[cremecup]

Hello,
I was wondering if someone could possibly help me. Sorry if this is in the wrong place or anything like that.

I have just finished my first year at the Unversity of Edinburgh and am currently awaiting my exam results. My degree is MA English Literature, and I do outside subjects in Linguistics & English Language 1, and Psychology 1.

I'm no longer sure that English is the degree that I wish to pursue. I initially wanted to apply for Psychology; did all the work experience and reading... then I decided that I wanted to be an English teacher. I am now going progressively off that idea. Writing is something I have always excelled at, it's the thing that comes most easy to me, but I just can't see myself being a good teacher, or journalist, or publisher...
I am contemplating changing to my degree to Psychology: I have all of the necessary credits for the MA (For 1st year, Psychology 1, and for 2nd year, Psychology 2). If only Edinburgh allowed a qualification of English Literature & Psychology or vice versa, but alas it is not the case.
Another possibility could perhaps be doing the Psychology degree conversion course at the end of an English degree to keep my options open for as long as possible... but that could be a year I could be doing something else.

I do not want to change my degree after speaking to my DOS and then regret it. When is it too late to decide my absolute final degree? Is it the end of second year, when I decide the honours that I wish to focus on then?
Would I have to change my SAAS declarations? I know of the 'false start' thing, but is that only if, for example, you were studying Medicine then decided after first year that you wanted to do like PE afterall.

Sorry, I realise how jumbled this all is. When is the absolute latest point for me to have decided what degree I want to take? Will this have any influence on the tuition fees I have been provided thus far? Should I stick with my initial degree until the very last minute, at risk of me changing my mind (unlikely, but probably the sensible option I imagine. I remember reading somewhere that the likelihood of being re-accepted onto single honours lit, given the competitive nature, is entirely slim.)

I know I should know all this stuff given I have been at the place for a year already. I just didn't want to bombard my DOS when I haven't completely decided or do not completely know the facts.

Thanks.

[0404343m]

(Original post by cremecup)
Hello,
I was wondering if someone could possibly help me. Sorry if this is in the wrong place or anything like that.

I have just finished my first year at the Unversity of Edinburgh and am currently awaiting my exam results. My degree is MA English Literature, and I do outside subjects in Linguistics & English Language 1, and Psychology 1.

I'm no longer sure that English is the degree that I wish to pursue. I initially wanted to apply for Psychology; did all the work experience and reading... then I decided that I wanted to be an English teacher. I am now going progressively off that idea. Writing is something I have always excelled at, it's the thing that comes most easy to me, but I just can't see myself being a good teacher, or journalist, or publisher...
I am contemplating changing to my degree to Psychology: I have all of the necessary credits for the MA (For 1st year, Psychology 1, and for 2nd year, Psychology 2). If only Edinburgh allowed a qualification of English Literature & Psychology or vice versa, but alas it is not the case.
Another possibility could perhaps be doing the Psychology degree conversion course at the end of an English degree to keep my options open for as long as possible... but that could be a year I could be doing something else.

I do not want to change my degree after speaking to my DOS and then regret it. When is it too late to decide my absolute final degree? Is it the end of second year, when I decide the honours that I wish to focus on then?
Would I have to change my SAAS declarations? I know of the 'false start' thing, but is that only if, for example, you were studying Medicine then decided after first year that you wanted to do like PE afterall.

Sorry, I realise how jumbled this all is. When is the absolute latest point for me to have decided what degree I want to take? Will this have any influence on the tuition fees I have been provided thus far? Should I stick with my initial degree until the very last minute, at risk of me changing my mind (unlikely, but probably the sensible option I imagine. I remember reading somewhere that the likelihood of being re-accepted onto single honours lit, given the competitive nature, is entirely slim.)

I know I should know all this stuff given I have been at the place for a year already. I just didn't want to bombard my DOS when I haven't completely decided or do not completely know the facts.

Thanks.

What you'll have to do is check the requirements for Junior Honours (third year) for both English and Psychology. Both will want certain modules to be taken and passed to a certain grade. It might be possible to keep your options open for another year by taking all the required modules for entry to both and not having to decide for another year. For example:

History might require you to take six history modules, at least four in second year out of a total of 12 courses. Politics might also want the same. As a result, you'd have to pick one or the other (or two extra modules) in order to still be able to take single honours in both subjects. This might not be the case for you, so check on that one.

You might also be able to continue in joint honours. Speak to your DoS. Don't worry about SAAS or anything like that- they're just interested in you progressing to the next year, which, unless you decide to retake a year to do modules that you've been told you must do for Psych, doesn't affect them.

[oxymoronic]

(Original post by 0404343m)
x

I'm so confused, I'm sure I replied to this last week but there isn't a reply from me

[0404343m]

(Original post by oxymoronic)
I'm so confused, I'm sure I replied to this last week but there isn't a reply from me

Can't get the staff these days?

[Miss Sweet]

(Original post by oxymoronic)
I'm so confused, I'm sure I replied to this last week but there isn't a reply from me

Heyy!
I really need some advice form you and i think you could help me with this..

