Module overview
This module will develop your critical knowledge and understanding of aspects of the work and lives of teachers in schools and relate this to your own experience. You will develop an understanding of key themes relating to teachers, teaching and classroom practice. Themes might include recent research on effective teaching and teacher development, education policies which affect teachers and portrayals of teachers in popular culture.
Aims and Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Learning Outcomes
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Select and apply relevant research-based literature and policy documents to support your understanding
- Reflect on how personal experience and/or representations of teachers in the media and popular culture can influence perceptions of teachers and teaching
- Discuss ways in which different educational contexts affect and are affected by teachers
- Organise and articulate your arguments in relation to themes raised in the module, both orally in class and in the written assignment
- Explain some of the complexity of what it means to become and be a teacher
Syllabus
- What is teaching? Why do people choose to teach?
- 'Apprenticeship of observation' and how this relates to teaching in schools;
- Teachers as people; teacher development, socialisation and demographics;
- Research studies and evidence relating to teacher training, in-service continuing professional development and teacher effectiveness;
- Public and media depictions of teachers and how these may affect perceptions of the teaching profession.
Learning and Teaching
Teaching and learning methods
- Directed pre-reading
- Lectures
- Directed seminar tasks building on lecture content. These might include:
- Small-group and individual formative work
- Structured debates and discussions
- Small group presentation (not summatively assessed)
Typically, this module is taught through weekly sessions (lecture + seminar) plus one optional tutorial session to prepare for the assessment.
| Type | Hours |
|---|---|
| Independent Study | 126 |
| Teaching | 24 |
| Total study time | 150 |
Resources & Reading list
General Resources
The Times Educational Supplement. Available in Hartley Library in print and online.
Internet Resources
Journal of Education for Teaching.
Education Endowment Foundation.
Teaching and Teacher Education.
The Importance of Teaching: White Paper.
Textbooks
Kyriacou, C (2009). Effective Teaching in Schools Theory and Practice. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes.
Daniel Muijs and David Reynolds (2018). Effective Teaching: Evidence and Practice. London: SAGE Publications.
Assessment
Formative
This is how we’ll give you feedback as you are learning. It is not a formal test or exam.
Assessed written tasks
- Assessment Type: Formative
- Feedback:
- Final Assessment: No
- Group Work: No
Summative
This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Assignment | 100% |
Referral
This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Coursework | 100% |
Repeat
An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Assignment | 100% |
Repeat Information
Repeat type: Internal & External