Trainee Curriculum

The Curriculum Explained

The trainee curriculum is founded on the phases of development. Trainees move from Anticipating Practice, through Beginning Practice, Consolidating Practice, Developing Independence and (in some cases) Extension and Enrichment. Each profile has a descriptor (in the Programme Handbook and the IDP). These outline the declarative (know that) and procedural (know how) knowledge that trainees are expected to develop in each phase. These descriptors define the content of the curriculum.

Progress through the phases is assessed via Formative Reflections on Achievement and Progress (FRAPs).

The curriculum incorporates the DfE mandated Core Content Framework for ITT which forms a ‘minimum entitlement’ for trainees, but goes significantly beyond it.

Sequencing

Term 1

The curriculum is sequenced to foreground declarative knowledge in term 1, with trainees learning how children learn, research-inspired subject-specific pedagogy, the principles of planning and assessment, and some aspects of adaptive teaching. Procedural knowledge also starts to build through peer teaching and interaction / microteaching in the autumn term beginning practice placement.

Subject specific MFL pedagogy is sequenced using weekly themes as outlined below:

Week	Focus	Themes and the Core Content Framework
1 w/b 25 September	Orientation Qualifying to teach: your development as a teacher	EPS: Curriculum & Educational Ideologies, Reflection, Teacher Identity and Agency, Policy, School Structures, Being Critical MFL: the Teachers’ Standards and Core Content Framework; the Exeter Model; MFL subject knowledge (culture, grammar, pedagogy); identifying training needs; starting to plan lessons; history of MFL teaching and learning
2 w/b 2 October	Orientation Understanding the curriculum Lesson planning	EPS: What Works? Theories of Learning, Neuroscience of Learning, Planning & Sequencing MFL: ; educational policy and guidance; pedagogy of target language use and grammar; planning
3 w/b 9 October	Understanding learning	EPS: Behaviour, motivation, social mobility, reviewing the literature MFL: pedagogy of listening, reading; KS2/3 transition
4 w/b 16 October	Engaging with research and making links to your practice	EPS: Dialogic theory, assessment, Literacy and numeracy Across the Curriculum MFL: pedagogy of speaking; assessment
5 w/b 23 October	Adapting your teaching to the strengths and needs of all learners	EPS: Adaptive Teaching, SEND, EAL MFL: pedagogy of writing and creativity; positive behaviour management; theories of learning and MFL; the Exeter Model training tools; intercultural understanding
6 w/b 30 October	Inspiring, challenging and motivating learners	EPS: Professionalism, E Safety, Prevent and British values MFL: cross-curricular approaches to MFL; British Values and MFL; MFL Pedagogy
7 and 8 w/b 6 and 13 November	School-based work: The Beginning Practice Phase	Teachers’ Standards and qualifying to teach; taking responsibility for your professional development (S8); setting high expectations (S1; promoting good outcomes by pupils (S2); subject and curriculum knowledge (S3); planning (S4); adapting to the strengths and needs of all learners (S5); assessment (S6); effective classroom management (S7)
9 w/b 20 November	Responding to the strengths and needs of all learners	EPS: Leadership; Working with TAs; Engaging Parents and Carers MFL: planning and progression; adaptive teaching and challenge; motivation
10 w/b 27 November	The wider role of the teacher	EPS: Preparing to Teach Pupils from all Backgrounds; Addressing Inequalities; Ability MFL: linking research to practice in assessment; observing, planning and evaluating lessons; SEND
11 w/b 4 December	The wider role of the teacher	EPS: CAMH; Teacher Wellbeing; Climate and Sustainability MFL: language learning strategies and pupil resilience; wellbeing and time management; behaviour

Terms 2 & 3

In terms 2 and 3, procedural knowledge builds on the foundation of declarative knowledge laid in term 1. Links are made between declarative and procedural knowledge through:

• the use of Exeter model tools, including learning conversations with Mentors, demonstrations and agendas, lesson observations
• tasks which support trainees in learning about and applying knowledge key areas: including framework reflections on interpreting data, adaptive teaching (SEND focus; EAL focus, BME focus)
• an academic assignment which supports trainees to develop independence in identifying, exploring, trialling and evaluating their impact on learning as well as developing confidence in research-engagement (EPS assignment).

In term 3, trainees’ procedural knowledge is particularly developed through a focus of applying their learning in a new, contrasting context (school 2).

The current curriculum for trainees, as outlined in the MFL Study Guide, Curriculum Sequence and CCF Mapping Document.

