Content area
Full Text
Subject degrees and teaching qualifications
It may be hard to believe, but teaching has been an all-graduate affair only since the 1970s. In many respects what is deemed necessary to become a good teacher echoes the debate of knowledge versus process in the school curriculum and reflects the tension between traditional and progressive education. In days gone by, top private schools demanded high-calibre graduates from Oxbridge (or at least a red-brick university) but with no requirement for a formal teaching qualification as strong subject knowledge was deemed sufficient preparation for life in the classroom. The need for well qualified teachers is now almost universally accepted within the teaching profession and it has been the norm until recently for teachers to complete a first degree in their subject and then take a one-year (master's-level since 2007) PGCE in the process of gaining qualified teacher status (QTS). However, we are now in a period of unprecedented change in the realm of teacher preparation and it is once again possible to teach in the state sector (in a Free School or an Academy) with no recognisable teaching qualification.
What's in a name: ITT or ITE?
Initial teacher training Implies a conceptualisation of teaching as a craft. The apprentice teacher can learn the skills of the classroom from an experienced 'old hand' and one can see the important school role of passing on 'best practice'. Initial teacher education, however, implies the role of theory and research and a unique role for university in developing a critical approach that enables the teacher to understanding his or her classroom and to be...