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Course students.
There is a curious paradox that a less single minded
approach to the
student
teacher allows
the
subject
Specialisi
to
attend to
their task in away that is to a degree future oriented.
Sometimes it is possible for the student to practice particular skills
or assemble resources within an established teacher’s class that
would be quite impossible otherwise. But this requires a flexible
approach to
teaching practice on the part of teachers, students and
tutors and
a channel of communication that
akes
change a
real
possibility. In School B the Deputy Head and the School Group Tutor
have been involved in such considerations while in School A the
visiting tutor is the crucial link.
7.3 PGCE and process of teacher education
a) Using personal experience
The importance of personal knowledge and experience is once again
emphasised in the development of the
professional self.
In the pre-
vious section it was suggested that
students moved into
the social
and cultural context of the school
affected by for example their
student status, class, gender and race. But within this cultural
context individual attitudes and responses are important. Tutor
and students require a broadly based knowledge and an open
approach
to experience.
Within the example of this single
transcript of a
discussion
focussing
upon ’being women teachers in an
all boys school’
there is a range of opionions and attitude that suggests that gender
as an .issue is only a starting point. When the discussion excludes
personal experiences it is too often also the final point. In school
or in the school group meetings connected closely to it experience
is a natural beginning.