Postgraduate Diploma in Teaching Qualification in Further Education (TQFE) - Pre-service
University of Stirling
Key Information
Campus location
Stirling, United Kingdom
Languages
English
Study format
On-Campus
Duration
9 months
Pace
Full time
Tuition fees
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Application deadline
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Earliest start date
Aug 2024
Introduction
Overview
The Pre-Service TQFE course is the recognised qualification for people who want to go on to be a lecturer in Scottish further education (FE). The course is based on the Professional Standards for Lecturers in Scotland’s Colleges (2018), and is fully accredited by the General Teaching Council for Scotland. The course supports you in developing your capacity as a professional educator so that you can make a positive contribution to the modern further education sector.
Top reasons to study with us
#1 3rd in Scotland and Top 5 in the UK for Education (Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023)
#2 This course is accredited by the General Teaching Council for Scotland
#3 91% overall student satisfaction with PGDip Tertiary Education with Teaching Qualification (Further Education) (Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey 2022)
Curriculum
You’ll gain valuable work experience in one of our partner colleges across Scotland, and enhance your understanding and professional practice within the FE sector.
The University of Stirling has been delivering the TQFE course for 15 years. The course integrates a range of pedagogic techniques which aim to encourage you to engage with academic and policy literature and to communicate with your peers as part of a ‘professional learning community’. Both face-to-face sessions and a variety of online technologies are used to deliver the course.
Professional accreditations
This course is accredited by the General Teaching Council for Scotland.
Work placements
Completing a placement (unpaid) with one of our partner colleges is a requirement of the pre-service course. Placements are arranged by the University.
Course details
Key principles underpinning this TQFE postgraduate degree include:
- developing awareness of appropriate professional values and attributes of the vocational educator,
- encouraging innovation in teaching/learning and wider professional practice, and
- supporting the development of a ‘professional enquiry’ approach throughout and beyond the course.
Teaching
The course is taught using a combination of lectures, seminars and materials made available via the University of Stirling's online learning environment.
Face-to-face sessions
Whilst attending teaching days students will experience large group lectures delivered by TQFE staff and, on occasions, invited guest lecturers. The lectures provide an opportunity for key concepts and issues to be highlighted and for you to receive guidance about key aspects of assessment tasks. Lectures are recorded using the university’s ‘Listen Again’ system and can be easily accessed by students attending at college-based sites.
The key concepts introduced via the lectures are explored in greater depth in small group seminars and workshops during the rest of the day. In the seminars/workshops you’re encouraged to draw upon your own professional experience and context and to share ideas and knowledge with your peers. The opportunity to engage with peers from different subject areas is seen to be a key element of the face-to-face learning and this has been frequently highlighted in feedback from students.
Online
Canvas, our virtual learning environment, is used extensively as a significant element of the TQFE course. A wide variety of digital resources are made available online, including:
- recordings of all lectures (made available within 24 hours of their ‘delivery’ on campus)
- e-journals and e-books (made available via electronic reading lists)
- in addition to ‘in-house’ resources students are also provided with links to digital resources which are provided by various organisations in the FE sector including the ‘College Development Network’, Education Scotland, and General Teaching Council Scotland. The wide variety of resources reflects contemporary issues and trends and enables you to interact both visually and aurally.
Our virtual learning environment is also used to support online interaction between TQFE staff and students and between the students themselves. Discussion spaces are used to support each module and these spaces provide a flexible opportunity for you to engage in ‘professional dialogue’ to clarify and deepen your understanding of key topics. The professional practice module makes extensive use of these discussion facilities and receives very positive student feedback.
Assessment
Core modules are assessed through academic assignments that require you to make links between theory/concepts and aspects of your professional practice.
Placements are assessed as part of the Link Practice module. The assessment requires you to maintain an online journal, write reports on your placement and have reports written about them by your college mentors.
Placements are arranged by the University of Stirling for students on the pre-service course, a commitment of two to three days per week is needed to satisfy the placement requirements.