PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
Please view the disclaimer. /
AWARD TITLE / BA(Hons) Primary Education with Qualified Teacher Status
INTERMEDIATE AWARD TITLES / BA (Hons) Primary Education
BA Primary Education
Diploma in HE Primary Education
Certificate in HE Primary Education
Foundation Degrees Only:
Title of associated honours degree
Name of the Teaching Institution / SheffieldHallamUniversity
Mode of Attendance
(e.g. FT/PT/DL) / FT
UCAS CODE
Professional/Statutory/Regulatory Body Recognising this Programme / Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA)
QAA Subject Benchmark Statement or other relevant external reference point / Qualifying to teach - professional standards for qualified teacher status and requirements for initial teacher training (published by the TDA).
Provision is inspected by OFSTED.
Date of Validation / 18 May 2006
July 2010, Dec 2011

1PROGRAM AIMS

  • to enable students to gain Qualified Teacher Status by developing a range of professional skills and a comprehensive knowledge of education and well-being in the primary age range
  • to develop students' understanding of the role of the teacher within the children's workforce and of the contribution made by other professionals to children's achievement and well-being
  • to lay the foundations for students to become reflective practitioners who analyse critically policy, research and current and personal practice
  • to enable students to become autonomous learners and critical thinkers who can also learn and work collaboratively

2 LEARNING OUTCOMES

2.1 Knowledge and understanding covered by the Programme. By the end of the programme you will be able to

  • identify and explain the principles, concepts, theories, values and beliefsof education in relation to the well-being of the individual
  • identify and explain the principles, concepts, theories, values and beliefsof education in relation to political, social, economic and cultural contexts, within local, national and global contexts
  • identify and explain the key features of each subject in the primary curriculum, transition, assessment requirements and the relevantstatutory and non-statutory guidance
  • identify and explain key facts and issues relating to planning, behaviour and assessment for learning, including social inclusion and national agendas
  • identify and explain a range of theoretical perspectives and influences onchildren's development
  • explain the contribution that other professionals and legislation make to promoting children's achievement and well-being

2.2 Intellectual/Subject/Professional/Key skills covered by the Programme. By the end of the programme you will be able to

Intellectual skills

  • make judgements by critically analysing theories, perspectives, research, innovations, policy, practice and data related to primary education including
  • academic and professional perspectives on teaching and learning
  • key theories relevant to teaching and learning
  • contexts in which children develop and learn
  • processes involved in teaching and learning
  • principles underpinning children's health and well-being
  • quantitative performance data on children's achievement
  • quality and enhancement for external and internal audit
  • leadership and management of educational settings
  • research approaches, methods and issues
  • devise and sustain an argument, supported by valid evidence

Subject/professional skills

  • work effectively with children, their parents/carers and colleagues in promoting children's achievement and well-being
  • establish a purposeful learning environment
  • establish a clear framework for classroom discipline
  • set children appropriate learning objectives and targets
  • address equity issues proactively
  • select, justify, use and evaluate a range of approaches to teaching and learning to meet learners' needs
  • select and use appropriate technology to enhance teaching and learning
  • plan for, use, justify and evaluate a range of teaching strategies and assessment tools
  • plan lesson and sequences of lessons for the short and medium term
  • teach well organised lessons and sequences of lessons
  • enable learners to reflect on their learning

Key skills

  • identify and solve problems by selecting, justifying, using and evaluating appropriate approaches
  • identify, access, select, use and evaluate relevant information and data
  • use an appropriate format and style to communicate ideas and information
  • use numerical techniques to explain and evaluate data
  • use literacy, numeracy and ICT skills to underpin academic and professional activities
  • work with others, identifying objectives and own responsibilities
  • reflect on and evaluate your own strengths; take responsibility for setting targets and initiating and implementing action plans

3 LEARNING, TEACHING AND ASSESSMENT

3.1The approach to Learning and Teaching within the Programme

The course will support you in becoming an effective, autonomous learner in higher education. Individual needs assessment and target-setting in both university and school-based work are crucial to this. As soon as you have accepted the offer of a place on the course you will begin this process by completing an initial needs assessment. This will involve you in reflecting on your relevant experience. You will be given a number of readings and activities to complete and you will be expected to begin work on those areas you have identified for development. This will be discussed at your first academic tutorial.

