Working with our students
There are a number of opportunities to engage with future teachers from Moray House.
Our students range from Undergraduates with a four-year broad teaching education to specialist Postgraduates taught intensively at PGDE level or in-depth over two years at Masters level, and bring a wealth of knowledge, skills, and expertise from their diverse backgrounds.
We provide opportunities for on-programme engagement with our Initial Teacher Education students through School Placements. If you are a Teacher Mentor supporting students on one of our ITE programmes, you can gain access to the programme handbooks by visiting our 'Student teacher mentor resource pages'.
Student teacher mentor resource pages
All graduates of our Initial Teacher Education programmes are entitled and encouraged to join the Teacher Induction Scheme. Upon successful completion of this Scheme, they become fully registered teachers with the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS).
Our undergraduate students
We offer undergraduate degree programmes for students interested in pursuing a career in teaching.
MA (Hons) Primary Education with Gaelic
MA (Hons) Physical Education (MA Hons)
Our postgraduate students
Our postgraduate programmes balance academic theory and latest industry practice, either over nine months in a PGDE, or two years at Masters level.
MSc Transformative Learning and Teaching
As this Masters is an innovative new Initial Teacher Education route, we want to spotlight the unique qualifications these graduates will hold and the contributions they can make to schools and local authorities.
MSc Transformative Learning & Teaching: Programme Information
What is the qualification?
- Two-year Masters in Initial Teacher Education
- Qualifies graduates to teach across the primary-secondary transition in either Nursery-S3 (generalist) or P5-S6 (subject specialist)
- Developed and delivered in partnership with local authorities
- Builds the knowledge, skills and dispositions to support more inclusive and socially-just teaching
The Scottish Government is supporting a broad range of alternative routes aimed at attracting talented graduates to a career in teaching. This innovative programme is designed to do that as well as supporting our policy objective of creating greater flexibility within the teaching profession by providing teachers with the skills to lead inter-disciplinary learning in the primary/secondary transition phase.
How does this Masters differ from other ITE routes?
- Graduates from both pathways (generalist and subject specialist) will be prepared to teach across the P5-S3 transition.
- Graduates have experienced an integrated model of university and site-based learning (rather than blocks of university work interspersed with blocks of school placement).
- A cluster-based approach to site-based learning means graduates have worked collaboratively across school communities, really getting to know where and how their pupils live and learn.
- We adopt a transformative/activist orientation to all our work.
- The programme assessment philosophy is: professionally authentic; sustainable; collaborative; and student-driven. This means our graduates are professionally focused, take responsibility for managing their own learning and are highly skilled at collaborative working. Their assessment experiences as student-teachers mirror the assessment philosophies we teach them about.
What can these graduates contribute to your schools?
- The MSc Transformative Learning and Teaching attracts a more diverse cohort in terms of ethnicity, nationality, linguistic capacity, age and previous life experience, than most ITE programmes.
- Graduates chose this programme aware of the social and political importance of teaching and are eager to work in the communities where they can make the biggest difference.
- They have experience of school cluster communities and have spent significant time working in both primary and secondary schools. Some have also spent time in nurseries and in other specialist provision.
- All graduates have completed Masters-level courses in numeracy, literacy and health and wellbeing, and have theoretical and practical knowledge of transitions.
- Being qualified across the primary transition means graduates can usefully be employed in primary or secondary schools, but also across schools as cluster teachers, leading transition work or targeted support for learning.
- The transition qualification means that all graduates, whether generalist or subject specialist, have experience of working with Broad General Education (BGE), and are in a strong position to lead inter-disciplinary learning.
- Our students are supported to develop their professional networks beyond the University and its immediate partner schools, and many are already connecting with subject/thematic organisations and relevant stakeholders such as GTCS and Education Scotland.
The potential benefits for students of schools having MSc Transformative Learning and Teaching graduates working as NQTs is clear, they have a potential skill-set that will allow the needs of our students to be met as they transition from primary to secondary. These graduates offer schools something new – staff trained and with experience of both sectors – this is an exciting way forward to allow schools to meet the needs of our students. After our experience of MSc Transformative Learning and Teaching students in our school this session we will be seeking to offer at least one NQT place next session. Thereafter, I am keen to offer permanent roles.
How will their Teacher Induction Scheme work?
Graduates are entitled to join the Teacher Induction Scheme along with all other eligible ITE graduates and have been strongly encouraged to do so. MSc Transformative Learning and Teaching graduates are ready to teach either the full primary (3-12) age range as a generalist teacher, or the full secondary (S1- S6) age range as a subject specialist. In addition, all graduates are qualified to teach BGE across the P5-S3 phase. In order to gain full GTCS registration, generalists will spend 55% of their time in primary and specialists will spend 55% of their time in secondary. We expect these graduate probationers to use a significant portion of their professional learning time to build productive relationships with a cluster school in the other sector, eg if placed in a primary, they will establish a formal link with a local secondary, facilitated by the local authority induction manager. Being qualified across the primary transition means graduates can usefully be employed in primary or secondary schools, but also across schools as cluster teachers, leading transition work or targeted support for learning.
