. This main theme will also give a basis on which to help and understand how organisations, in this instance first and foremost schools, learn and develop for themselves. Both an understanding of how an individual and an organisation learns is a fundamental basis of knowledge required by the trainees’ for their own personal progression, competence and their will to develop. Learning as a social and cultural practice is a central theme in new theories about knowledge and learning, and are also to be found in the curriculum for schools. Such views about learning stresses and underlines the importance of teamwork and social competence. Learning theories are important both with regard to understanding the reason for learning in general but more specifically to be able to understand learning difficulties, and therefore be able to plan and specifically prepare for students who in different ways struggle with their learning. This also encompasses an occupational ethical commitment to as far as possible take responsibility for and come to grips with helping students to learn about and confront their own learning potential and cultural situation at their educational ability level.
The third main target also covers learning about learning, which means developing the students’ understanding about learning and learning habits, which are also an important part of the objectives for education. This area will mainly be connected to the trainees’ awareness and development of their own learning strategies throughout the course.
In this main theme a close collaboration between the three course components is necessary. The theory of education is responsible for giving a broad introduction about different views on and theory about acquiring knowledge, learning and learning difficulties. This can be connected to and continued within the different general/vocational subject didactics with their own traditions for knowledge and learning. Both of these areas are a basis for, and play a role within the school experience and the testing and gained experiences that take place there.
The sequence of the three theme areas that are presented here also indicate the main progression of the course. The first is a natural beginner theme, which will give trainees a basic foundation and preparation before the school experience period, although didactics will be continued and integrated in the other two themes. Likewise the third theme, knowledge and learning, has to be introduced within the first theme, although more in-depth work will take place later in the course. The Teacher Education Course at IPLU has a relatively strong theme-oriented steering in the first part of the course, with more freedom in the second part, which on the whole will be based on the individual trainee teacher’s choice of directed study theme and project work task (cf. Chapter 7, Evaluation and Exam).
5. Working methods
The working methods used on the PGCE Course are expected to mirror the working approaches and the broad variation which trainee teachers are expected to use in their work when becoming professionally qualified teachers. They will therefore meet a varied range of approaches, which will both contribute towards a comprehensive repertoire of methods and will also give them the opportunity to develop their own learning habits. Great stress is placed on in-depth study and reflection in subject-specific and interdisciplinary groups. In theory sessions participants will work with specific teaching situations, ethical cases from occupations and other practice-based texts to make the theory more actual and relate it to the teaching profession. The Teacher Education Course tries to provide a close connection between working methods and the form of assessment that is used. Throughout the course trainees will be asked to prepare a number of texts or other documentation connected to their school experience, and this material will be fundamentally important for teaching and learning especially when working in groups. There is an emphasis on developing the trainee teachers’ ability to become mentors for each other’s work. From the various work that students produce, four of them will be used as part of a presentation portfolio, which constitutes the examination material, cf. Chapter 7.
In the theory part of the course there will be an alternation between an integrated, interdisciplinary and more subject disciplined route, but the level of integration will vary within the different main themes on which the course is built (cf. Chapter 4).
ICT is an important tool for the collecting of information, writing and communication. ICT will especially be made use of in the part-time course for learning and mentoring. Both teachers and trainee teachers’ texts will be produced on-line as a basis for discussion, reflection and guidance. This group will also make use of video conferencing with ‘live’ lectures as well as using other ICT-based teaching methods.
Besides the plenary sessions the course operates with three group categories: general and vocational subject groups, base groups and seminary groups. In the general and vocational subject groups, questions concerning the education of specific subjects and vocations will be covered in the form of introductions, discussions and practical activities.
The base groups will be composed of 4-6 trainee teachers. In these groups there will be an opportunity to study in-depth themes and approaches to problems that will be covered in the theory of education and general/vocational subject didactics. Furthermore the base groups will be used for group mentoring and oral presentation of the trainees’ own work, which the other members of the group will respond to. A number of base groups will amalgamate to form seminary groups. Seminary groups will be interdisciplinary, and will be used for the presentation of project work and group work.
