OU tutors Sarah Vaughan and Dave Smith describe what makes an effective student teacher and the imprtance of reflective practice

What is reflective practice?

Would you give up a successful broadcasting career to become a teacher? What are the challenges facing modern teachers? Becoming a teacher requires learning a variety of skills, from reflective learning to mentoring, and in this series we follow two student teachers currently on the Open University PGCE course as they learn about their profession.  We hear personal testimony and actuality from classrooms, mentoring and tutoring sessions, giving an insight into how teachers can develop their skills throughout their careers. The series Learning to Teach also includes the personal testimony from former Radio 2 broadcaster Jonny Saunders, who gave up his career working alongside Chris Evans to become a teacher, and reflections from broadcaster and author Tom Holland, children's television presenter Sidney Sloane and actor Mark Williams on the teachers that inspired them.