23
facilitate long-term outline planning, and these are revised at least
once a year. Planning tends to err on the side of caution since there
can be no guarantee against necessary constraints on development, which
could result (as in the mid-1970s) in a slowing-down of expansion plans,
leaving large numbers of college of education students with substantially
reduced prospects on completion of their courses.
Advanced training
1
6.27
In addition to the part-time and full-time initial training
courses the colleges of education also offer the Advanced Course of
Teacher Education, a one-year full-time specialist course provided in a
wide choice of subjects for teachers who have qualified by means of a
two-year course: this is intended to enhance and update their competence
as teachers in general, but with particular reference to one selected
subject area of the secondary curriculum. This course has developed
from third-year courses of training (both end-on' to the initial full-
time course and in-service for practising teachers) which were originally
limited to the specialisms, in which advanced training was not otherwise
available locally: they were later opened out to provide similar training
in academic subjects or new curriculum areas such as social studies. The
colleges have also provided other supplementary full-time refresher courses
from time to time, such as those designed to prepare experienced primary
school teachers for junior secondary work. Special education training is
currently under review and it is planned to replace the existing one-year
part-time evening course by a two-year part-time day-release course based
on one of the colleges.
Training commitments arising from the proposals
of the 1978 White Paper and the 1980 Green Paper will entail major new
initiatives in the colleges, particularly in the fields of kindergarten
training and (in collaboration with the Advisory Inspectorate) primary
training.