A flexible practice of group activities is planned so that the division between base and seminary groups is dependent on the contents and intentions of the theory lessons, but also in relation to the trainees’ own wishes, needs and their own defined investigative questions, for example for project work. For the part-time course some of the group activities will take place on-line via ICT.
As the course strongly emphasizes active participation and collaboration, proposals from trainees, documentation and participation are a condition for being able to take the final examination. During the second part of the course there will be, however, a greater emphasis on the trainees’ own individual and group projects, and therefore giving a greater possibility to determine their own guidelines for their work within the parameter of the course.
During their school experience period trainees are to observe, plan, implement and evaluate their training under the guidance of professional mentors. Through pair practice the trainee teachers are able to put into practice colleague-based mentoring. Students are expected to keep a logbook of the school experience period, which will be the basis for their summing up after both practice periods, and as a basis for general reflection about their own development throughout the course. At the end of the first part of the course trainee teachers are required to form their own development targets based on this material, ready for the second school experience period. The logbook will also be an important tool when trainees have to sum up the whole of their development throughout the course and formulate development goals for when they start their teaching profession as a fully qualified teacher (cf. Chapter 7, Assessment and Exam).
As far as possible trainee teachers should integrate with the teaching staff at the school where they have their school experience and take part in activities that the school organizes. Teacher trainees will also be assessed and given counselling by representatives from IPLU during the school experience.
6. Syllabus
Compulsory literature for the theory of education and general/vocational subject didactics is a total of 2000 pages, of this, 400 pages is to be chosen by trainee teachers themselves. The self chosen list of literature must be approved of by the respective subject teachers before the portfolio can be handed in. It is then to be delivered together with the portfolio.
It is taken for granted that trainee teachers are acquainted with the necessary laws, regulations and curricula for the teaching profession.
7. Assessment and examination
This chapter is concerned with the one-year full-time and the two-year part-time courses. Arrangements for assessment and examination for the PGCE course taken within the 5 year integrated education at the University of Tromsø, will be produced later.
7.1 Assessment of teaching
An assessment of the trainee teachers is an on-going process throughout the whole course. The continual on-going assessment has mentoring as its key focus, and this will be carried out during both the school experience and the theoretical part of the course.
To be able to take the final examination trainee teachers are expected to have participated in all parts of the course, passed their practical school experience and fulfilled all other course tasks which are required by IPLU’s Executive Committee cf. Chapter 3 last element.
As a part of the on-going assessment trainee teachers are to have an assessment in both the practical and theoretical part (theory of education and general/vocational subject didactics) of the course, when they have reached the halfway mark.
The base-group leaders are responsible for carrying out assessment and summing up interviews with the individual trainees at the end of the first part of the course. In the event of there being any doubt of meeting the required standards for the school experience or concerns about lack of achievement in other areas of the course, the trainee teacher is to be notified about this as early as possible so that there is time for improvement. With a fail grade or when no endorsement has been given for their work, the trainee teacher must repeat that specific part of the course before being able to continue.
School Experience
A commission composed of professional school mentors, the school’s head-teacher and representative(s) from IPLU are responsible for assessing the first placement period. The grade awarded is pass/fail. If there is any doubt as to whether a pass grade should be given, IPLU will arrange for a further course of action and extra guidance for the trainee before the end of the placement. If there is still doubt the Course Leader, at IPLU, will join the commission.
Theory
At the end of the first part of the course the assessment grade approved/non-approved is given for the theoretical part of the course. In the first part of the course trainees should have produced a minimum of three texts/work in connection with specific course assignments. Halfway through the course the base-group leader will in a guided talk with the trainee teacher, decide whether the trainee has met the required standard of work. The trainee’s portfolio provides the basis for this talk. In the cases where there is still doubt the assessment will be carried out together with the Class Leader.
