PED6202 - Practitioner Enquiry

Objectives:

On successful completion of the phase, students will be able to:

Demonstrate, through a rationale for choice of study, a critical understanding of national priorities for primary education, curriculum developments and pedagogical approaches;
Demonstrate, through analysis of pupil progress, awareness of the physical, social and intellectual development of children and of the needs of different groups of children;
Reflect systematically and critically on their own professional teaching, evaluating the impact of a specific form of practice through processing and synthesising classroom data;
Evaluate new ideas and apply them to the context of the primary school and to their examination of their professional teaching practice in a specific context;
Justify their own personal and professional perspective on a specific aspect of educational practice, drawing upon key theoretical frameworks.

Content:

This module enables students to carry out a small-scale investigation into an aspect of their own professional teaching practice. It aims to help students analyse and reflect on their own practice in depth. Students are supported in semester 1 with taught sessions that focus on basic principles and processes associated with practitioner enquiry - including ethical considerations. They will be guided to plan and carry out their study by a supervising tutor. They undertake the investigation during school placements. In the taught sessions of the module students are guided in their choice of focus. A list of suggested questions is available to give ideas about the format of the questions and areas covered. Students discuss and agree their question with their supervising tutor. A number of sample enquiries will be modelled and these are designed to provide students with a clear understanding of just what you will be required to do and what you are expected to learn from the process.

The tutors who support students on this module have areas of expertise which might align with students' interests and/or development needs. A developmental task in which students indicate their areas of interest informs the module coordinator regarding tutor allocation.

Indicative curriculum expertise includes:
- English
- Mathematics
- ICT
- Science
- PE
- History
- MFL

The tutors on the module also have expertise in broader areas of practice and pedagogy to assist students who may choose enquiry that examines forms of practice not specific to a subject area. These include:
- meeting a range of additional needs of learners
- effective practices for SEND
- use of new technologies to support and enhance learning and assessment
- the role of museum and resource based enquiry (e.g.use of artefacts in the classroom), archaeology
- application and evaluation of Assessment for Learning (AfL) techniques including classroom dialogue, role of questioning, nature and impact of group/paired work, collaboration
- the role of practical work/experience in relation to ideas and skills development

The content of each student's enquiry is negotiated with a teaching professional in that student's placement school.

Learning and Teaching Information:

Taught sessions will include a variety of approaches to promote collaborative and active learning in line with the university's teaching and learning policy. It will seek to encourage students to draw upon and apply their professional knowledge and learning through case studies and modelling of practice. Taught sessions will include elements of sharing good practice and exemplification of enquiry projects. Students are responsible for attending sessions on ethical procedures and for ensuring these are shared with class teachers and mentors in schools.

Supervising tutors will support students through semesters 1 and 2. The VLE will be used to provide support materials and frameworks for students to follow for independent study.

Lectures, workshops, tutorials Contact hours: 10
Intended Group size: upto 140

Individual Tutorials
Contact hours: 1.5

Guided Independent Study:
Hours: 188.5

Further details relating to assessment
A suggested report proforma is provided for students. This recommendations how students will structure their reports, with indicative word counts for each section. Although the submission date for the report is in semester two, students are encouraged to complete a draft plan of their work for discussion with their tutor by the end of semester one.

Ethical approval for the enquiry report must be obtained by a specified date as a condition for submission of the report.

Other relevant matters
This module will help students evaluate how specific practices inform successful outcomes against the following from the Teachers' Standards effective from 1st September, 2012:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/301107/Teachers__Standards.pdf
These outcomes are assessed in PED6242, Teaching in the Primary School 3.

2 Promote good progress and outcomes by pupils
3 Demonstrate good subject and curriculum knowledge
4 Plan and teach well-structured lessons
6 Make accurate and productive use of assessment

Assessment:

Fact File

Module Coordinator - Ms Caroline Tobbell
Level - 6
Credit Value - 20
Pre-Requisites - NONE
Semester(s) Offered -

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