Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) Planning, Teaching and Classroom Practice Syllabus

According to Rosenshine, why present new material in small steps?

Because working memory is limited; small steps with practice after each prevent overload, allow checking of understanding, and let pupils master each part before moving on.

What success rate did Rosenshine suggest teachers aim for during guided practice?

A high success rate of about 80%, indicating pupils are learning the material while still being challenged. Too low suggests material is too hard; too high suggests it is too easy.

What is the role of daily and weekly review in Rosenshine's principles?

Regular review strengthens prior learning, makes recall fluent and automatic, frees working memory for new material, and helps connect new knowledge to existing schemas.

What is modelling in teaching?

The teacher demonstrating a skill, process, or worked example, often making expert thinking visible, so pupils see exactly how to achieve the desired outcome before attempting it themselves.

What is a 'worked example' and why is it effective for novices?

A step-by-step demonstration of a fully solved problem. It reduces cognitive load for novices by showing the procedure, supporting schema formation more efficiently than unguided problem-solving.

What is 'metacognitive modelling' or 'thinking aloud'?

The teacher verbalising their thought processes while modelling, making invisible expert decisions, strategies, and self-checks explicit so pupils learn how to think through a task.

Define scaffolding in teaching.

Temporary support (e.g. prompts, frames, partial examples) that helps pupils achieve tasks beyond their current independent ability, gradually removed as competence grows to foster independence.

What is the 'zone of proximal development' (Vygotsky)?

The gap between what a learner can do independently and what they can do with support from a more knowledgeable other. Effective teaching and scaffolding target this zone.

What is 'fading' of scaffolding?

The gradual, deliberate withdrawal of support as pupils become more competent, transferring responsibility to the learner so they can eventually perform the task independently.

What is the gradual release of responsibility model?

A structure often summarised as 'I do, we do, you do': teacher demonstrates (modelling), then practises jointly with pupils (guided practice), then pupils work independently.

What is the difference between guided practice and independent practice?

Guided practice is supported, with teacher feedback and prompts as pupils begin applying new learning; independent practice is pupils working alone to build fluency and consolidate, ideally at a high success rate.

Why is independent practice important for retention?

It builds fluency and automaticity, embeds learning in long-term memory, and frees working memory for higher-order tasks. Distributed and varied practice further strengthens durable retention.

What is 'overlearning' and its role in practice?

Continued practice beyond the point of initial mastery to achieve automaticity, ensuring skills are retained, performed fluently, and require minimal working-memory effort during composite tasks.

What conditions make group and collaborative work effective?

Clear individual accountability, positive interdependence, a well-defined task, taught collaboration routines, and purposeful design so all members contribute and learning is genuinely enhanced rather than diffused.

What is a key risk of poorly structured group work?

'Social loafing' or free-riding, where some pupils do little while others dominate; without individual accountability and clear roles, learning and participation become uneven.

What is 'positive interdependence' in collaborative learning?

Structuring a task so that pupils must rely on each other to succeed—each member's contribution is necessary—encouraging genuine collaboration rather than parallel or token participation.

Why establish routines, rules, and expectations early?

Clear, consistently enforced routines reduce cognitive load, minimise low-level disruption, maximise learning time, create predictability and safety, and free attention for learning rather than behaviour management.

What is the difference between rules and routines?

Rules are explicit standards for behaviour (e.g. 'follow instructions first time'); routines are habitual procedures for recurring situations (e.g. entering the room, distributing equipment) that become automatic through practice.

How are effective classroom routines established?

By explicitly teaching, modelling, and rehearsing the procedure, providing feedback, and practising consistently until it becomes automatic, then reinforcing it routinely so it requires little teacher effort.

What is 'positive framing' in behaviour management?

Phrasing expectations and corrections in positive, what-to-do terms (e.g. 'walk on the left') rather than negative prohibitions, maintaining a supportive tone that preserves relationships and pupil dignity.

What is a relationships-based approach to behaviour?

An approach grounded in strong, respectful teacher-pupil relationships, knowing pupils as individuals, high warmth with high expectations, recognising that good relationships underpin good behaviour and engagement.

What is meant by 'high expectations, high warmth' (the demanding-but-supportive teacher)?

Combining clear, consistently enforced high standards with genuine care and positive regard for pupils—neither permissive nor purely authoritarian—which research links to strong behaviour and outcomes.

What is a whole-school behaviour policy and why does consistency matter?

A shared, school-wide framework of expectations, rewards, and sanctions. Consistency across all staff makes expectations predictable and fair, reinforces standards, and prevents pupils exploiting differences between teachers.

Why is staff consistency central to effective behaviour management?

When all adults apply the same expectations and consequences reliably, pupils experience clear, fair boundaries; inconsistency undermines authority, creates confusion, and increases the likelihood of disruption.

What is 'low-level disruption' and why does it matter?

Minor, persistent off-task behaviours (e.g. calling out, fidgeting, chatting). Though individually small, cumulatively they erode learning time and classroom climate, so they need consistent, low-key management.

What is de-escalation in behaviour management?

Strategies to reduce tension and prevent confrontation escalating—calm tone, non-confrontational body language, giving take-up time, offering choices, and addressing issues privately—so situations resolve without conflict.

What is 'take-up time' as a de-escalation strategy?

Giving a pupil a few moments after an instruction to comply, rather than demanding immediate obedience, reducing public confrontation and allowing them to save face while still meeting the expectation.

What does 'behaviour as communication' mean?

The view that behaviour, especially challenging behaviour, expresses an underlying need, emotion, or unmet requirement. Understanding the function of behaviour guides supportive responses to causes, not just symptoms.

How does viewing behaviour as communication change a teacher's response?

It shifts focus from purely punishing behaviour to identifying its function or unmet need (e.g. anxiety, gaining attention, escaping difficulty) and addressing the cause, while still maintaining consistent boundaries.

How can EdTech support teaching and feedback?

Through tools for retrieval practice and quizzing, instant formative feedback, modelling and visualisation, efficient marking, adaptive practice, and increasing access—provided the technology serves a clear pedagogical purpose.

What principle should guide selecting and adapting teaching resources?

Resources should be chosen and adapted to fit the learning objective, pupils' prior knowledge and needs, and the curriculum—evaluated for accuracy, accessibility, and cognitive-load efficiency rather than novelty or appeal alone.

What are online safety and digital citizenship in education?

Online safety is protecting pupils from digital risks (harmful content, contact, conduct, commerce); digital citizenship is teaching responsible, respectful, lawful, and safe behaviour and critical judgement when using technology online.