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BGU Representation at All Party Parliamentary Group on the Teaching Profession
Dr Adam Hounslow-Eyre, Senior Lecturer in Education Studies at Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU), joined other Founding Fellows of the Chartered College of Teaching (CCoT) at the Houses of Parliament on Monday 21 January 2019. -
Engaging with volunteering boosts employability for BGU Student
Amy Puddephatt, Second Year BA (Hons) Education Studies student at Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU), has been volunteering at a local primary school in her home town since finishing her GCSE’s. Amy has always wanted to go into teaching at Primary age and volunteering has helped develop this into a real passion. Now, thanks to the BG Futures Volunteering Award, she is able to turn that hard work into accredited professional development. -
Students hunt for golden tickets and new experiences in reading competition
Primary Education students at Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) have been delving deep into a new world of books searching for golden tickets as part of a competition to encourage them to read more widely. -
Academic Research Team Travel to Finland to Investigate Inclusive Practice
An academic research team from Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) have been working with colleagues and students from the University of Eastern Finland to collect data for a pilot study on inclusive practice. Emma Clarke, Senior Lecturer in Primary, Shaun Thompson, ITT Regional Partnership Leader, and Aimee Quickfall, Head of Programmes for Primary & Early Years, are investigating inclusive practice in UK and Finnish primary schools and the well-being of teacher trainees. Their pilot study has involved holding focus groups and interviews with teacher trainees and lecturers, finding out what their perceptions of inclusion are, and asking them to explore their well-being challenges and resources using a timeline drawing method. As part of the trip Emma, Shaun and Aimee also presented their wider research interests to Finnish colleagues and visited three schools to meet with teachers and experience the best of Finnish education. Aimee explained why Finland provided the perfect place for the pilot study and what the team hoped the study’s impact would be: “We have been interested in Finland because it has a high-performing education system, where teacher training takes five years, includes a Master's qualification and only 10% of applicants are accepted on the programmes. We are looking at how Finland differs from the UK in terms of inclusive practice and well-being of teachers and trainees, with an aim to bring back ideas to share with our team to help improve our provision for initial teacher training. What we have experienced at the University of Eastern Finland and in schools in Joensuu is a real focus on the needs of children and adults in the school environment. Our initial pilot data are highlighting lots of differences in our systems, but also many similarities and shared concerns and joys. We are looking forward to working with the university on more projects and to sharing our findings with colleagues at BGU through the Learning and Teaching Conference.” If you want to pursue a future in teaching visit our website or contact our Enquiries Team for more information on how to begin your career on our exciting Primary Education with QTS degree course or our Primary and Secondary PGCE routes. -
Raising Standards of Early Years Provision and Care
Dr Pat Beckley, Senior Lecturer in Primary at Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU), was invited to speak and participate in a meeting at the Hallam Centre in London, organised by Inside Government, to discuss issues involved in raising standards of Early Years provision and care. Dr Beckley presented key findings of the book she has recently edited, Philosophy and Practice of Outstanding Early Years Provision and Supporting Vulnerable Children in the Early Years. The presentation highlighted the importance of working in partnership with all those involved in the care and education of young children, including parents, carers and the professionals around the child, to create a holistic approach for each child. The presented findings raised how particularly important this holistic approach could prove in changing circumstances, where challenges for parents, carers and young children who are vulnerable present themselves. Comparisons of learning and development in differing cultural contexts and approaches were raised along with why similar key factors in settings, such as knowledgeable practitioners and leaders with a shared vision, promoted successful outcomes for children. Settings in different contexts in England were used as examples to illustrate the outstanding pedagogy and practice observed. The philosophy that guided the settings was considered and how this had evolved through collaboration with a range of stakeholders. Photographic examples of how this was implemented in practice were shared, such as through creativity, bought and natural resources, exploration, investigation, indoor/outdoor learning and areas supporting time for children’s thinking. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (1943) was used as a reference guide for settings and how the unique philosophical ethos of each setting would strengthen responses when striving to raise standards. The complexity and commitment of the role of the practitioners working in early years was emphasised. The subsequent discussions following the presentations were lively and raised concerns about workload, training, valuing Early Years practitioners and funding issues. Dr Beckley explained why these areas are so important: “The birth-eight age phase represents a crucial stage in young children’s development, influencing individual wellbeing and life chances. It is vitally important that informed decisions on issues are made to promote and enhance the early years’ sector and those who work in it, to give all children worthwhile experiences as a foundation for their lives” Chairing the meeting was Professor Leon Feinstein, Director of Evidence, Children’s Commissioner for England and participants included Ruth George, member, APPG Childcare and Early Education and Jonathan Broadberry, Head of Policy and External Relations, National Day Nurseries Association. If you’re interested in a future in Early Years provision or Teaching there are few institutions that can provide a better experience than BGU. You can find information on our range of education based courses on our website, or by contacting our Enquiries Team. -
