Post Compulsory (pce) pgce interview

OP

sorry but.. *bump*

:o:

Reply 2

OP

OK I still need help, I realise that I originally posted this when it was christmas so people maybe didn't notice it too much but I particularly need help with picking a presentation topic;

have to do the following; 1) presentation (5 mins) I need to choose a topic out of - a favourite pastime, a person I admire or a thing of which I am particularly proud. I could talk about filmmaking since it is an interest of mine and I DID do a film degree, I could link this into why I want to teach film and media studies.... Would this be a good topic for a 5 minute presentation?

Sorry to tripple post but am stressing massively :s:

Reply 3

Gissing

2

Original post by aleathiel

OK I still need help, I realise that I originally posted this when it was christmas so people maybe didn't notice it too much but I particularly need help with picking a presentation topic;

:o:

Sorry to tripple post but am stressing massively :s:

I'm waiting to hear back from my provider (they might not be getting the departmental funding for the course this year!).

I would definitely recommend keeping your presentation relevant to your subject, unless you really feel passionately about something else. It's important, i think, to talk about something you are confident about.

My concern is that I've heard FE is not as good in terms of pay, hours and work-related benefits. I'm stressing about that as well as any potential interview.

Reply 4

OP

Original post by Gissing

I'm waiting to hear back from my provider (they might not be getting the departmental funding for the course this year!).

I would definitely recommend keeping your presentation relevant to your subject, unless you really feel passionately about something else. It's important, i think, to talk about something you are confident about.

My concern is that I've heard FE is not as good in terms of pay, hours and work-related benefits. I'm stressing about that as well as any potential interview.

Thank you

And good luck, hope you get good news soon!

What other issues etc have you heard about FE? :smile:

Reply 5

Original post by aleathiel

Thank you

And good luck, hope you get good news soon!

What other issues etc have you heard about FE? :smile:

Like Gissing suggests, it would be more appropriate for you to do a presentation on your undergraduate subject, or the subject you wish to teach. However, the fact they have been vague suggests they are not really interested in the content of the presentation, but rather its structure and your performance; that is, you are not a nervous wreck rambling from one point to another for ten minutes.

Out of interest, which universities did you apply to?

Reply 6

OP

Original post by evantej

Like Gissing suggests, it would be more appropriate for you to do a presentation on your undergraduate subject, or the subject you wish to teach. However, the fact they have been vague suggests they are not really interested in the content of the presentation, but rather its structure and your performance; that is, you are not a nervous wreck rambling from one point to another for ten minutes.

Out of interest, which universities did you apply to?

Thanks

I applied for this particular course at Brighton University. I did also apply for secondary pgce courses on gttr but not had much luck with them :colondollar:

Reply 7

Original post by aleathiel

Thanks

I applied for this particular course at Brighton University. I did also apply for secondary pgce courses on gttr but not had much luck with them :colondollar:

All my choices are for secondary, but I am really tempted to change my choices to include PGCE CET.

Reply 8

OP

Original post by evantej

All my choices are for secondary, but I am really tempted to change my choices to include PGCE CET.

Go for it

For the group task, I'll have to discuss a key educational issue and present the group's findings to the others. How much research should I actually do for this part? It mentions that they will be looking at my ability to effectively interact with others and my ability to work collaboratively in order to present findings. Not my ability to research issues and remember facts.. What are other people's experiences of this? Will I be looked down on for not knowing as many issues as other people, or is it actually about HOW I work with others?

How formally have people been dressing for their interviews btw?

Another question, if anyone here has had to do a presentation and use visual stimuli, how many used powerpoint? If so, did you take a laptop with you? :colondollar:

Reply 9

OP

I've completely changed my mind... I'm now doing the 'A thing of which I am particularly proud' topic and will be discussing a short film I made in my final year :smile:

I emailed the person organising the interviews about taking my own laptop (Apple) to play the presentation on-- I asked about connecting it to the projector but she didn't know the connection :/ so said to bring it on a memory stick as well..

What have other people been doing? The letter said to email them to say if we were going or not (which I did as soon as I got the letter), but it also said to email if you have any specific requirements so that's why I emailed asking for advice on this but I still don't know what the best thing to do is so may have to take my laptop plus a copy of the powerpoint on a disc *sigh*

Reply 10

How did your interview go aleathiel?

I've recently been offered an interview at IOE which is on the 17th March. They haven't sent me interview procedure details yet and i'm hoping to receive something by next week. Anyone else had/have an interview at that institute?

Reply 11

OP

Original post by BBGirl

How did your interview go aleathiel?

I've recently been offered an interview at IOE which is on the 17th March. They haven't sent me interview procedure details yet and i'm hoping to receive something by next week. Anyone else had/have an interview at that institute?

Unsuccessful :frown:

Going to try again next year.

Good luck with your interview at IOE!

Reply 12

I have a PGCE PCET interview at Cardiff in a few week's time, and they have not sent me anything or even finalised the date, which is annoying as I have a secondary English interview at Leeds the day after one of the dates they mentioned.

