183
SSl is a mature student and illustrates the point about flexibility,
ɪn the long term the experience of the learner teacher points towards
their definitions and directions as probationary teachers and it
is vital that those experiences are suited to the diverse needs of
the students.
5.3 Place of PGCE in Process of Teacher Education
a) PGCE - The probationary year
The student teachers* professional sense of themselves at the end
of the course and the beginning of the probationary year is the basic
concern of the PGCE.
Beginning a teaching career in circumstances
often not of your own
choosing
and
very
different from
those you would want is becoming increasingly common and was a matter
of real concern within the Research Group.
But whether the first
appointment looks ’better’ or ’worse’ than the teaching practice
school there must
be many probationers who would
echo E8θ*s senti-
ments at the beginning of the next extract.
School B 24.11.81 P15∕16 si
SSl That’s what we were talking about if you
si get into a sort of school that teaches diff-
erently to what we’re used to at School B
or we’ve got at the Institute we’re really
going to feel lost.
E8θ
Well the sort of practices you take for
granted here - you had teaching across sub-
jects - so you have in
from a lot of different
Humanitiesi teachers
areas in and links
them into practices in
the classroom. In
school departments
are separated very
- there’s a great
range - there
teachers who teach from
the Institute
are
and
teachers who would still be setting compre-
hension and controlled writing - there’s