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Diferentiation of PGCE Population
Examination of
the factors along
which the departmental populations
were differentiated
reveals that a seemingly straightforward notion
such as
commitment
to teaching
may mean something different both
on entry
to and on completion of the course.
Here the analysis
was made on Sussex and Kings. ’The two universities most different
from each other in our original paradigm.' (Ch 4, P77)
The research showed that the courses existed within different traditions
of teacher education with Kings’ students recruited from, experiencing
what teaching practice is and finally obtaining teaching posts in
the independent and direct grant system in significant numbers,
this led the research to conclude that "the differences are in fact
means something rather dif-
so large that 'commitment to teaching
ferent in the two contexts". (Ch 4, P77 1973)
The
of commitment
they suggest
are differentiated according
to their specificity.
The first
career in
more obvious form
commitment was to
sions. for
teaching (a subject) and schools, which was
many ways to commitment in the older profes-
examnle. medicine and law. The second, less
obvious form of commitment was to education in its broadest
form and to a set of ideals which might be realised
through education (Ch 4, P86 1973)
Further they state that ’the implications of their findings are far-
reaching for the design of postgraduate certificate courses'. Whether
or not one shares their view that PGCE courses should most appropri-
ately be seen as
’ dual
or
Il
ulti-purpose
qualifications
professional
educators certainly need to be aware of the finding