The Personal and Professional Learning (PPL) module, which runs throughout the first year, will develop your understanding of the learning process and support you in developing the skills to become an effective learner. Some skills will be developed in other modules, for example information literacy within a module on child development. You will be expected to apply and develop these skills throughout the course. The Professional Development Portfolio (PDP) will be introduced in the PPL module. This is central to the process of you becoming an autonomous learner: it provides support for personal reflection and action planning, and feeds into your Career Entry Development Profile CEDP where you will plan for further professional development. Your PDP will also form the basis of regular review meetings you will have with your academic tutor.

Becoming an autonomous learner will involve you in developing other skills. You will develop your critical thinking skills. This will enable you to consider complex ideas, such as innovation in primary practice, policy and practice, systematically. You will progress from seeing knowledge as absolute to recognising its uncertainty, and see tutors as partners in the construction of knowledge rather than expert holders of knowledge. Creativity is a theme running through a number of modules and you will be expected to develop creative approaches to teaching as well as developing your own creativity, for example when engaged in problem-solving. You will be expected to make informed decisions, for example on your choice of elective module and on a particular area for research within several modules. You will be expected to negotiate an appropriate teaching programme in school with your mentor.

You will experience blended learning throughout the course. This will include learning through interactive lectures; directed tasks; self audit; collaboration in a virtual learning environment; individual research; debate within seminars and observation on placement. Most teaching takes place in groups and usually takes the form of a mixture of tutor input, practical activity and student reflection. The focus is on you being actively engaged as a learner rather than a passive recipient of information. Where appropriate, groups will be smaller to enable more students to contribute and reflect on their experience and learning. As you progress through the course you will be expected to become more independent in your learning and take greater responsibility for it. This will be reflected in the amount of face-to-face contact time you will have with course tutors which is greater in the first year of the course. When you are first in school you will, in most cases, be teaching with a partner in a supportive environment. On the third year block placement, you will take considerable responsibility for planning, teaching and assessing a class for a sustained period, supported by your mentor.

Approaches to learning and teaching are underpinned by a strong educational rationale, which is informed by current research, policy and practice. The course team is made up of highly experienced and competent former primary practitioners. The team also draws upon a strong history of research, curriculum development activity and consultancy work when planning for your learning. Their commitment to research-based teaching is reflected in the expectation that you will use research as you develop your own practice and well as become researchers in your own right. Staff development related to learning and teaching takes place at an individual and collective level. This includes visits to other institutions, in-house seminars, visiting lecturers and mentor training. School mentors and other practitioners involved in the children's workforce work in partnership with university tutors to make sure the course reflects best practice in primary education.

You will be assigned to an academic tutor at the beginning of the course. It is his/her role to support your progress towards meeting the Standards. In school, this role will be fulfilled by a personal mentor who will observe you teach and advise you on the development of your professional skills.

The latest developments in e-learning will support face-to-face teaching. Although you will be able to access information through electronic means, the focus of using a virtual learning environment will be on supporting your learning. This will include e-templates which can be customised; discussion fora at module, group, year and course level for both university and school-based work; real-time chat; Blackboard journals and Blackboard nuggets.

As well as learning as an individual you will also engage in learning from and with others. You will be supported in developing your team working and communication skills in order to facilitate this. On school placement, planning, teaching and evaluating your practice will take place both with your peers and with school colleagues. University-based work will involve you in a range of collaborative activities, including researching and preparing presentation and peer coaching and study groups to develop your subject knowledge and skills. There will also be collaboration in a virtual learning environment through the use of Blackboard Discussion Boards in most modules.

There is a range of different types of support available to support students' learning.

Tutors may refer you to specific support for your professional practice or academic work. This support is provided by several bodies within the university including academic tutors, Learning and Information Technology staff and Student Services. You can also access this support yourself without referral. You may wish to join a support group for minority ethnic, male or mature students. If you have a disability, your Learning Contract will specify the provision which needs to be made by university and school staff in terms of facilitating your learning.

