Secondary Education (Physics) PGCE

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 (how to teach the subject for understanding) is explored in curriculum groups, examining techniques for making each subject accessible and stimulating in a classroom environment. Biology, physics and chemistry are taught as science classroom teachers often teach all there sciences at Key Stage 3, specialising in their own subject area at Key Stages 4 and 5.

Course Learning and Teaching

We use various teaching and learning styles to enable you to explore issues such as:

motivating pupils in science
questioning strategies
planning lessons to maximise pupils' active involvement
planning to allow pupils' understanding to progress
the value of different types of practical work
the use of IT to enhance scientific understanding.

The science team has an international reputation for its work on teaching pupils the understanding necessary for investigative science. This is often referred to as 'the thinking behind the doing'. The importance we place in this aspect of science is reflected in the course.

Career Opportunities

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