Reply 13

Have you had your interview yet evantej??? How'd it go?

Mine's next thursday and i'm just trying to read as much as possible! Having looked on TES i'm getting worried that i may have made a mistake in choosing to do a PGCE is post comp ed. No-one on there is happy with the situation they're in...may just do the phd...if i get the funding!

Aleathiel...i'm really sorry to hear that hun...hope it goes well for you next year.

Reply 14

Original post by BBGirl

Have you had your interview yet evantej??? How'd it go?

Mine's next thursday and i'm just trying to read as much as possible! Having looked on TES i'm getting worried that i may have made a mistake in choosing to do a PGCE is post comp ed. No-one on there is happy with the situation they're in...may just do the phd...if i get the funding!

Aleathiel...i'm really sorry to hear that hun...hope it goes well for you next year.

My interview was rescheduled; it is now this Wednesday.

I am applying for secondary (with not much success) and a PhD too. If you have not applied for a PhD yet then you have probably missed most funding deadlines just so you know.

I would not let TES put you off. I cannot imagine that the people who post on there are representative of the industry as a whole, but at the same time I would not completely ignore them either. I imagine some of the issues mentioned will become negligible when the compulsory age of learning increases to 18.

Reply 15

Ahhh well good luck with that then!

I was offered a PhD where i work...but with the current climate being such as it is, if i don't get funding (half from the government and half from the institution) then i won't be able to do it. They're reviewing the situation as we speak...so keep fingers, toes and everything else crossed for me!

Have you been on TES? There's a VERY negative vibe when it comes to teaching in FE....not sure i want to go through with it, but i def know that i won't/don't want to teach at secondary level! :frown:

Reply 16

Original post by BBGirl

Ahhh well good luck with that then!

I was offered a PhD where i work...but with the current climate being such as it is, if i don't get funding (half from the government and half from the institution) then i won't be able to do it. They're reviewing the situation as we speak...so keep fingers, toes and everything else crossed for me!

Have you been on TES? There's a VERY negative vibe when it comes to teaching in FE....not sure i want to go through with it, but i def know that i won't/don't want to teach at secondary level! :frown:

We are in vaguely similar positions. I took out a career development loan for my masters which means I cannot do a PhD without full funding, and I have a child on the way which complicates things! I have absolutely no ambition to teach in secondary either, but applied purely for the financial security; now that the government have taken training bursaries away there is no incentive for me to keep up the illusion that this is what I want to do.

I have been on TES. I can understand their negativity to an extent, but you have to realise that people with negative experiences are more likely to post about them. How often do you see someone post about their positive experiences? In addition, a lot of it is institution specific; that is, bad management and work practice in that college.

I think further education will become more standardised over the next few years, especially where sixth form education is concerned given the funding inequalities (i.e. schools with sixth forms getting more money than colleges). In addition, because the number of students will increase as everyone is forced to stay on until they are 18-year-old the demand for staff will increase, which should eliminate some of the employment issues that staff in FE face.

A lot of posters are self-interested dinosaurs. They entered FE because of its low standards and resent the idea of having to take teaching qualifications, for example, or a diversifying student body because it potentially means that they have to work harder for their money. While a lot of QTS stuff at primary and secondary level is nonsense, the stuff that people get away with at FE level is abysmal. There is absolutely no standisation. This can work in some people's favour in the sense that colleges can employ intelligent staff quickly, say, a PhD student. But more often than not it means unqualified staff who have no experience teach classes they have no subject knowledge in themselves, particularly those at the lower level where money is involved.

Just take things with a pinch of salt!

Reply 17

Gissing

2

I had my interview at Oxford Brookes a couple of weeks ago but I baulked at the cost of it and withdrew. My application has now been sent to my second choice (cheaper and closer to home).

I applied in December but I've had so many changes of heart in the last few months I still don't know whether it's the right thing to do. There does seem to be a negative vibe associated with FE, especially whenever you dig under the surface. I really don't want to be stuck in a poorly remunerated job which is unrewarding and offers a **** quality of life, pay and benefits.

I've thought about re-training, and doing an MA in Politics, but there is no guarantee of a job at the end of it (although it incorporates time in an MPs office). I've got a PhD in Film Studies (a good one n'all) but it's worthless in terms of finding a job - I've no teaching experience and nothing published (if either of you get on a PhD course make sure you DEMAND some teaching experience!!!)

Teaching my subject in FE offers me some form of meaningful employment but there are still so many question marks hanging over it. Primary is still at the back of my mind, but Secondary QTS would be like returning to my hellish high school experience.

I feel this is the most important decision of my life but any choice I make will be the wrong one. I was in a Russell group University a couple of years ago and now I'm unemployed and going nowhere.

Anyway, that's my position right now - extremely worried about FE.

Reply 18

Hi guys,

What's the current situation with you all? :redface:

I'm still going for the PGCE (PCET) 3which starts this september, STILL worried about it though. Although i'm looking forward to the course, the pay situation etc is still worrying as is the amount of disgruntled FE Lecturers out there. :frown:

Reply 19