Key principles informing our approach to general professional studies

1. General Professional Studies are seen as the central dimension in the student experience inasmuch as

• its focus has to be on generic matters which go beyond the specific concerns of curriculum areas;
• it provides a sense of direction and mission for the prospective teacher because it has to be concerned with values in education as well as the methodology of teaching: the ends are part of the agenda as well as the means;
• its close relationship with the school experience obliges the student to explore the interface between theory and practice, providing a crucial forum for the synthesis of elements of experience, which are both classroom and literature based.

We therefore welcome the increasing importance being placed by OfSTED on GPS as the central spine in programme design and delivery and in that context we see our contribution to curriculum development as especially timely.

We note that the precise label for general professional studies varies from provider to provider (eg Education Studies, Teaching Studies, Teaching and Learning), but all programmes include a generic component which addresses topics of general relevance across and beyond the curriculum.

2. The model of the teacher as the reflective practitioner is at the heart of initial teacher education and should inform the nature of our methodology, our styles of communication with students, the design of directed tasks and assignments, the selection of resources and our approach to the significance of research in professional development. It is a model which is seen as relevant across the primary age span from 3 to 11 and while one recognises the distinctive needs of particular age phases, there are also commonalities of approach which need to be highlighted.

3. A key dimension of this model is a commitment to a view of the child as learner who is actively engaged in constructing understanding and taking ownership of the processes of learning. This emphasis on personalised learning (Excellence and Enjoyment, 2003) we see as an enduring feature of good primary practice. In addition the agenda highlighted in Every Child Matters (2003) with its articulation of the breadth of children's needs is a potent reminder of the scale of the teacher's responsibilities, which go beyond the academic province of skills for learning and encompass the wellbeing of the whole child.

4. Our approach to general professional studies is informed by the current QTS standards and the legal framework for the teaching profession but is not determined by them. There must always be scope for the imaginative leap of faith which goes beyond conventional practice. We acknowledge the new professionalism of the teacher with the growing collaboration with other adults in a variety of roles and external agencies and GPS will need to address this expanding network for the classroom teacher.

5. In the London setting we would want to explore the diversity of the school population and the wider community, its nature and its dynamics. We recognise that diversity stems from a range of factors, including, race, religion, social class and special educational needs. We attach importance to the development of a positive approach to the challenges of work in urban settings, which includes an awareness and appreciation of the cultural richness of the London community and the importance of drawing upon this context as a classroom practitioner.

7. We are mindful of the range of settings which can make a contribution to general professional studies which extend beyond the university classroom to the school environment and alternative educational settings. Each may have a distinctive but complementary contribution to make and our approach seeks to encompass this diversity and to suggest ways of drawing upon the resources available. Our partnership links with schools underpin this approach and are key to its success.

8. The notion of primary harmonisation has been addressed, not with the intention of producing a definitive blueprint for general professional studies for all London providers and for all undergraduate, postgraduate and employment based programmes. The sheer breadth of provision across London defies an approach which seeks uniformity. In its place we have viewed harmonisation as a set of different provider voices with different parts but informed by common aspirations, themes and principles. To pursue the musical analogy, harmonisation does not imply a performance in unison. With this in mind we have tried to articulate what we see as the key strands in GPS and its underlying principles and would be of the view that a GPS programme should be addressing such themes, even though the wording used may vary across providers.

We have also endeavoured to exemplify how these themes might be translated into specific topics and units of student activity which incorporate both the campus setting and the school environment. This consideration of how a topic can be tackled in the two settings is important in relation to strengthening the interface between theory and practice and making more explicit the potential ways in which the school can contribute to GPS.

It must be stressed that the ideas for student activity are offered in the spirit of exemplification and not as a definitive syllabus. The coming together of representatives from different providers has enabled us to share ideas and to draw on the range of experience and expertise within the group. Nor would we want to adopt a prescriptively time-phased approach to planning for professional studies, although we recognise that certain activities/inputs will be perceived as having particular relevance at certain phases of the programme. How the different strands are interwoven must be a matter of professional judgement and will take account of the length of the programme, the perceived priorities for a given team and the way in which the programme might be locked into other courses or university expectations.

9. We hope therefore that our framework for viewing general professional studies is seen as a valuable contribution to programme design at a time when there is pressure for programme revision in the light of the new QTS standards, the implications of the Every Child Matters agenda and the changes being made to PGCEs in response to the new QAA requirements.