34
and undesirability of change.
Although some tutors said they would be in favour
of students spending more time in schools in properly
supervised and structured conditions, there was
general agreement that such conditions were not
usually available in schools. (Ch 9 P196)
This attitude is as infIuential in the
organisation and
structure of
courses as it is in the organisation
of the research
itself where
the PGCE is seen as clearly divided into school and
department
based
components which refer to the physical location of
that part of the
course .
Thus ’school-based' refers to the school experience which
consists essentially of teaching practice. The separation of work
in school fro`
that in the university suggests an underlying uniform-
ity of PGCE structures in the univeristy that militates against overall
course integration and coherence. This factor is likely to affect
the nature of the pedagogy as well as the content of the curriculum.
Subject Method Work
Noting
the degree of separation, an examination of the university-
based
components reveals the
overwhelming
importance
of the subject
method component.
The range of method courses is wide although the
availablity of courses
both
main
and
second
method
varies across
the departments.
They show how few students have any experience
The representation given in
in certain areas of the curriculum.
Tables 5-І and 5-3 show only 3% following a politics course and that
in second method, Environmental Studies have less than 1% in main
and Humanities .5% in main method and .8% in second subject. The
content of method courses when related to student experience in school
is surprising.
Not only do approximately half the students claim