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Thus the picture emerges that attitudes and behaviours are formed
during the PGCE year in contexts over which the Course as such exerts
differential amounts of control. To a degree what occurs may be
accounted for by the sub-cultures in which students participate
and if this is the case then practitioners need to be aware of what
is happening, in what ways and how far this is congruent with or
acceptable within their own overall scheme of teacher education.
Development of Social Strategies in the PGCE
Becker, whose work was important for Lacey, emphasised social strategy
as the crucial link between student sub-culture and teacher behaviour
(Becker et al 1961). It was through interaction over time that
groups of students with 'common purposes' produced a set of strategies
that 'acquire a common element'. It is this social strategy repeat-
edly applied that leads to the development of the subject perspective
that, broadened and developed, produces a sub-culture.
The supposition here is,
however, that these elements
effect changes deep within the personality structure
of the individual and are responsible for the richness,
complexity, and uniqueness of
(Cħ7 P10∕ll)
individual personality.
So the process
of becoming a teacher
consists in consecutive immer-
sions
in
situations where
elements
of previous 'latent cultures’
operate to fashion and to limit the range of response and behaviour.
This draws attention to
the PGCE as only one part of the process
of
becoming
a teacher.
It underlines the necessity for professional
preparation
to involve itself in the past experiences of students
and to see such experiences as central to the construction of the
prof essional self which is the purpose of PGCE.