Level 4 certificate and Level 5 Diploma in Education and Training are two popular courses for teachers and trainers already in practice. If you are interested in starting either of these courses with Britannia School of Academics, we expect that you are either in practice or due to begin soon. This is because two practical requirements need to be met:
1. Observations of your teaching sessions
2. A log of your teaching hours
1. Observation of Teaching
For Level 4 Certificate in Education and Training, three teaching observations are required, whereas eight teaching observations are required for Level 5 Diploma in Education and Training. Each observation should be at least 60 minutes. If it is shorter than 60 minutes, additional teaching observations would be required so best to have each lesson planned for at least 60 minutes.
There are three ways in which this requirement could be met.
Option 1:
You provide us with a recording of 1 hour of your teaching. As explained above, three of these videos would be required for Level 4 Certificate and eight for Level 5 Diploma in Education and Training. The video recording can be shared with your tutor/assessor through the cloud, or other alternatives are acceptable.
Option 2:
Same as option 1, except that a video recording won’t be required. Your assessor at Britannia School of Academics would watch your teaching session through a live link such as Zoom. Other alternatives can be agreed such as Google Class or Teams.
Option 3:
You find an experienced teacher at work who is willing to be your mentor. That mentor will observe your teaching for at least one hour each (just as in Option 1 and 2) and complete the relevant paperwork. If you do choose this option, you will need to send an up-to-date CV with the relevant teaching qualifications of your mentor, so that we can get this approved from our awarding organisation. For Level 4 Certificate in Education and Training, the teaching qualification of your mentor would be at least at level 4. If you are doing a Level 5 Diploma in Education and Training, the teaching qualification of your mentor would be at Level 5 at least.
Can I start one of these courses if I am not currently teaching?
We get a common query from learners who are experienced teachers but have lost their jobs or are on furlough. If this applies to you, then you can surely start the course with us, but we will expect that you resume teaching soon after starting the course. There is absolutely no problem if your actual start of teaching is delayed after you started the course with us; it’s just that you won’t be able to complete the course without fulfilling the actual teaching observations.
Comply with your learners’ privacy requirements
Here are some suggestions:
1. Face the camera towards you so that learners’ faces are not visible. When starting the recording, say something like “We are recording this lesson for my teaching observation, but the camera won’t cover faces of the learners as per my employer’s instructions to comply with our privacy policy”. The EVs hired by the awarding organisations are reasonable and will understand why this was required.
2. If certain learners are unwilling to be part of the session, then a smaller group can be taught with those learners who are more willing to support you.
3. If it is the recording that is the issue then we are happy to watch live through a video link. You can choose the medium and send us the invitation with the link. Just make sure to agree the date/time so that your tutor is there at the arranged time.
What is the logic behind the teaching observations?
All Industry-standard teaching courses are designed by Learning Skills Improvement Service (LSIS). LSIS recommends that trainee teachers should be able to achieve teaching of a ‘good’ level (i.e. Ofsted grade 2) by the end of the programme. The number of observations required is mandatory, and no awarding organisation has the right to change these requirements. We do not have the power to make an exception. You do not have to understand Ofsted Inspection framework; simply make sure that you follow the instructions and guides provided by your tutor.
What if you mostly teach learners on a 1‐2‐1 basis?
You will need to arrange at least 25% of your observations for a group of two or more learners. This means that if you are doing a Level 4 Certificate in Education and Training, then one observation should be for teaching a group of two or more. Level 5 Diploma in Education and Training should be two sessions teaching a group of two or more.
The whole idea of these teaching qualifications is for you to get the experience of mastering the art of teaching in various situations and roles. Therefore, it’s only fair that you experiment with teaching in groups too even though this is not a usual practice for you. Perhaps arrange a tailored session to discuss some theory relating to whatever you teach, and make sure that two learners are present when you do that.
You may also explore other ways to tailor your 1-2-1 session to be a group session so that the requirements of this course can be met. Your tutor will be more than happy to work with you to make it all happen.
Can a learner carry out all the observations in a single day?
Absolutely NOT. Your observations should be spread over your course so that there is a learning curve whereby you took the feedback from the assessor on board to improve your teaching in the subsequent observations. There is no hard and fast rule on how to spread the observations. Some might choose an observation every other week, and some might do an observation every month. The only rule is to space out observations and take feedback from the observer on board to improve the next session.
2. Logging the teaching hours
For Level 4 Certificate in Education and Training, 30 hours need to be logged. For Level 5 Diploma in Education and Training, 100 hours need to be logged. These hours do not have to be observed and a simply confirmation or witness testimony of your supervisor would suffice to evidence that you have taught for the minimum number of hours, as required for the level.
We understand that Covid‐19 means that there are fewer opportunities to teach. We can allow recent teaching hours to be logged as far as your supervisor can confirm that they meet the requirements of the course whereby teaching did take place in a formal teaching environment where learners attended the session. Additionally, there is no prohibition on including teaching hours from abroad, so please feel free to do so.
