Helping trainees to evaluate and develop their teaching

One of the most crucial factors in enabling trainees to become confident and effective teachers of history is their ability to learn through evaluation of their own practice. Every trainee-teacher progresses at different rates and in different ways, but in the initial stages of evaluation in particular, most trainees are concerned with themselves and with their teaching. They tend to be pre-occupied with generic classroom management skills such as giving instructions, distributing resources and responding to off-task behaviour. These are necessary and natural concerns, but it is only when trainees begin to focus on pupils’ learning and, in particular, pupils’ understanding of history that trainee-teachers begin to make significant progress. Two hugely important questions should therefore underpin trainee-teachers’ evaluations and trainee-mentor discourse: 1.What did pupils learn? 2. How did you know?

Trainees who are encouraged to return to the overall lesson focus and to the learning objectives as the starting point for evaluation will be in a much stronger position to set significant targets for development. In this context, targets aimed at trainees’ planning cannot be separated from teaching targets. Significant targets aimed at both planning and teaching will be crucial to trainees’ development at all stages in the course (see unit 8.5). In devising a training target with their trainees mentors will need to ask themselves two important questions:

1. Is this target significant in impacting upon the quality of pupils’ learning?
2. Is the trainee ready for this target?

As far as trainees’ teaching is concerned, some targets may relate to generic teaching skills: ‘explain tasks more clearly’ or ‘ensure smooth transitions between learning activities’. However, more meaningful targets will relate to pupils’ learning, and, where possible, to historical learning.

Activity 9.6.1 Devising targets for trainees’ development at different points in the PGCE

In order to help trainee-teachers meet their targets for development in teaching, you will need to think carefully about ways of supporting school-based mentors in devising apposite training activities (see unit 4.3). At the start of the course you may wish to prescribe structured activities which all trainees will follow. However, as trainees take more responsibility for their own training, they will be able to work with their mentor to plan training activities matched to their individual needs. Training activities such as focused observation of expert teachers, reading and reflection, team and small-group teaching, and focused analysis of a trainee’s own teaching will all be valuable experiences in helping trainees to develop their teaching. Devising a specific context for these activities is a crucial aspect of mentoring and you will need to consider how to support your mentors in this aspect of their work.

Activity 9.6.2 Planning training activities