PGDE Secondary ( Home Economics )
Are you are a health sciences , food or science-related graduate looking for an inspiring , challenging and socially empowering career ? This one-year course will give you an internationally recognised qualification to become a secondary school home economics teacher .
The course will take you way beyond the kitchen to explore vital contemporary issues in home economics such as the correlation between nutrition , wellbeing and cognitive / emotional development . You ’ ll learn how to help build resilient and sustainable communities through a better understanding of the basics of nutrition and health equality . As a graduate of this unique course you will have gained the practical skills and researchdriven knowledge you need to help young people face the challenges of 21st century citizenship .
Are you passionate about helping young people build a better future ? This course will prepare you as a teacher to inspire students to care about their own wellbeing and that of others . This is about more than reinventing how young people learn to cook . Through practical classroom experience and researchdriven academic learning you will learn how to help young people become citizens of a planet in which food security is under threat , resources are finite and health challenges persist .
The curriculum aims to develop knowledgeable consumers with an awareness of global citizenship and its responsibilities . The world needs people who are able to make sound judgements , appreciating the impact that developments in technology , materials and resources have on their choices and wellbeing .
You will be encouraged to interrogate prevailing assumptions , practices and policy . You will explore interconnected topics including food poverty , body image , eating disorders and social media , and debate issues such as the impact of food bank use on people and their communities and how we can understand the obesity-poverty paradox .
The course will collaborate with local organisations and charities so you can gain hands-on experience and real-world knowledge . School counsellors , school nurses and other health specialists will run workshops on topics including cyber bullying , child exploitation , neglect , welfare and rights .
You will be studying at a university that has an unrivalled history of teaching this subject , the institution that is now QMU was established in 1875 as the Edinburgh School of Cookery . Its original purpose was to address two key problems facing society at that time : improving educational opportunities for women , and the need to bring about an improvement in diets , particularly for working-class families from poorer backgrounds . We were progressive and inclusive then and we are proud to still be so today .
At QMU we also offer courses in health sciences , in gastronomy and nutrition , and on this interdisciplinary PGDE course you will learn additional skills from our experts in these fields .
Structure
To obtain a specific postgraduate award at QMU you must complete a number of credit-bearing modules . For this PGDE you will normally complete 120 credits at SCQF levels 10 and 11 .
Teaching , learning and assessment
This is a blended programme in which you will attend practical and interactive workshops on campus and complete online independent , collaborative and reflective learning tasks . Half of the year will be spent in schools on teaching placements .
The PGDE shares the pedagogic approach of the other courses in the Division of Psychology , Sociology and Education , foregrounding :
• critical thinking
• student collaboration
• independent learning
• involvement with global real-world issues
• interprofessional , interdisciplinary learning
• practical experience , experiential learning and critical reflection
• peer / group work
• enquiry-based learning
• debate and contention Assessments are designed to :
• optimise accessibility for students with a range of strengths and abilities
• provide variety of opportunity to be challenged and to excel
• engage students in the importance of being literate and communicative in a range of formats and media
• model and demonstrate assessment procedures for student teachers so that they can incorporate into their own teaching practice , for example : the importance of assessment ; transparency of approaches to
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