PGCE Secondary - History

Course Summary

The PGCE Secondary is the first phase of a career-long process of personal and professional development, which will equip you to become a secondary school teacher. The PGCE Secondary is a course in Initial Teacher Training which is accredited by the DfE, the successful completion of which will accord you Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). Our course has recently been inspected by Ofsted which resulted in an “Outstanding” grading for all aspects of our provision.

Students who have successfully completed the PGCE at Durham in the previous academic year have the option to use 90 credits they have accredited towards a part time MA Education. These students only need to do the core modules, Education Enquiry and the Dissertation over 2 years, to complete the course. Subject pedagogy is explored in curriculum groups, examining techniques for making each subject accessible and stimulating in a classroom environment.

The history course at Durham aims to:

• provide you with the necessary knowledge, understanding and skills needed to become an effective and inspirational teacher of history
• extend your awareness of the importance and relevance of history as a subject in schools today
• provide opportunities for you to experience and explore a variety of approaches to teaching the subject
• allow you to develop an appreciation of your own areas of expertise and areas for development.

The course is based on the firm belief that history is a relevant, exciting subject to teach and does not consist of transmitting a mass of information to pupils who then memorise and regurgitate it. The course has a practical emphasis and will introduce you to a range of approaches to teaching history, so enabling you to develop your own teaching style. There are three integrated components: the concurrent course, the preliminary teaching practice and the main teaching practice. The concurrent course, undertaken in the two teaching practice schools, consists of three days of school-based work and two days of university-based work. These two elements fully complement each other and the work undertaken as part of the university-based history method course is applied during the school visits and teaching practices.

Course Learning and Teaching

The university-based activities will consist of lectures, seminars, workshop sessions, student presentations, role play and visits to historical sites. A number of sessions will be led by visiting teachers. The mixture of tutor-led and student-led sessions and of individual and group work is aimed at encouraging you to think critically about history, the way it is taught and the wider contribution it can make to the education of children. Throughout the course there will be regular tutorials and time for critical reflection, and as an integral part of the course you will be encouraged to evaluate the university course and your school-based activities.

Career Opportunities

Career opportunities in education are wide and include classroom teaching, educational leadership and management, administration and policy development.