Visiting professor shares teaching practices from across the continent
Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) welcomed Professor Catalina Barragán from the University of Almería in Andalusia who was visiting the UK to find out more about the systems and processes which underpin the English primary school system. Teaching is a highly respected profession in Spain, with most primary teachers staying in the profession until they retire, and the English primary school system is held in an equal high regard. As part of her trip Professor Barragán visited two locals before spending time with BGU’s PGCE students to experience their training. This was a rewarding experience for both groups and Professor Barragán noted the focus given to teaching standards by all of the PGCE trainees whose seminars she had attended being particularly impressed by their professional manner and the genuine commitment to a career in teaching they communicated. Based on her experiences in Spain and her time exploring English primary education and teacher training, Professor Barragán’s was able to identify a number of key areas where English and Spanish practices differ, along with others where both nations followed similar approaches: “I found the emphasis given to the core subjects, reading, writing and maths, in the first years to be very different from schools in Andalusia. For example, in Almería and Andalusia as a whole there is much more focus on integrating the study of a modern foreign language from the earliest years, and this is often integrated in to the whole curriculum so that areas like maths or science can be taught in English. “In addition I was interested in the use of Teaching Assistants in classrooms as this is unknown in both my region and Spain as a whole. Schools employ trained teachers to support groups of children with special needs or linguistic diversity. In England there is also an impressive focus on outdoor learning which does not get such an emphasis in Spain.” “However I have found that in both countries there is a shared focus on the need to teach strategies to recognise and support the emotional well-being of children, including a recognition of the valuable role of parents, and the need to develop effective anti-bullying strategies.” While at BGU Professor Barragán worked closely with Dr Mark Larrad, Senior Lecturer in Primary, whose own research is focused on the different approaches in Andalusia and England to the training of teachers. Both are hopeful that her time at BGU will lead to further collaboration between the two institutions possibly including exchange visits for trainee teachers, joint research and shared practices. If you’d like more information on how to begin your adventure in the world of education, visit our website or contact our Enquiries Team today to find out more about our range of PGCE and Primary Education courses. -
Expressive Arts Days empower future teaching talent
Trainee teachers at Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) learned about the value of creative arts in primary schools through a series of Expressive Arts Days. Led by Sarah Howe, Ruth Pearson and Mark Larrad, Seniors Lecturers in Primary at BGU, the aim of these carousel sessions was to show the trainees how art activities could support their teaching, even if they didn’t believe art was one of their skills. The activities included sessions on approaches to painting from still life, the value of 'small world' play across the primary curriculum, as well as the opportunity to design art around the theme of blossom trees on the BGU campus. Despite not always having a prominent focus in curriculum plans, creative arts offer a wealth of opportunities to encourage and support pupils, as Mark Larrad explained: “It is often stated that the arts are crowded out of the National Curriculum. As educators we have a duty to ensure the next generation of teachers is empowered to be able plan and teach purposeful and motivational expressive arts activities, knowing they are making a real difference to outcomes for children and their schools. All teachers should be able to teach art, not just those who considered themselves to be artists, and the sessions provided support for all those who realise their main challenge is to inspire the disposition to create in all the class, not just those children who have a special talent. Ultimately, whilst we know that art will always have a less prominent focus in school than the core subjects, like English, Maths or Science, we aimed to ensure trainees were empowered to be able to ensure that what little time they for expressive arts in school will really count, so maximum benefit is achieved; and the enthusiastic feedback we had suggests the trainees found all of these sessions really useful. We´re looking forward to repeating the carousel next year.” If you’d like more information on how to begin your adventure in the world of education, visit our website or contact our Enquiries Team today to find out more about our range of PGCE and Primary Education courses. -
School of Teacher Development at the TEAN Conference
