Working with your trainees
Specific training needs
On-line articles
The articles available here are from the CILT ITT bulletin called Links. They have been selected for tutor reading but may also be suitable for trainees.
- The progress of non-English native-speaker student teachers (pdf), Jones, B. (2001) Links, 23
- The training needs of native speaker teachers of MFL (pdf), Pagliero, H and Holmes, B. (2000) Links, 22
Resource support
- Pre-course
tasks: Preparation for my training year as a secondary school teacher
CILT is happy to share this resource with the ITE community in case it is relevant to other routes and providers. It was devised to help Foreign Language Assistants make the most of their placements in secondary schools before embarking on the CILT GTP so is particularly aimed at trainees who come from abroad. All sections are referenced against the new standards. Please send feedback to Sarah Cartwright (Language Teaching Adviser, ITE) if you make use of these tasks with your own trainees.
- Comparing
national education systems
As part of learning to teach in the countries of the United Kingdom, it is often challenging for native-speakers of languages other than English to understand and absorb important differences in detail between the education systems in which they grew up, and the one in which they are starting to work.
This INCA website resource provides a set of comparative data in tabular form which may help the beginning native-speaker teacher address the objective of developing a broad understanding of the education system in which they are beginning to operate. INCA is the International Review of Curriculum and Assessment Frameworks Internet Archive. The website concentrates on education provided in schools and to the 3-19 age range and provides regularly updated descriptions of government policy on education in the countries of the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, USA and parts of Asia. There is particular reference to the curriculum and assessment frameworks in place and the site also features specific sections describing initial teacher training policy across the featured countries. Viewing this website might be set either as part of a pre-course task or as a part of an early taught programme task.
A Recent History of Primary and Secondary Education in England
This is a booklet written in 2 parts to help the beginning teacher address the objective of developing a broad understanding of the education system. It will be of special value to beginning ‘native-speaker’ teachers, aiding understanding of important differences in detail between the education systems in which they grew up, and the one in which they are starting to work.
This was originally available as an online publication from London Metropolitan University from 2004, written by Patricia East and her authoring team of Sui-Mee Chan, Sabia Ali and Maria Neophytou. Keith Faulkner, of the University of Sheffield and CiLT, has edited and updated the history for ITT MFL.
As the trainee reads through each chapter, he or she will come across questions or tasks in boxes to be completed before continuing. The trainee is also given the option to read in more depth about key aspects, by selecting some of the recommended texts in the 'Further Reading' lists. A glossary and continuous explanation of particular jargon and acronyms supports the familiarisation process with specific aspects of our education system.
Much of the history of the education system in England is closely allied to that of the other countries in the United Kingdom, and that aspect features in the booklet.
An important principle behind the publication of the original booklet was that much of the strategic and legislative reform of the post-war English education system has been driven by radical societal change. This has resulted in the complex aim of providing education for socio-economically, ethnically, and linguistically diverse communities, and of finding ways in which every child can achieve their potential. The full complexity of this aim is reflected in the work of Multiverse, a web-based resource for teacher educators and trainees addressing the educational achievement of pupils from diverse backgrounds.
Part 1: 1944 to 1985 Available now: Available now: click here to download
Part 2: 1985 to 2009 Available now: Available now: click here to download
