PEDAGOGY PRACTICE

Change & Development of Pedagogy Practice

Change & Development of Pedagogy Practice

Introduction

Purpose of the study

The main purpose of this study is to understand the educational establishment circumstances in schools of East London.

Background of the study

The school used in this module is an average sized, outer-London 11-16 Local Education Authority comprehensive (n.o.r. 1160). It serves a large catchment area which includes a mixture of public housing and owner-occupied properties. The site is on the edge of a town and is bounded by main roads. There are more boys than girls in Years 7 to 9 and more students than normal are eligible for free school meals. Slightly under half of the students are from minority ethnic groups and about one fifth speak English as an additional language. The number of students with learning difficulties is well above the national average.

In the school's most recent OfSTED report (February 2007), the leadership of the school is cited as satisfactory. The school demonstrates a strong commitment to social inclusion and a reputation to accommodate successfully students who are hard to teach. The school has been awarded sports college status (2004) and there is a pattern of gradual improvement in GCSE results during the past 3 years. However, not all progress in all areas is even over this time.

Students enter the school with below average attainment and make outstanding progress in Years 7 to 9. Achievement in English is particularly high. However, students do markedly less well in Years 10 and 11, so that by the time they leave their progress in Years 7 to 11 has been satisfactory. According to Wiske although the trend is upwards, GCSE results remain below local and national averages. Girls attain results significantly higher than boys, with the gap wider than that nationally. The quality of teaching throughout the school ranges from outstanding to unsatisfactory.

Most students have a positive attitude towards school. However there is a minority group of students (many in Year 7) determined not to participate in learning. In recent years there have been no permanent exclusions.

The area of the curriculum I have decided to focus on is Humanities and the year group is Year 7. It is because of two reasons:

1.I have been line managing this curriculum area for the past two years and it includes subjects such as History and Geography which are nationally on the decline as being chosen by students at Key Stage 4 & 5.

2.Since the introduction of PLTs (personal learning and thinking skills) into the new Key Stage 3 curriculum (September 2008) I want to investigate if PLTs achieves what QCA (Qualifications and Curriculum Authority) sets out for it to do which is “to enrich the experiences of learners and support their progress in all Humanities subjects including History, Geography and RE while increasing coherence across the curriculum” i.e. students to be effective participators and reflective learners which should give improved student motivation, behaviour and desire for Humanities subjects.

Scheme of work

Subject Matter Background

This section conveyed a broad ...