Student-Teacher/Teacher-Student

PGCE PCET (as a student), NCFE in Textile Art (as a tutor), Taster Days in Feltmaking, Weaving and Sketchbooks (tutor); and starting this week – A Level (Year 2) Textiles (tutor – covering maternity leave). Why, oh why am I even looking at the beautifully tempting courses at West Dean College in Chichester (as a wannabe student)?! Sigh. 

Since September last year I have been training to be a tutor in adult education, studying the PGCE PCET. (Post Graduate Certificate of Education in Post Compulsory Education and Training.) Despite a rocky start and the temptation to run out of the door on a number of occasions I have made it through to January and am finding it hugely useful in my working life. The course runs until June and consumes one evening a week at Southampton University. The course includes at least 75 hours teaching time (including session plans and evaluation write-ups), session observations and 7 assignments of varying lengths.

I decided to enroll on this course to develop my professional skills as a tutor and having completed the PTTLLS (Preparation to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector) and CTTLLS (Certificate to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector) City and Guilds Courses the previous year, knew that if I didn’t do it now or in the next 5 years I would have to redo the PTTLLS and CTTLLS courses (and I really didn’t want to do that. Really.)

So here I am – almost half way through and feeling quite busy. It’s an interesting course and it is good to be learning again. Being a student again is very interesting and being a tutor at the same time as being a student is also very interesting as I am becoming quite aware and paranoid of my own body language as a student because I really notice it in my students when I am a tutor! 

Anyway, I am really enjoying myself at the moment and have been reflecting on the art work that I haven’t done for the past few months. My studio space became the junk room again and so this morning I cleared the desk and arranged my fabric paints and threads ready for some new work. I have missed creating so much that when I am teaching and watching other people be creative I get that achey feeling in my stomache (like the one when you are in love for the first time and you really miss your boyfriend). Ah.

So I will hopefully be doing some more of my own work soon and having a break from it has actually been quite refreshing. West Dean College will have to wait although I would love to go on one of their courses at some point this year. Part of being a qualified teacher means that I will have to show I have been continuing my learning in my subject area. I wanted to do some more weaving (I’d like to try tapestry weaving on a proper loom) but the only course I could find locally was the one I am teaching at Barton Peveril (which is weaving on a very tiny hand made loom) plus I can’t really go on that one so I will have to travel further afield. I think they have one at West Dean…

Update: Just to confirm that the course I wanted to run out of was not the one I am teaching but the one I am a student on. One of my students said to me today that I had made her laugh when she read that I had wanted to run out the door and thought I meant on the course I was teaching! I confessed that I had also wanted to run out of the door on this course too (I was very nervous in the beginning and my first lesson didn’t go to plan which knocked my confidence a bit for the first few weeks) but the course I was talking about was my PGCE at Southampton Uni. And just in case any of my tutors happen to read this – I am really enjoying the course now and glad I didn’t run out of the door. :-)