and support during the probationary year.
Pedagogy and active Iearnin
333
experiences as the base of the PGCE
Considerations of pedagogy follow those
of structure and personnel
as they did in the development of the Alternative Course.
It did
not begin from the development
of new syllabus for the PGCE course
rather with consideration of its location and its ways of working.
The present diversity of content reported by Patrick et al (1982)
reflects the diversity of institutions involved in teacher training,
the subject method courses they offer and their staffing. In Chapter
One it was suggested that such diversity should be recognised and
perhaps extended taking account of such features as student populatior
and characteristics of the local community and schools. As a feature
of PGCE organisation diversity could constitute a strength which
is not indicated by the uniformity of the recommended criteria (DES
3/85). Alternative Course development involved considerations of
structure, integration and cohesion and saw them as prior to the
selection of content. The focus now turns to the practice of this
in the course itself.
Active experience refers to
the value of what the students experience
for themselves in their learning. This is not to make an a priori
split between what happens in school and what happens in the training
institution.
The Leicester Research raised doubts about the capacity
fo either environment
to provide active
experiences in a planned
context of learning which is
the essential
element.
The approach
to supervision developed and reported by Stones (19δ⅛) suggests the
rich possibilities that are
afforded to tutors and to students wheι