Basically, i have been offered a place on 'Childhood studies' at Huddersfield Uni if i get BBC. I did not plan to go through this route and become a teacher because i applied for Primary Education degrees and got rejected.
No i have the option of completing this degree and doing a PGCE.
However soo many people have told me that to get onto a PGCE is VERY difficult and i should instead take a gap year and apply again next year.


Do you agree with this?
What advice can you give me?

Also, during the PGCE do you spend most of your time at a school...?

Thankyou!

[cgraham15]

If you enjoy university, you could do the conversion, one extra year of being a student! if not, just change because if it's what you really want to do then you won't regret it.

[oxymoronic]

(Original post by Miss Sweet)
Heyy!
I really need some advice form you and i think you could help me with this..

It depends what you want to do and whether you want to train to teach now, or whether you want more time to gain experience/grow up (I'm assuming you're 17 or so given you mention pending grades, sorry if you're a mature applicant!) before you enter teaching. It also depends on why you got rejected from your BEd courses in the first place - have you asked for feedback? If it's for a reason that you can work on in a year out then this might be something for you to consider. If you do decide to go down the PGCE route then remember you don't have to take up this offer at Huddersfield, you could do a degree in anything you want then still do a PGCE afterwards. This will give you more chance to develop your subject knowledge in a particular area, giving you more chance to lead a curriculum area relatively quickly after qualifying. I wouldn't say that the PGCE is very difficult to get on if you have the right experience, grades and really understand teaching/why you want to teach. At undergrad application you get get away with quite a "flowery" application in terms of saying "children are cute/I love kids/being a teacher will be really rewarding/I loved my teachers at school" because there's still 3 or 4 more years before you will actually be on your own in a classroom. PGCEs are only harder because you already need to be thinking and feeling like a teacher because its 1 year and you're teaching from the word go - there isn't time to let you mature/gain experience in different settings like there is on an undergrad course so they expect you to have loads of experience and knowledge of the curriculum/policy before you start.

If you really genuinely want to do this childhood studies course then go ahead but if you've been offered it as an alternative course choice to primary education then I'd consider your options more widely with either a gap year to develop your experience in schools or by starting a "normal" undergraduate degree in any subject you like in September. My personal opinion is that a degree beyond education/childhood studies will give you more options both in teaching and also more widely for if you decided teaching wasn't for you or that you didn't want to enter teaching straight after you'd graduated as realistically, it's unlikely that you'll want to be a school based teacher from the age of 21 until you retire at 68 (or however old it is by the time you get to retirement!) so having a broader degree will give you more options.There were people on my PGCE who had studied education/childhood/early years at undergrad and I don't think it made them a better teacher than the people who had studied other subjects. I'd wanted to teach since I was about 7 and always assumed I'd do an undergrad degree in teaching, when it came to it I realised I wasn't ready to give up the academic side of me and I wanted to ensure I kept my options open for the future. This gave me 4 years to get more experience both in teaching settings and also in life generally. I'm really glad I did this route and I think it makes me a better teacher because I can draw on things I've done in life rather than really only knowing a school based environment. It has also put me in a much stronger position to continue with my Masters and to work in other areas of education which aren't specifically classroom based.

And yeah, in a PGCE you spend the majority of the time in school. You spend pretty much exactly the same amount of time in school on a PGCE as you'd spend on an undergraduate teaching degree as you teach from day one and you're in school all the time, in comparison to undergrad courses where (in my experience of having several undergrads in my class) you do a lot of observing/small group work in the first two years. I had my 1st year BEd student in my class once a week for 12 weeks then that was her entire 1st year placement. As a PGCE trainee you're properly part of the school as you're there for 4 months, whereas I think as a BEd you're seen differently because you only come in for much shorter periods or not everyday so you don't build the same relationship with the children, staff and parents.

(Original post by cgraham15)
If you enjoy university, you could do the conversion, one extra year of being a student! if not, just change because if it's what you really want to do then you won't regret it.

A PGCE is not another year of being a student. You're attached to a university whilst you do your training but you spend about 8 weeks in total there over the 38 week Sept-July academic year. The only student part of it is the fact you get a student card, have to write some essays and you don't have to pay council tax.

[Miss Sweet]

(Original post by oxymoronic)
It depends what you want to do and whether you want to train to teach now, or whether you want more time to gain experience/grow up (I'm assuming you're 17 or so given you mention pending grades, sorry if you're a mature applicant!) before you enter teaching. It also depends on why you got rejected from your BEd courses in the first place - have you asked for feedback? If it's for a reason that you can work on in a year out then this might be something for you to consider. If you do decide to go down the PGCE route then remember you don't have to take up this offer at Huddersfield, you could do a degree in anything you want then still do a PGCE afterwards. This will give you more chance to develop your subject knowledge in a particular area, giving you more chance to lead a curriculum area relatively quickly after qualifying. I wouldn't say that the PGCE is very difficult to get on if you have the right experience, grades and really understand teaching/why you want to teach. At undergrad application you get get away with quite a "flowery" application in terms of saying "children are cute/I love kids/being a teacher will be really rewarding/I loved my teachers at school" because there's still 3 or 4 more years before you will actually be on your own in a classroom. PGCEs are only harder because you already need to be thinking and feeling like a teacher because its 1 year and you're teaching from the word go - there isn't time to let you mature/gain experience in different settings like there is on an undergrad course so they expect you to have loads of experience and knowledge of the curriculum/policy before you start.

