Department of Geography, Enterprise, Mathematics and

Science (GEMS)
Head of Department Prof. Shirley Simon

Business and Economics Education

Subject Leader: Business and Economics Education PGCE
Dr Jacek Brant
20 Bedford Way
Direct line/fax (020) 7612 6434 London WC1H 0AL
Direct email j.brant@ioe.ac.uk
Telephone +44 (0)20 7612 6436
Website www.ioe.ac.uk

Director Professor Geoff Whitty

April/May 2010

Dear Business and Economics Education Student Teacher,

Welcome to the Business and Economics Education (BEE) PGCE course. The BEE PGCE team
(Richard Bond, Fiona Rodger, Adam Unwin & I) are looking forward to seeing you again on
Monday, 13th September at 9:30 a.m. Please check the BEE notice boards – by the coffee shop
on level 4 and adjacent to room 804 – for the room number. You will receive a course handbook
which will contain detailed aims of the course, timetables, guidance and comprehensive reading
lists but you will no doubt be keen to undertake some preliminary work.

You should have received general pre-course information about the PGCE and this will have
included information about your primary school experience and three pre-course tasks; a
curriculum vitae, a subject audit and a reflection on the kind of teacher you’d like to be. If you have
not received this information please look at our web site:
www.ioe.ac.uk/studentInformation/23428.html. If you continue to have difficulties contact
admissions@ioe.ac.uk and please also copy in Sylvia Grant, our BEE administrator whose email
is: fcpadmin7@ioe.ac.uk. You are requested to complete your primary school experience in the
week commencing September 6th 2010 or you may prefer to do this earlier, i.e. in the summer term
2010.

You many also wish to attend one of the Secondary welcome events that the IOE is holding.
The events are not compulsory but if you are available, you could benefit from attending one of
them. They include tours, pre-registration formalities, presentations about the PGCE and further
information about pre-course preparation. They are on 24th May, 7th June and 14th July. (Timings
to be confirmed in due course).

In preparing for September, I recommend that you:

1. (Re-) familiarise yourself with the curriculum content and brush up on your subject knowledge. Dip
into some AS/A2 textbooks, there is such a plethora of them that we will not recommend any
specific titles.

2. Start to reflect on how children learn. There are lots of excellent texts, but the following two are
accessible:
  Capel, S., Leask, M., and Turner, T. (eds) (2009) Learning to Teach in the Secondary
School. Routledge.
 Petty, G (2006) Evidence-based Teaching. Nelson Thornes

3. Develop your understanding of how to teach business and economics. There are only two books
available on the market:

 Davies, P and Brant, J (2006) Teaching School Subjects 11-19: Business, Economics and
Enterprise London: Routledge
 Jephcote, M and Abbott, I (eds) (2005) Teaching Business Education 14-19 London: David
Fulton

4. Use the Internet as a resource. Have a look at:

www.bized.co.uk/
This site has an excellent range of Business and Economics resources; it is written with the
secondary school business and economics teacher in mind.

www.ebea.org.uk

The Economics, Business and Enterprise Education Association represent teachers and
lecturers of economics, business studies and related subjects in schools and colleges
throughout the UK. One of its objectives is to support high quality teaching and learning in
business and economics.

www.guardian.co.uk & www.bbc.co.uk

For high quality educational news, resources and debate

From the middle of October you will be spending a significant time in schools and you may wish to
familiarise yourself with the range of courses on offer. A good starting point is the Qualifications
and Curriculum Authority (QCA): have a look at www.qca.org.uk in particular the 14-19 section.
You will also find it useful to look at one of the awarding bodies web sites, for example Edexcel’s:
www.edexcel.org.uk; look at the subject specific parts. You will find specimen papers and
recommended textbooks.

I recommend that you join the Economics, Business and Enterprise Association, the professional
association for teachers of business, economics and enterprise. Members receive the journal
Teaching Business & Economics (three copies a year) which is a good source of useful teaching
materials, resources and ideas. To join the EBEA (only £15 for beginning teachers) please
phone 01444 240150 or email office@ebea.org.uk or visit the web site: www.ebea.org.uk.

Pre-course tasks

Your primary school experience is an important time for you as you will learn about the importance
of classroom management and about being well organised. It is unlikely that you will observe any
business studies or economics teaching during your week, but that is not to say that business,
economics, enterprise or financial concepts are not encountered in the Primary School curriculum.
In addition to the Primary School Experience (PSE) tasks that are included in the Welcome Pack
(please keep your responses short – maximum 2 pages in total), we would like you to attempt the
following three tasks:

Task 1. Between now and the start of the PGCE course, find some time to talk to a school/college
student aged 14 –18 (perhaps a relative or family friend) and try to ascertain his or her basic
understanding of economics and business concepts. You may ask such questions as Who pays
for schools? Who owns Manchester United football club? Should the government pay for the
BBC? But please don't feel constrained by these questions.

Task 2. During your primary school experience, talk to a number of pupils and try to ascertain
their basic understanding of economics and business concepts. Ask similar questions to task 1,
but naturally frame them in simple terms and use straightforward language.

Task 3. Write a short report (maximum 2 sides of A4) describing and explaining your findings in
tasks 1 and 2.

Please hand in the PSE tasks and Task 3 on Tuesday, 14th September.

By Wednesday, 1st September at the latest, please email Fiona Rodger f.rodger@ioe.a.c.uk
and copy in Sylvia Grant fcpadmin7@ioe.ac.uk the three tasks as set out in the generic welcome
letter i.e. your c.v. (maximum 1-2 pages), your ideas of what constitutes a good teacher (1-2
sides A4) and an audit of your prior learning experiences (maximum 1-2 pages). Please write
this in prose and please don’t use bullet points for this third task.

I am delighted to let you know that Fiona Rodger is taking over from me as the BEE PGCE
subject leader as from the 1st September. I will be taking over from Professor Shirley Simon as
Head of Department of Geography, Enterprise, Mathematics and Science (GEMS). I will remain
on the BEE PGCE team and I look forward to meeting you again in September.

With all good wishes for an enjoyable summer vacation.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Jacek Brant