7.2 Examination at the end of the second part of the course
7.2.1 Practical School Experience
Towards the end of the course it is decided whether the trainee teacher has achieved the required targets that have been given for the school experience and for the course as a whole. The final grade given at the end of the trainee’s second placement period is the responsibility of a commission composed of representative(s) from PLP, the trainee’s professional school mentor(s) and the school’s head-teacher. The grade for teaching competence is pass/fail.
Written examination
The written examination is composed of a presentation portfolio that contains 4 pieces of work which the trainee teacher has developed throughout the course and which are to be delivered together at a given point of time. Of these, two of the tasks have been produced during the first part of the course. Through an introductory text students are to comment and reflect upon these two productions and establish a connection between them and the two that are produced and completed during the second part of the course.
The 4 pieces of work can be presented through different forms of media but should be equivalent to 40 pages of text. The portfolio should contain the following documentation:
- 1.Introductory text
- 2. Teaching examples
An example from the trainee teacher’s own teaching during the first school experience with a short personal reflection based on notes from conversations with the professional school mentor.
- 3.Students and the learning environment
The teacher trainee should examine the role of the student and the learning environment through investigations during the first school experience.
- 4. Personal development
Trainee teachers should reflect upon their own progression throughout the course. They should make their own targets and reflect upon their own development during the course, and at the end of the course sum up and point out the challenges they may come to face in their future development.
- 5.Didactical assignment
During the second part of the course trainee teachers are to work with a didactical investigative question. This investigation should be based upon their own school experiences and be explained and discussed with support from logbook notes and other documentation made during the school experience. In addition to this, relevant literature about the theory of education and general/vocational subject didactics should be used in discussions with special stress on the syllabus literature. Differentiation must be a central element in this work.
More detailed information will be given for the different tasks and for the introductory text.
Oral examination
The oral examination is organised as an open book examination with time for preparation. Each student is given a theme with one or more questions connected to their presentation portfolio material, and the theory of education and general/vocational subject didactics’ syllabus literature. The task is handed out to trainee teachers 45 minutes before the oral examination starts and during the preparation period they can make use of any facilities they require. Oral feedback about the presentation portfolio’s contents will be given during the oral examination.
7.4 Assessing quality the Certificate
IPLU is responsible for assessing the accountability of the individual trainee teacher as to whether the candidate is qualified and a suitable person for the teaching profession. The quality control is part of the total assessment of the trainee teacher’s professional, educational and personal suitability for being able to function as a teacher. An on-going quality assessment is carried out throughout the whole course. If there is any reason for doubt as to whether a trainee teacher is suitable for the profession a special assessment investigating will be instigated. The Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research, has drawn up specific rules concerning the criteria and procedure for evaluating suitability for the teaching profession. The final Certificate for a completed Postgraduate Course in Education postulates that the trainee teacher has been evaluated as suitable for the teaching profession.
7.5 The Certificate
The certificate for the PGCE Course at IPLU gives one grade for the theory of education and general/vocational subject didactics and one for teaching competence. It also states which subject(s) has been studied in the general/vocational subject didactics part of the course.
8. The course assessment
The most important goal for the assessment of the course is to maintain and improve the quality of the course. This in turn means that trainees and teachers meet throughout the course for a continual discussion about the quality of both theory and the school experience. This discussion has a twofold aim as it will also help trainee teachers to develop their own awareness of, and give them tools for evaluation, which will be transferable to their own practice as a teacher.
The use of logbooks is essential for trainee teachers and teachers as a tool for reflection and assessment of teaching and learning during the practical school experience period. Time is also given for both written and oral assessment after each part of the course.
The trainee teachers are to participate in analysing and summing up the information that is produced as well as in any possible decision making with regard to changes based on their own and IPLU’s staff’s assessment.
9. External assessment
External assessment is bound to examination regulations §37, letter d, whereby the external examiner undertakes a collective assessment of all forms of assessment that are carried out throughout the course.
Translation by Josephine Stenersen
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