One of the distinctive features of the EMC PGR teacher training programme is its emphasis on mentoring. PGR students are paired with an experienced mentor from a different institution, enabling them to reflect on their practice, discuss their experiences and expectations of history teaching, and experience different perspectives and approaches to the teaching of the discipline. Participants liaise with their mentor throughout the programme’s duration to discuss their teaching and conduct observations of lectures, tutorials and seminar classes. They also have the opportunity to engage with and discuss the latest subject-specific pedagogical research relevant and produce reflective blog entries based on their experiences of teaching. The wider aim is to create a distinct “community of practice” for history teaching across all nine of the East Midlands HEIs and all stages of career.
Aims and objectives:
The aims of the PGR training and mentoring programme are as follows:
- Provision of targeted, subject-specific training for PGR and early career historians
- Increased opportunities for knowledge exchange, practice-sharing and observation across institutions
- Increased engagement with/application of pedagogical research and theoretical approaches and concepts in history teaching
- Enhanced opportunities for mentoring of PGR and early career historians by experienced teachers and academics
- Development of reflective learners/teachers and shared teaching values across EMC institutions through expert mentoring, engagement with pedagogical theory and approaches, and practical assignments
“A really great space to discuss my experiences of teaching”
“The first time I’d been made to think about skills I would be helping my students to learn, rather than solely focusing on knowledge”
“It helped me to feel more confident going into class to teach for the first time”
“It made me feel like I wasn’t alone”
“I found it really useful shadowing my mentor at their home institution to see a different approach”
“I felt validated, supported, encouraged and inspired – which has not always been the case in HE”
Feedback from previous participants
The East Midlands Centre for History Learning and Teaching 