The Role of Subject Leads at The Teachers’ Institute
The Role of Subject Leads at The Teachers’ Institute
March 14, 2025
At The Teachers’ Institute (TTI), our Subject Leads are integral to the success of the Postgraduate Diploma in Teaching (Secondary, School-based) programme. These practising teachers are released from a portion of their teaching load to support the development of trainees within their subject area across TTI partner schools.
Dr. John Etty, TTI’s Secondary Programme Director, emphasises the pivotal role Subject Leads play in nurturing subject-specific knowledge that teachers need as they enter the classroom. He notes, “Our Subject Leads help trainees think through the problems of practice in the context of their subject specialisms and help them to reach solutions that will be successful.”
A Subject Lead’s primary responsibility is to oversee the subject-specific component of the programme for trainees. This involves coordinating with mentors, conducting assessments, and running subject-specific workshops. Our Subject Leads work closely with trainees every week, taking the knowledge gained in workshops and the experiences in the classroom, and exploring how theoretical and evidence-based guidance can be applied to individual subjects. “The programme was designed in this way because teaching, and learning how to teach, are highly context-dependent,” explains John.
Subject Leads teach subject workshops, run curriculum block courses, visit and observe trainees, mark assessments, and engage in moderation processes. They also support the ongoing improvement of the programme, ensuring that it meets the needs of trainees and fosters their development. John adds, “Subjects give lessons, tasks, and the students who learn them a sense of different forms of knowledge, and subjects have their own distinctive content, practices, methods, and identities. Each subject has its own beauty, and we want our ITE programme to be as content-rich, coherent, and purposeful as the subjects our graduates will teach.”
By contributing to TTI’s research culture and undertaking research related to the programme, Subject Leads not only enhance their professional development but also ensure that the PGDip Teaching (S, S-B) remains at the forefront of educational excellence. Their dedication and expertise are vital to shaping knowledgeable and confident teachers.
