Description
ABOUT THIS COURSE
This course, new for Autumn 2022, aims to provide teachers who are new to/in the first few of years of teaching AQA A-level Politics with what they need to teach the course well.
It will equip delegates with a thorough understanding of the AQA specification and its assessment objectives, and will help develop the classroom ideas and the planning and marking skills necessary to become a confident, successful A-level Politics teacher.
The course focuses on the core areas of UK Government and Politics, US Government and Politics and Comparative Politics, as well as Political Ideas, and brings a wealth of experience from the classroom and exam marking to provide attendees with tips vital to starting out as a teacher of Politics.
BENEFITS OF ATTENDING
- Gain a thorough understanding of the requirements of AQA A-level Politics
- Take away strategies on how to plan and manage the content of a two-year course
- Learn what level of depth is appropriate
- Develop a confident understanding of the assessment objectives and mark schemes, from an experienced examiner, to develop the skills students need
- Analyse a range of sample answers
- Take away ideas on examination and essay technique in AQA A-level Politics
- Gain teaching ideas and approaches for A-level Politics across the three papers
- Learn how to ensure students to keep up with contemporary political developments and how to apply them to their existing understanding
PROGRAMME
The ‘Big Picture’ in AQA Politics
10.00 – 11.00am
- An examiner’s eye view of the assessment objectives and the mark scheme
- Ensuring students hit the ground running in September with little or no prior learning
- Suggested models of delivering UK Politics, US and Comparative Politics and Political Ideas across the two years
- When and how to set home study tasks and activities in Politics to ensure that students are honing their skills and keeping up with an ever-changing subject
- Ensuring higher achieving students are stretched whilst lower achieving ones are supported
Break and informal discussion
11.00 – 11.15am
Key Ideas for Teaching UK Government and Politics
11.15 – 12.15pm
- Analysis of the different structures and ways of teaching UK Government and Politics
- Easy wins and pitfalls when teaching an area of Politics that students are likely to be most familiar with
- Ways to tackle the tougher/drier topics, such as the UK Constitution, Elections and Referendums, the Judiciary and Devolution
- Exam questions and exemplar answers – approaches to the 9-mark and 25-mark questions
Lunch
12.15 – 1.15pm
Key Ideas for Teaching US and Comparative Government and Politics
1.15 – 2.15pm
- How best to introduce students to the USA’s often unfamiliar political system and culture
- The vastness of the USA’s Government and Politics and how to make it manageable for students
- Ways to teach the comparative element of the paper confidently and successfully
- Exam questions and exemplar answers – approaches to the 9-mark and 25-mark questions, including the mastery of comparative theories and comparative essays
Afternoon tea and informal discussion
2.15 – 2.30pm
Key Ideas for Teaching Core Political Ideas
2.30 – 3.30pm
- The unique challenges in making political theory and political thinkers accessible
- Practical ideas, methods and approaches to teaching the core ideologies
- Discussing the optional ideologies
- Exam questions and exemplar answers – approaches to the 9-mark and 25-mark questions, including the particular challenge of dealing with extract questions when it comes to Political Ideas