What is the PGCE? I hear you ask,
teacher training or a monstrous task?
Matriculation, safeguarding, the ILP
Whiteboards, iboards, flipcharts;
OHPs, tutorials, and VLPs.
Hark! Could this be the end of me?
How can reports, assessments, quizzes,
reading, reasoning and essays,
computers, visual aids, with students hissing;
curriculum strategies, classroom management,
remove feelings of abandonment?
Is my confidence gone a-missing?
When will the light become sharper
To deal with attention-seeking students?
Can my lesson plans improve?
Would exams, concepts and hypothesis,
diagnostic, didactic and divergence,
my fear and anxiety remove?
Who showcases the wrath of antagonists;
thru’ dramatic literature of yore?
When tired students erupt in cheer,
And root the protagonists more.
When alarm bells ring as learning engines crash,
hypothesis molding into balderdash.
Where worksheets, diaries and reflections,
Modes of teaching I journalise.
Questions of cause and effect
Way too much to rationalise.
Compare, contrast; I motivate
Techniques, regimes; rules I assimilate.
Micro-teaching, essays, portfolios,
Professional Standards, OFSTED.
Equality, diversity, inclusivity;
Lifelong learning and the DfE.
Anonymity, outcomes, roles,
So much to retain in my head.
Why am I hard on myself?
Students’ key skills I assess.
Group work for vocabulary revision;
Seeking my tutor for persuasion.
Grammar and role play they detest,
No time indeed to resolve oneself.
Ideas, buzz words, jargon I despair,
Schemes of work to prepare.
Disappearing glasses, pens and books galore;
How in heaven do I stop the furore?
Literacy, numeracy, ICT, I embed;
laughably sucked into the talk trap instead.
Facilitator, instructor, Shakespeare I become
invisible fears I see a-lurking;
the throes of learning English come undone.
Understanding and appreciation I cultivate,
Enliven and awaken characters bold;
To inspire literacy for centuries old.
Hark! the PGCE I desire;
I impart knowledge; I inspire,
thru’ activities, theories, and pedagogy.
I create, I clarify, I evaluate,
Happy, joyful classrooms I create.
I am fearless, spontaneous, uncritical,
At last! Objectives I achieve effectively.
S. E. Fenney