SCHOOL PLACEMENT: Policy and Practice
Each PME student is responsible for negotiating and arranging their own placement with the
Principal of a suitable placement school. PME students will be supervised in both subject
methodologies. Students will be visited on a minimum of four separate occasions over the
course of Year One and a minimum of four over the course of year two. These visits will be
strictly unannounced. Supervisor and tutor visits may occur in any of a student’s timetabled
lessons in both teaching subjects. Students are obliged to prepare lesson plans for all of the
subjects which they teach. For the purposes of the professional portfolio, students will be
required to submit (as a norm) four lesson plans for their first and one for their second subject
per week. Students are obliged to have hard copies of all of their lesson plans available in the
classroom at any point over the course of the year for supervisors/tutors to examine. Students
are also obliged to file and make available all previous supervision reports. A teaching load
should comprise not less than 4 hours 30 minutes and not more than 8 hours of actual class
teaching each week, spread over the school year.
School of Education-Placement School Collaboration
The School of Education and the PME programme directors in particular, strive to cultivate
close working relationships with school principals, deputies and cooperating teachers in the
many schools in which students find placement. A significant amount of formal and informal
mentoring occurs between the cooperating teacher and colleagues within the same
disciplinary departments, as well as in other disciplinary areas. When supervisors visit
students, they are encouraged on each visit to communicate with the cooperating teachers and
where possible and appropriate also with the principal and deputy. The policy preference is
that the co‐operating teacher maintains the primary responsibility for the classes in which the
student teacher participates. Additionally, it is the School of Education’s policy that members
of staff undertake co-supervisions with supervisors and tutors. This remit fulfils a number of
functions—it contributes to quality assurance, it creates and maintains a UCD presence in the
practice settings, and contributes to a determination of a student’s final grade, while
enhancing school-university partnerships.
Professional Development: Student Appraisal
Students are engaged in a process of professional development over the course of the
programme and the final placement grade is the standard a student is perceived to have
reached at the end of year two. Each visit in year one is graded as satisfactory/unsatisfactory
and students must pass school placement in year one in order to proceed into year two. Where
students are deemed to be unsatisfactory in any given visit, they are referred to a
Supplementary Teaching Support Programme which provides additional support in key areas.
This programme is supplemented by additional supervisory school placement visits. Where a
student is at risk of failing the school placement component of year one, they will be advised
of this in writing. In year two, students are awarded a grade (A, B, C, D, E) in school
placement. The role of supervisor and other School of Education staff is primarily to support
and facilitate students to maximise their potential as beginning teachers. The final placement
grade is neither an average not an aggregate of an individual supervision evaluation. Rather,
it is a consequence of a deliberative conversation based on the evidence between the
supervisor, the tutor and, where appropriate, a member of staff who has either supervised that
student or undertaken a co-supervision, or undertakes an additional visit if deemed
appropriate, particularly where agreement cannot be reached regarding a grade by tutor and
supervisor.
Lesson Appraisal Guide
A framework (the Lesson Appraisal Guide) is utilised to provide a structure for the evaluation
of the lesson and a focus for the subsequent reflective feedback discussion. This comprises a
series of key areas which student teachers are expected to display an enriched and
sophisticated competence in as they progress through the programme.
Professional Formation & Feedback
At each visit, the student teacher is provided with written guidance which follows an in-depth
discussion around the strengths and challenges of the class(es) observed. This meeting takes
place in a private setting in the school environment and immediately after the class has been
observed. As with all elements of the programme, this element is open to the normal appeals
procedure.
Additional Support
Students who experience difficulty whilst on placement will be referred to, a designated
support programme, the Supplementary Teaching Support Programme, in the School of
Education which provides students with more focussed, specialised attention based on their
own particular needs. This programme operates in a small--‐group, peer--‐learning context.
Students may also elect to engage in this programme. Students who fail school placement
will be offered teaching enrichment and mentoring support before being afforded one
opportunity to repeat the placement.
Further Information:
Code of Professional Conduct for Teachers
PME School Placement Grading Framework