PGCE help - is BA compatable?

Zziggi

Someone was asking me this question and i didn't know the answer, can you help?

Friend is thinking of taking a PGCE, wants to teach R.E. (don't know why but that's another point...) She has a first class degree in Humanities with Religious studies from the OU. (i.e. is ISN'T a full Religious studies degree)

Is there a way of finding out if a degree fits the criteria in order to do PGCE to teach that subject?

thanks

dmg24

It depends on how much of her degree was RE. Best thing to do is contact the admissions office at the relevant university.

Zziggi

dmg24 wrote: »

It depends on how much of her degree was RE. Best thing to do is contact the admissions office at the relevant university.

210 credits out of 360 needed for a degree were in an R.E. type course. The other credits were general "arts". All the 210 credits were in years 2 & 3 (90 credits year 2, 120 credits year 3 all in R.E.)

scrimpingbadger

I a humanities PGCE with a combined history/sociology degree so I wouldn't have thought it'd be a problem but best to check anyway. There's a shortage of specialist RE teachers out there. And if my memory serves me correctly the PGCE does does subject stuff but on the whole teaches you how to teach not necessarily what to teach. Once you've got a PGCE then you're qualified to teach anything the head employs you for.
I've taught pretty much everything!! (not at high school level though - don't panic parents out there)

Gingernutmeg

I found out recently that if you can get accepted onto the Teach First programme then you don't necessarily need a NC subject as part of your degree. I was approached by them recently and as I don't have a NC subject I asked them whether this would be a problem and they simply said no, not necessarily. It's hugely competitive though, but if your friend has a good degree then it might be worth her considering it.

purply

OP-its not a problem. A PGCE only qualifies you as a teacher-the PGCE (like someone said) goes through how to teach and NOT how to teach your subject-its a generic course. So in theory she could be teaching any subject that appears on her timetable.

I did a Psychology degree-but I am a Humanities teacher (i teach History, Geography, etc). I have never studied History or Geography, even at A-Level (but that's another story)

Most likely your friend will end up being a Humanities teacher rather than a RE teacher anyway-so she may well end up teaching RE and other subjects.

wannabedebtfree_2

purply wrote: »

I did a Psychology degree-but I am a Humanities teacher (i teach History, Geography, etc). I have never studied History or Geography, even at A-Level (but that's another story)

Most likely your friend will end up being a Humanities teacher rather than a RE teacher anyway-so she may well end up teaching RE and other subjects.

Just wondered when you qualified? I have looked into this in the last couple of years as I am doing an OU degree with a view to becoming a Primary teacher (I spoke to the TTA, who said with Primary a mix would be great as long as I cover the basic curriculum subjects, maths, science etc) , but then after doing an OU science course I wasn't sure if I might do Secondary teaching instead, so I phoned the TTA again, who informed me that at least 1/2 of the degree MUST be in your named subject, and this was confirmed by 2 seperate 'brick' uni's that do PGCE training - but I don't know if this is a more recent thing or not.

OP - Your friend should call the TTA, and ask a couple of PGCE Uni's what they expect, they are always really keen to help a prospective teacher!

freebie_junkie

I wasn't able to do a PGCE in secondary English as my degree is creative writing and SSR but I am going to do an Adult Literacy PGDE as to teach that you onyl need to have done English at A-Level and I have an A-Level in English Lit and Lang. I was told that to do primary or secondary your degree needs to be 50% your chosen subject.

purply

Hi wannabedebtfree,
I did my teachng in 2003/4.

My situ is not what you would call typical-I work in an independent school. With the independent sector, its very different-bascically the Council can't/don't interfere!).
My PGCE is in further education so i am a qualified lecturer. My advice would be to have a national curriculum subject under your belt-that way you will get qualified teacher status in the long term.

I have the problem that I did a Psychhology degree which is not a NC subject and I completed the PGCE in further ed, i am now seen as unqualified because i do not have QTS (qualified teacher status which you only get when you do the secondary PGCE-i know its confusing). To add insult to injury, I enquired at one uni to gain the 'qualified teacher status' and as i do not have a NC subject degree, its gonna be difficult. I have found one uni who offer a social science PGCE (with QTS), so may go for that.

Jumping through hoops comes to mind. As soon as I can get into Further education, I'm off-at least I'm qualified there! (Thing is Psychology teaching jobs are like gold dust)

In a nutshell-make sure at least 50% of your degree is the subject you want to teach if you want to avoid problems later on! To be on the safe side-make it a NC subject (i.e. NOT psychology!).

Good luck.

freebie_junkie

With the Adult Literacy PGDE we take maths and English exams to get QTSL at the end of our year, although its given a slighlty different name (qualified teacher skills and learning) it's the same as QTS for people who want to teach post-compulsary.

Although I wouldn't be able to teach secondary/ A-Levels full-time (wouldn't want to anyway!) I've already been told by 3 different agencies that people with PGDE's in Adult Literacy with QTSL status can be English supply teachers if they wish.

dmg24

at least 1/2 of the degree MUST be in your named subject, and this was confirmed by 2 seperate 'brick' uni's that do PGCE training

This is correct. Therefore 210 out of 360 credits should mean your friend is ok x