Teaching Practice & Pedagogy

Lesson Planning & Design

Required. Lesson planning is the foundational teaching artifact — learning objectives, differentiation strategies, and assessment criteria must be specified and reviewed by a mentor teacher before delivery. The pre-delivery review is the adversarial component; the mentor's written feedback and the student's documented revisions are both submitted as proof. Genuine prerequisite for observed teaching practice — you cannot submit to formal observation without a reviewed and approved lesson plan.

Observed Teaching Practice

Required. Observed teaching follows lesson planning — the reviewed plan is delivered and formally assessed by a mentor teacher or university supervisor. A written observation report using a structured framework is required; a recording without observer presence and written feedback is not accepted. Genuine dependency on lesson planning (seq 10) — the observation report references the submitted lesson plan.

Assessment Design & Marking

Elective. Designing a real assessment and marking student work with a documented scheme. Requires anonymised sample of 3 marked responses and reflection on what the assessment revealed. Mentor teacher review required. DBS clearance required.

Behaviour Management & Classroom Environment

Elective. Documenting real behaviour management strategies across at least 3 supervised sessions — strategies applied, effects observed, and mentor teacher written attestation. DBS clearance required. No pupil identifying information.

Teaching Portfolio & Critical Reflection

Elective. Structured reflective portfolio covering at least 5 supervised teaching sessions using a recognised reflective framework (Gibbs, Kolb, or equivalent). Each entry: teaching theory applied, observed effect, change made as a result. Mentor teacher or university tutor sign-off required. DBS clearance required. Integrating capstone proof for the path.

Free UK Department for Education Teachers' Standards document — the statutory framework for lesson observation and professional conduct. Use as the structured observation framework reference for the observed teaching practice proof.

Free guidance on using Gibbs' Reflective Cycle (1988) — the most widely used structured reflection framework in teacher training. Use for the teaching portfolio reflection entries: description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion, action plan.

Free comprehensive guide to Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. Use when writing lesson plan learning objectives (cognitive levels: remember, understand, apply, analyse, evaluate, create) and when designing assessment tasks aligned to those objectives.

Free UDL guidelines from CAST — the primary reference for differentiation and inclusive design in lesson planning. Use when writing differentiation strategies in lesson plans (3 learner profiles: higher attaining, typical, SEND) and when adapting assessments.