If you really genuinely want to do this childhood studies course then go ahead but if you've been offered it as an alternative course choice to primary education then I'd consider your options more widely with either a gap year to develop your experience in schools or by starting a "normal" undergraduate degree in any subject you like in September. My personal opinion is that a degree beyond education/childhood studies will give you more options both in teaching and also more widely for if you decided teaching wasn't for you or that you didn't want to enter teaching straight after you'd graduated as realistically, it's unlikely that you'll want to be a school based teacher from the age of 21 until you retire at 68 (or however old it is by the time you get to retirement!) so having a broader degree will give you more options.There were people on my PGCE who had studied education/childhood/early years at undergrad and I don't think it made them a better teacher than the people who had studied other subjects. I'd wanted to teach since I was about 7 and always assumed I'd do an undergrad degree in teaching, when it came to it I realised I wasn't ready to give up the academic side of me and I wanted to ensure I kept my options open for the future. This gave me 4 years to get more experience both in teaching settings and also in life generally. I'm really glad I did this route and I think it makes me a better teacher because I can draw on things I've done in life rather than really only knowing a school based environment. It has also put me in a much stronger position to continue with my Masters and to work in other areas of education which aren't specifically classroom based.

And yeah, in a PGCE you spend the majority of the time in school. You spend pretty much exactly the same amount of time in school on a PGCE as you'd spend on an undergraduate teaching degree as you teach from day one and you're in school all the time, in comparison to undergrad courses where (in my experience of having several undergrads in my class) you do a lot of observing/small group work in the first two years. I had my 1st year BEd student in my class once a week for 12 weeks then that was her entire 1st year placement. As a PGCE trainee you're properly part of the school as you're there for 4 months, whereas I think as a BEd you're seen differently because you only come in for much shorter periods or not everyday so you don't build the same relationship with the children, staff and parents.



A PGCE is not another year of being a student. You're attached to a university whilst you do your training but you spend about 8 weeks in total there over the 38 week Sept-July academic year. The only student part of it is the fact you get a student card, have to write some essays and you don't have to pay council tax.

Ahh! i seee
thankyou and am 18
I also wanted to ask that when i apply for a PGCE would they look at my A levels, i'm quite worried about what i will get this year -_- probably BCC :/.
I'm the first going onto UNI and i am terribly confused about everything, all i want is to become a successful Primary School Teacher .

[cremecup]

(Original post by 0404343m)
What you'll have to do is check the requirements for Junior Honours (third year) for both English and Psychology. Both will want certain modules to be taken and passed to a certain grade. It might be possible to keep your options open for another year by taking all the required modules for entry to both and not having to decide for another year. For example:

History might require you to take six history modules, at least four in second year out of a total of 12 courses. Politics might also want the same. As a result, you'd have to pick one or the other (or two extra modules) in order to still be able to take single honours in both subjects. This might not be the case for you, so check on that one.

You might also be able to continue in joint honours. Speak to your DoS. Don't worry about SAAS or anything like that- they're just interested in you progressing to the next year, which, unless you decide to retake a year to do modules that you've been told you must do for Psych, doesn't affect them.

Hello, thanks for getting back to me and sorry about the delay in replying. I checked on the dprs thing and seem to have taken the requird prerequisites for single honours in both subjects, with a view to do the same next year. Obviously, joint honours would be the ideal scenario for me I think but I don't think it's accepted as a subject combination, which blows. I am just wondering whether you think it best for me to change now or at the end of next year and decide for sure then - is deciding at the end of second year, provided I have taken the required credits, still definitely an option? Thanks, sorry about the confusion.

[0404343m]

(Original post by cremecup)
Hello, thanks for getting back to me and sorry about the delay in replying. I checked on the dprs thing and seem to have taken the requird prerequisites for single honours in both subjects, with a view to do the same next year. Obviously, joint honours would be the ideal scenario for me I think but I don't think it's accepted as a subject combination, which blows. I am just wondering whether you think it best for me to change now or at the end of next year and decide for sure then - is deciding at the end of second year, provided I have taken the required credits, still definitely an option? Thanks, sorry about the confusion.

Ah- I see. My advisory experience is mostly from Glasgow, which in most respects is identical to Edinburgh (Advisers of Studies rather than DoS, and a £17m new computer system which is worth about 17p aside), as EngLit/Psych is an allowed combination there. In Ed it seems to just be Linguistics/Psych. My bad.

Anyway, there's no need to force the issue just now since you don't have to. If I were you I'd wait the other year and see how you feel. It's hardly disadvantaging you this way, whereas dropping one now might lead you to think 'what if?' further down the line.