On the 9th and 10th of May, a group of academics and students from the School of Teacher Development represented BGU at the 10th annual Teacher Education Advancement Network conference, in Birmingham. The TEAN conference offers an opportunity for colleagues to spend time together to share great practice and ideas. The team thoroughly enjoyed the conference, which showcased research from across the UK, with a focus on initial teacher training. The conference is a brilliant opportunity to meet colleagues from institutions and schools who are involved with the training and support of teacher trainees. -
School of Teacher Development Primary Team undertake research in Copenhagen
Dr Emma Clarke, Aimee Quickfall and Shaun Thompson of the School of Teacher Development Primary Team have visited the University College of Copenhagen (UCC) this week as part of their ongoing research on the well-being of teacher trainees. The visit was organised with the help of Sabine Lam, the international coordinator at UCC and Erasmus funding. Aimee told us about the collaboration, "Working with colleagues at UCC has been a fantastic experience. We have been made very welcome on the Carlsberg Campus and everyone we have spoken with has given us new insights and ideas." Emma, Shaun and Aimee collected data from students, lecturers and newly graduated teachers who are now embarking on their first teaching job. Participants have been interviewed on their perceptions of well-being on their training programmes, as well as being asked to identify challenges and resources that impact on well-being. They have also engaged in drawing timelines of how their well-being, challenges, resources and other personal factors have changed over time. Emma commented on the findings so far, "It is exciting and illuminating working with international peers, students and teachers. Specific key themes are now emerging which we aim to use to develop a larger research bid to enable us to continue with this exciting project." The team are looking at examples of good practice in European teacher training, including Finnish, Swedish, Dutch and Danish contexts as a comparison with data collected in the UK. The aim is to inform ITE programme planning and delivery, as well as sharing findings with partnership schools and other colleagues engaged in training teachers. Shaun, regional partnership lead for Primary ITE commented, “Despite many similarities in the issues facing teachers and schools throughout these European countries, the research has provided us with valuable insight into some pertinent challenges and resources relating to well-being, and more importantly, how to maintain the balance. Hopefully, we can now draw upon some of these and consider them within our own ITE programmes, as well as supporting our school partners, to ensure that well-being remains a key priority within education.” If you would like to find about more about the teaching training courses that BGU offer please visit our postgraduate training courses. -
Lecturer aims to bring lessons from the forest into the classroom
Paul Brenham-Foster, Senior Lecturer in Primary at Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU), has been presented with a Level 3 Forest School Practitioner Award following a year of training and delivering sessions with local schools. The training, which included an initial week introducing the ethos and theory behind forest school, sits alongside an online portfolio covering health and safety, ecology, delivery of sessions, theories of play, learning and development. Both of these were followed by a practical assessment week, out in the woods, which explored a number of aspects including camp fire cookery, safe use of tools and fire, planning for holistic development and nature study skills. The Forest School Association defines Forest School as: ‘an inspirational process, which offers all learners regular opportunities to achieve and develop confidence and self-esteem through hands-on learning experiences in a woodland or natural environment with trees. It is a specialised learning approach that sits within and complements the wider context of outdoor and woodland education.’ The ethos is shared by thousands of trained practitioners across the UK and beyond. Its roots reach back to early years pioneers in outdoor learning and overseas to Scandinavia. As part of the approach, all participants are viewed as: equal, unique and valuable competent to explore & discover entitled to experience appropriate risk and challenge entitled to choose, and to initiate and drive their own learning and development entitled to experience regular success entitled to develop positive relationships with themselves and other people entitled to develop a strong, positive relationship with their natural world Following his award, Paul discussed why he became involved in the initiative and what he hoped its impact could be on the students at BGU: “Having worked in the Foundation Stage for over 20 years, the importance of outdoor learning and the Forest School approach affirms my own personal philosophy on teaching and learning within Early Years.” “With the increased focus schools have on mental health and well-being, it is important our trainees have an awareness of approaches such as Forest School as they begin their careers.” “The aim is for all trainees across the Primary programmes to experience the sessions as a participant and to begin to understand some of the theory behind the approach and hopefully be inspired to train as a Forest School practitioner at some point in their career.” Paul is currently researching how the Forest School approach can be used within school’s to promote children’s mental health and well-being and the importance of risky play in children’s development. If you’d like to find out more about innovative and diverse primary education course visit our website, speak to a member of our Enquiries Team or join us on one of our Open Days.
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