Sunday night and I'm sitting contemplating some of the other blogs I've read and some questions I've also came across myself...
One blog was concerning the essays that we have just received our marks back for. This particular blogger "failed" their essay and this made them question their ability to teach?? Personally I think this is ludicrous! I understand the argument the Uni poses that to be a good teacher we should be able to write 'an essay' which may be true but how can they justifying 'passing or failing' us on being an effective teacher on our ability to write an educational paper? I also don't understand how we can all be marked with the same benchmarks... Some students are English students, or Modern Studies students who are more literate and knowledgeable perhaps about the essay. I'm speaking from a personal opinion as a chemist who has no experience what so ever at writing 4000 word essays!!
Think that turned into more or a rant than anything, but the point I was getting to is... Are our abilities to write essays directly related to our abilities to teach???
Here is an interpretation of the official line...
ReplyDeleteYou are not simply assessed on your ability to teach in a classroom now but on your ability to think like a teacher and continue to learn to be a better teacher. The essay may be a bit of a blunt instrument but it is one way to see if you are able to demonstrate an understanding of learning and teaching and to continue to develop and improve as a teacher through the length of your career.
As for the second point, one of my colleagues did some research on this a few years ago and found that English students were no better than other subjects (including Science subjects) at passing the PGDE assignments, and that in some ways they performed more poorly. The explanation suggested was that Science students tended to read the assignment carefully (perhaps because they were less sure of their own ability) and do exactly what they were asked to do whereas English students wrote what they thought they were being asked to write. Top tip is therefore to read carefully the marking instructions and make sure you do what you are told!