3.2The approach to Assessment and Feedback within the Programme

Assessment is an integral part of learning throughout both university and school-based work. You will self-assess your progress towards meeting the Standards and this will be validated by mentors and your academic tutor. For other university-based work, you will be engaged in formal and informal self- and peer assessment as well as assessment by module tutors. Each module will be formally assessed and there will be opportunities within several modules for more informal assessment of your learning, for example your academic writing skills and your proposal for your dissertation.

Assessment tasks are carefully designed so as to be appropriate to the module learning outcomes. A range of assessment methods will be used to enable you to demonstrate your learning in different ways. You will be assessed individually and as part of a peer group. Information on assessment procedures and regulations are clearly stated in the Course Handbook. Each module handbook will contain details of the module's assessment, the pass assessment criteria and performance indicators at each degree classification level. Formal assessment is underpinned by the principles of assessment for learning. This means that as well as receiving formative feedback, you will learn through completing the assignment. This will take a variety of different forms such as:

  • written coursework e.g. report, case study, dissertation, reflection, poster
  • oral work e.g. individual and group presentation
  • teaching activity in a variety of education settings
  • the creation and evaluation of teaching materials

If you have a disability, your Learning Contract will specify the provision which needs to be made by school and university staff in terms of assessing your learning.

All modules are subject to the university's quality assurance procedures. These include:

  • moderation visit to schools during students' block placements; the moderation of students' work and module marks and module evaluation by students and module leaders. You can also raise general issues related to learning, teaching and assessment with tutors via student representative meetings.

You will make judgements about your own learning through self assessment, for example

  • auditing your subject knowledge
  • reflecting on your learning processes
  • logging your progress towards meeting the QTS Standards
  • reflecting on and evaluating your professional and key skills.
  • online tests and surveys via Blackboard
  • auditing your ICT skills online

Summative and constructive formative feedback against module criteria and progress towards meeting the Standards will be provided by module tutors on completion of learning tasks. Your peers may also provide this feedback. You will also receive formative feedback on tasks completed during certain modules. Feedback may be written, oral or via a Blackboard Discussion Board. The purpose of feedback will change from an initial focus on formative feedback and learner support to summative feedback and the expectation that you will work more independently. Your school mentor will assess your progress against the Standards and provide you with summative and formative feedback.

The use of a professional development portfolio will be introduced in the Personal and Professional Learning module. With your academic tutor's support, you will use this portfolio to reflect on your personal and professional progress throughout the course and to set targets for your induction year as a Newly Qualified Teacher (NQT). You will be expected to incorporate points from feedback in your action plans.

4 PROGRESSION/CAREER ROUTES

Possible progression or career routes after you have completed this programme are

  • qualified teacher
  • other opportunities may include
  • Local Authority/Voluntary Sector worker or researcher
  • Non-Government Organisation (NGO) administrative and research posts
  • academic career as researcher via Masters level study and PhD
  • more general graduate careers including, for example, retail management and the civil service

5PROGRAMME STRUCTURE

The course will provide you with a comprehensive introduction to becoming an effective, reflective primary teacher. It has been carefully planned to enable you to develop your knowledge and understanding of primary education and all areas of the primary curriculum; your professional pedagogical skills and your personal intellectual and key skills over the three years of the course. This will enable you to meet the Standards and work confidently at Level 6.

The first year will introduce you to all the subjects within the curriculum and enable you to develop basic teaching skills. You will also address key features of the Every Child Matters agenda, such as learning how children develop and how their social and emotional development can be supported. Second and third year modules will build on first year work in developing your pedagogical knowledge and skills. You will consider in depth more complex features of effective teaching and current issues, such as providing for children with Special Educational Needs (SEN); assessment for learning; values education and making links within the curriculum. The themes of creativity, inclusion and diversity and the global dimension feature in most modules.

You will choose an elective module in the second year which will give you an opportunity to develop an area of interest. The range of available elective modules may vary from year to year, but it is likely to include modules such as Investigating children's fiction, Developing drama, Earth Science, Mathematics, French, The global dimension, Extending educational experience, Developing creativity through the arts, Empowering teaching and learning through ICT, and Philosophy for young children. You may wish to consolidate your interest in this area by choosing an aspect of it as the focus for your final year dissertation