Design and Technology teacher training at Loughborough University: principles and practice

The Department of Design and Technology at Loughborough University has been a centre for training teachers in technological subjects from 1930. During that time it has developed a reputation as the premier institution in the field within the United Kingdom, a position it retains today according to inspection reports from the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted). The paper briefly describes the routes for training teachers of Design and Technology at Loughborough: a. the three-year programme in Industrial Design and Technology with Education leading to the one-year Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) course (total 4 years). b. direct entry to the PGCE course with appropriate degree qualifications and experience from other degree programmes or, for mature graduate entrants, from industry. This paper focuses on the PGCE year and sets down the principles which underpin training at Loughborough. Recruitment and selection procedures are described. The training process at both University and practice schools and the relationship between the two is shown. Methods for supporting and extending trainees are described together with methods for assessment and evaluation. The paper shows the emphasis made on teaching excellence based on thorough long-term planning, good classroom management and continual self-analysis to produce a reflective practitioner. In addition, thorough analysis enables graduates to maintain a lead in the development of design and technology in society as a whole and to be able to incorporate this into subject teaching so ‘future proofing’ their work with children.