Course description
Geography is a key subject of the secondary curriculum and teaching geography is an exciting, rewarding and challenging profession. Geography is a dynamic and relevant subject for all children to study and this course aims to equip you with the skills to make the teaching of it as interesting, fun and engaging as possible.
In this one-year course, your main concern will be with the development of your professional competence as a teacher of geography. In order to teach geography successfully, you will need to focus not only on the teaching of the subject itself, but also on developing an understanding of educational issues pertaining to teaching and learning, classroom interaction, the school curriculum and the school and society.
As well as becoming a competent classroom practitioner, you will need to be able to make informed decisions and to recognise the need for further personal and professional development, particularly where your subject knowledge is concerned.
At the end of this course you will receive a PGCE as well as the award of QTS.
There is also an option to study on this course at Masters level and accumulate 60 masters level credits, which can then be put towards a full Masters qualification when you are teaching.
We are currently looking at providing new post-graduate courses (subject to validation) aimed at NQTs or teachers in their first few years of teaching which will allow you to complete your full Masters degree and have a head start on PCGE graduates from other universities.
You will study and learn about issues in geography education ranging from the theoretical to the practical and teaching both at the university and in school will feature discussion, collaborative work, individual work, experiential learning and the examination and analysis of materials. The course is essentially practical and two-thirds of your time will be spent in school where you will be working closely with mentors and other school staff and, of course, teaching geography!
Throughout the year you will be engaged in considering a range of subjects including:
-Subject Knowledge Enhancement
-ICT in the classroom
-Lesson and Scheme of Work Planning
-Classroom management
-Research into the pedagogy and psychology of learning geography
-Special Needs and Inclusion
-Assessment
-Every Child Matters
The sessions at the university aim to model good practice in geography teaching and provide you with the knowledge, skills and resources to deliver exciting geography lessons in a school classroom. The course has been totally rewritten recently to reflect new curriculum developments in schools, best practice in teaching and excellence in geographical learning. Issues such as thinking skills, enquiry based learning, decision-making exercises and simulation and gaming are explored in detail to enable you to select the best teaching and learning strategies for the pupils in your classroom. These are supported with exemplar material currently being used in schools.
The Geography specific subject sessions are supported by a series of generic lecturers and seminars on educational issues and theories in mixed curriculum groups. There is also plenty of opportunity for subject knowledge and ICT enhancement whilst studying for your PGCE.
Many of our PGCE Geography students also take advantage of the free 'Geography subject knowledge Booster Course' which we now offer. This has received very positive feedback from our trainees. Twilight ICT training sessions are also available.
