Exploring subject knowledge at the admission interview
At interview, student teachers should be encouraged to talk about their enthusiasms and their memories of being taught English at different stages. This is not simply an audit of subject knowledge but rather a move to encourage student teachers to develop a rationale for the subject and their engagement with it. But the interview must also identify where there are significant gaps in the student teachers' reading and/or areas where they lack confidence. Sometimes it is helpful to share with applicants the relevant sections from the National Curriculum programmes of study for Reading (KS3/4) and use this as a way of establishing areas of strength and weakness. Where such lacunae are identified, this is an opportunity to discuss a plan of action to be taken before the course begins.
