IOE, UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society has developed the Future Education Leaders Programme for the Central China Normal University (CCNU).
The intensive eight-week programme, hosted across the UCL campus in the heart of Bloomsbury, was delivered by IOE teacher educators who are actively engaged in cutting-edge research, with many of them writing the textbooks on every aspect of teaching.
The programme ran between October and November 2024 and was led by David Christopher, Katherine Wallace and Abdul Mohammed.
The programme was comprehensive and well-designed, addressing all aspects of teacher development, and the close integration of practice and theory for deeper understanding.
The CCNU approached IOE with a request to develop a specialised programme to develop their undergraduate initial teacher education students. IOE's collaboration with CCNU drew from a wealth of experience in PGCE programme delivery, which is rated Outstanding by Ofsted across all subjects and phases.
The Future Education Leaders Programme aimed to help students understand education systems in developed countries and prepare them to be excellent schoolteachers and future education leaders with global vision.
The programme covered a broad range of themes including advanced educational theories and teaching methodologies. Students were also offered group discussions and various lesson observations.
Teachers were nice, inclusive and supportive. The course featured diverse formats, such as tutorial groups, workshops, excursions, school visits and PGCE observations.
The programme was structured around the following four Dimensions:
- Dimension 1: Current trends in pedagogy.
- Dimension 2: Universal design for learning/Differentiated instruction.
- Dimension 3: Practice instruction/Final Presentation.
- Dimension 4: Academic English for the classroom.
The programme included the following subject strands:
- Current trends in educational theory, pedagogy and assessment.
- Principles of universal design and differentiated instructions.
- Current practices in classroom instruction.
- Primary and early years education focus.
- Lesson design and adaptive teaching.
- Leadership in Education.
- Special educational needs and disability (SEND).
- Academic English (by UCL Centre for Languages & International Education (CLIE)).
The programme included an induction for the students, a welcome ceremony and a closing award ceremony, campus tours and excursions to local places of interest including museums. The cohort also engaged in school visits to observe teaching in practice.
Participating in school visits and PGCE classes was incredibly rewarding and made us feel like IOE students.
Each week, students observed UCL’s Primary and Secondary PGCE programmes to learn about pedagogical theory and practical skills to become an inspiring teacher.
The programme enhanced students’ confidence, both in teaching and learning. Participants developed skills to support students with SEND and created lesson plans with interactive activities, leading to improved learning outcomes.
The experience allowed me to understand the educational concepts and actual situations of other countries and gave me great inspiration! I really enjoyed this course and liked the teachers. I will be a good teacher in the future, bringing hope and light to students. Thank you!
Images
Charleen Lai, IOE Enterprise.
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