Andrew Broadfoot, PGDE Secondary
'They know their subjects, they know how to teach us and teach pupils. And Edinburgh is a wonderful city.'
Why did you choose to study at the University of Edinburgh?
It has an excellent reputation and it’s accessible from my home. I have a wife and children, so that was very important for me.
What aspects of student life do you enjoy the most?
I enjoy being able to focus on learning, and translating that learning into something that is useful for others.
I enjoy the lectures and the workshops, where I have the opportunity to expand my thinking from practice to theory and back again.
What aspects of your degree do you enjoy the most?
I think it’s that combination of the theoretical and the practical. Once I’ve finished I will have skills that I can use immediately, but also a mindset and theoretical understanding that will enable me to continue developing my skills throughout my career.
What do you find most challenging?
It is an intellectually demanding programme which is rooted in its practical application. I must be able to develop my theoretical rigour and then teach classrooms full of teenagers, convincing them that not only do I understand my subject but that my subject is interesting and useful to them.
What do you find most rewarding?
The knowledge that I will be a teacher at the end of it. A teacher at the beginning of a journey but possessing the essentials for making that journey an eventful and rewarding one.
What is your favourite course so far?
That depends on which day you ask me. They all have something interesting, rewarding, challenging about them. I am embarking on a philosophy in prisons project which I could not have foreseen in a month of Sundays and it’s exhilarating. In the end, I have to say it’s my English course, simply because that’s why I joined the programme – to learn how to be a teacher of English. I have learned so much, sometimes in a way that has felt like an epiphany. Teaching horror stories in sound was only one such moment.
I am embarking on a philosophy in prisons project which I could not have foreseen in a month of Sundays and it’s exhilarating... I have learned so much, sometimes in a way that has felt like an epiphany.
What do you most like about studying here?
There isn’t a one “most”. I like the tutors’ style, it’s not a house style, it’s individual. I feel they are themselves. They know their subjects, they know how to teach us and teach pupils. And Edinburgh is a wonderful city.
How is your programme equipping you for your future?
The course is full of practical applications, opportunities for practice, useful and encouraging feedback, theoretical underpinnings, network opportunities and a broad scope that attempts to demonstrate the holistic nature of teaching. I can walk into a classroom and teach.