Secondary PGCE Programme Aims

Education is a complex and intellectually challenging process, the fundamental purpose of which is to prepare young people to take a full part in a changing, pluralist and democratic society. Good teaching promotes effective learning. Throughout the PGCE year you will develop a personal and professional rationale for teaching and learning. The programme enables you to acquire the values, commitments, knowledge, understanding and skills that all teachers need. It also offers you opportunities for the development of personal transferable skills (self-management, learning skills, communication, teamwork, problem-solving and data-handling skills) and will provide you with the first stages in your profile of continuing professional development as a teacher. The programme contributes to both your immediate and your continuing professional education. At the end of the programme you should be an effective classroom teacher, able to demonstrate your competences and to become an integrated member of the school community wherever you work. You will be equipped to work collaboratively and independently, with commitment to the all-round education of children. In the longer term, the PGCE course lays the foundation for lasting professional development. The PGCE programme leads into the MA Education programme, which we hope most of you will continue to during your first years of teaching. The Secondary PGCE programme been designed to meet the requirements for Initial Teacher Education as set out in the Teachers’ Standards (DfE 2012) and ITT Criteria (DfE 2020).

Statement: Secondary MFL PGCE Aims
We aim to develop your ability to be teachers of MFL who are reflective, intellectually curious, passionate about languages, and creative. You will need to be able to ‘step outside‘ your experiences, examine and consider different viewpoints, in order to change, adapt and grow. You will need to be critical – able to interrogate evidence, to synthesise from different sources and perspectives, to question and challenge assumptions (including your own). You will need to be research-informed – able to access research, understand the limitations and strengths of research, compare research findings to your own experiences in order to draw robust conclusions and inform your decisions. You will need to be creative – able to select from and combine information and ideas in ways which satisfy your own creativity, exercise your autonomy, and excite and inspire your students.

• To encourage a thorough evaluation of current professional practice in MFL and more broadly in relation to developments in research and curriculum theory
• To study the process of language learning in depth and grasp the assumptions behind methods and materials in order to be able to select methods on a principled basis and use materials intelligently
• To acquire a progressively wider range of skills in planning, teaching and assessing for Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 and/or Key Stage 2/Key Stage 5
• To link theory with practice by means of observation and teaching in schools
• To understand how foreign languages relate to the whole curriculum and to the personal development of pupils
• To become acquainted with the current range of teaching materials and technology used in active, communicative methods of language teaching
• To engage in practical work involving planning and teaching and to evaluate one’s own preparation and teaching
• To maintain and extend personal competence in languages taught
• To develop and extend personal competence in the use of technology in schools
• To engage in critical debate about current issues in secondary (and to some extent, primary) languages, drawing on evidence from theory, research and practice
• To recognise pupils’ learning needs in languages and interpret them in order to plan, teach, assess and evaluate lessons and schemes of work
• To demonstrate confident academic and pedagogic subject knowledge and a secure understanding of the requirements of languages in the curriculum
• To understand how effective teaching and the ability to relate this to pupils’ needs has a positive effect on pupils’ behaviour

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The Curriculum Sequence

Our curriculum does not separate out the Teachers’ Standards or Core Content Framework and address them one by one. This is because we recognise how interrelated many of the standards are, and that trainees will be constantly developing understanding and skills across all of the standards.

We support progress towards the standards through our phases. There are different expectations within each phase – for example, of how much classroom contact time trainees have, or which training tools they use to evaluate and reflect. This scaffolds progress in a gradual sequence which moves towards independent practice.

The ‘profile descriptor’ of each phase describes the knowledge, understanding and skills that we expect trainees to be able to demonstrate at the end of it. The movement through the phases is flexible, depending on trainee needs. Meeting the ‘Developing Independence’ phase indicates that trainees have met the standards required for the award of QTS.

You will find the phase profile descriptors in the IDP and in the programme handbook. Trainees’ progress will be formatively assessed against the profile descriptors through the Formative Reflection on Achievement and Progress (FRAP) process.

The Core Content Framework

The Department for Education has published recommended ‘Core Content’ for Initial Teacher Training which offers a framework which should be considered a “minimum entitlement” for all trainees, presenting the content atomistically against each standard: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/initial-teacher-training-itt-core-content-framework. In the MFL Study Guide, there is a table which presents the DfE core content, and shows the key areas where we integrate this information into our course – through topics, tasks, assignments and seminars. The table also indicates some of the ways in which our course goes beyond this minimum entitlement, outlining some additional ideas that trainees explore.

MFL Curriculum Sequence and CCF Map:https://sites.exeter.ac.uk/pgcemfl/wp-content/uploads/sites/25/2022/09/Secondary-MFL-Study-Guide-Curriculum-Sequence-and-CCF-Map-2022-2023-FINAL-ELE.docx