Developing work at Masters level
Assessment at Masters level
In the changing context of ITT some questions arise, such as:
- what does a professional Masters Level assignment look like?
- how is it different from a traditional masters level assignment?
- how do we apply masters level criteria to the kind of assignments which initial teacher training requires to develop professional learning?
All concerned in achieving M Level in ITT, tutors and trainees alike, need to understand the particular way in which their institutions M Level criteria are applied to their specific ITT curriculum. Grade related descriptors for relevant ITT assignments can be helpful to developing an understanding of how elements of the ITT course can be assessed at Masters level. The Masters level credits in ITT need to reflect the fact that an M Level PGCE is functioning as a professional Masters and not an academic one. Assignments may therefore be fruitfully communicated and assessed if there are specific descriptors. This may help to enable all concerned in achieving M level in ITT to understand how the applied theoretical elements are reflected in the trainees' examples and how the theory has been drawn on and illuminated by practice. If you can contribute your own institutions work in this area, please email your contributions.
Resource support
- Example assessment criteria from the Institute of Education, University of London: Professional M Level Grade Related Criteria
- Assignments may usefully be set at M Level which reflect the integration of theory and practice and draw on trainees' classroom experiences, reading and theory. Tasks set in school can be 'scholarised' to create the portfolio components, which may consist of reflections on critical incidents, or on other teacher narratives. The following articles indicate further reading on this topic:
- Narrative Reasoning and Teacher Development: A Longitudinal Study, Robert V. Bullough, Jr., Kerrie Baughman: Curriculum Inquiry, Vol. 26, No. 4 (Winter, 1996), pp. 385-415.
- The use of a narrative approach to illuminate an individual learning need: implications for teachers' professional development, Wearmouth, Janice, Journal of In-service Education, Volume 29, Number 2, June 2003 , pp. 255-276(22), Routledge.
- Narratives of professional learning: becoming a teacher and learning to teach, Beattie, M., Journal of Educational Inquiry, Vol. 1 No.2, 2000, pp.1-23.
