Supervision of Unpaid Teaching practice

1. Purpose and Principles

   • 1.1. Students/trainees participating in Initial Teacher Education (ITE) training programmes e.g. the Level 5 Certificate in Education (FE and Skills)/Level 6 Professional Graduate Certificate in Education (FE and Skills) appreciate the opportunities they are offered for unpaid/placement teaching practice within curriculum areas. This may also benefit the College as, when qualified, many of these trainees join the pool of potential staff seeking paid opportunities within the College.

   • 1.2 The following procedures for those managing and participating in these arrangements must be adhered to.

     Section A applies to Programme Area Managers (PAMs) and supervising lecturers (see 2.1)

     Section B applies to Teacher Education managers and lecturers within the Teacher Education department. This outlines the process for unpaid trainees undertaking ITE programmes and placements at Leicester College.

     Section C applies to all unpaid ITE trainees.

2. Procedures

   Section A: Responsibilities of Programme Area Managers and supervising lecturers

   • 2.1 Placement trainees engaged in teaching practice are not employees of the College and responsibility for learning groups remains with the lecturers who are contractually responsible for the groups of learners involved. For the purpose of this policy, lecturers in this position are referred to as the ‘supervising lecturer’. Where possible, this would be the trainee’s subject specialist mentor. The placement trainee would teach agreed sessions timetabled to the supervising lecturer or mentor.

   • 2.2 PAMs will arrange an informal interview with the placement trainee and make a decision on whether to support them with voluntary hours.

   • 2.3. If a curriculum area is approached by a trainee teacher from a provider other than Leicester College for placement hours, please contact HR for further guidance.

   • 2.4. PAMs are responsible for allocating the placement trainee to a supervising lecturer/subject-specialist mentor, who will support their development during their placement (this should be on a voluntary basis, agreed with the subject tutor prior to allocation).

   • 2.5. Curriculum managers will advise placement trainees on College policies and procedures and the exercise of their professional roles.

   • 2.6. Placement trainees should be given the information they need to teach the class. As a minimum they will need:

     • Access to the register

     • The qualification specification for the course/modules they will be delivering

     • An outline of content to be covered (a scheme of work /scheme of learning)

     • A Group Profile

     • Details of any assessment activities to be included

     • Any documentation that requires completion.

   • 2.7. Where possible, placement trainees will be given access rights to College digital systems. Should this not be possible, curriculum should supply necessary information in another format.

   • 2.8. At the appropriate time, placement trainees should be given sufficient freedom of scope to choose their own teaching methods, resources and group management strategies.

   • 2.9. The supervising lecturer/subject-specialist mentor must make adequate time available to the placement trainee to initially support with session planning, team teaching, answer queries, provide advice about the group and pass on essential information as required.

   • 2.10. In the first instance the supervising lecturer/mentor should allow the placement trainee to observe their practice, and then once the trainee feels more confident, they may be given the opportunity to team teach for a few weeks.

   • 2.11. Once the placement trainee feels ready, they should be allowed to plan and deliver sessions independently, with the agreement of the supervising lecturer and PAM. In the event of any delays to the trainee beginning independent teaching, the PAM should contact the Teacher Education department.

   • 2.12. Any assessment carried out by the placement trainee must be supervised and countersigned by a suitably qualified assessor.

   • 2.13. The supervising lecturer should remain on the premises while the trainee is teaching. Depending on the campus this would mean being in the same building, on the same floor where practicable, to be immediately available to them in case of difficulties or problems, throughout this process. If delivery is online, the supervising lecturer must be available during the timetabled remote session, should the placement trainee need to contact them.

   • 2.14. The placement trainee should be invited to relevant team meetings and professional development opportunities to support the requirement for them to evidence 100 hours of teaching-related activity over the 2-year duration of the course (in addition to their 150 hours of teaching).

   • 2.15. Should the supervising lecturer/mentor who normally teaches the group be absent from College, responsibility for the class should be ‘covered’ by another member of staff. While the placement trainee may still deliver the planned session, they should be aware of who to contact in the absence of the supervising lecturer. However, placement trainees must not be used to cover additional sessions beyond those planned.

     Section B: Responsibilities of the Teacher Education managers and lecturers

   • 2.16. The placement applicant is interviewed by the Teacher Education team and their teaching requirement is agreed. Admission tutors will provide advice regarding teaching placements but will not make those arrangements for the applicant or intervene in their relationship with hosting curriculum areas.

   • 2.17. Teacher Education lecturers support all ITE trainees through a programme of observations and tutorials. It is a requirement that trainees participating in the ITE programme have a subject-specialist mentor. The mentor role may be fulfilled by the supervising lecturer; however, in some circumstances, a curriculum manager or another suitable subject specialist may take on the role. In all situations, curriculum managers and the supervising lecturer must fulfil the obligations stated in Section A.

   • 2.18. Teacher Education lecturers will support the accepted practices of curriculum areas and encourage ITE trainees to respect them.

   • 2.19. Teacher Education lecturers will make themselves available to staff within the curriculum area supporting the ITE trainee, to discuss progress and any issues that arise.

     Section C: Responsibilities of placement trainees

   • 2.20. Prior to undertaking the placement, the placement trainee must apply for an enhanced DBS with a child’s barred list check. This will be arranged by the teacher education department through Leicester College student services team.

   • 2.21. Placement trainees will be expected to follow College procedures in terms of notification of their absence and maintaining class registers.

   • 2.22. Placement trainees will be expected to adhere to College policies and to any codes of practice, dress etc which pertain to the Curriculum Area.

   • 2.23. Placement trainees will be expected to behave professionally in terms of preparing their class sessions (including producing session plans etc) and assessing work.

   • 2.24. Volunteers/trainees are encouraged to attend team meetings within the curriculum area they are working, with the agreement of curriculum managers.

   • 2.25. Placement trainees should familiarise themselves with the Professional Standards (appendix 1).

     Section D: Responsibilities of Leicester College Curriculum Directors should the ITE trainee be a contracted member of staff

   • 2.26. Where the potential trainee teacher is a member of staff with paid teaching duties, curriculum managers should refer to the ‘Teacher Training Qualifications and Remission Policy (HR036)’ for guidance.

   • 2.27. Where the potential trainee teacher is a member of staff currently in a non-teaching role (eg trainer assessor, learning coach), curriculum managers should consider the potential benefit to the department in facilitating ITE training for the staff member.

   • 2.28. If managers identify a direct benefit to the curriculum area, they should consider how best to support the trainee e.g. by releasing them from duties or providing greater flexibility of working hours.

   • 2.29. The Curriculum Area is expected to work with Teacher Education staff to ensure maximum opportunity for the ITE trainee to succeed in their completion of the course.

3. Communication and Review

   • 3.1. This Policy will be published on StaffNet and reviewed every three years.

Appendix 1

Professional Standards for Teachers and Trainers 2022