I recorded the second class I took as a student teacher about a month ago. I can't tell you how good it feels to be teaching something other than basic phrases. Looking forward to a long career as a 'real' teacher once I graduate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwJU2_pegxo&ab_channel=LucasLee

To those who may be thinking of making the jump, I was in your shoes for the longest time. Stop thinking and go for it!

Congrats, my man.

Doing my last semester for my PGCE and next year I'll be leaving. The toughest part is gutting out the final year and teaching this outdated, poorly designed and horrible excuse of a curriculum after having studied what real teaching is all about.
The PGCE workload is no joke, but it truly is worth it to actually feel like a true professional that understands the science and art of pedagogy.

Congrats on the PGCE. I'm guessing (apologies if I am mistaken) you did your PGCE through a South African university?

I'm interested in doing a PGCE but it would be through a university in the UK. Has anyone done a PGCE through a British university whilst working here? If so, how is/was it? Furthermore, did anyone here have an MA in TESOL/AL etc. which the uni gave credits for towards the PGCE?

Finally, if someone has completed PGCE here, aside from the obvious benefits of personal teacher development, has the PGCE given you noticeable opportunities in the job market? Be it here or in other countries.

TIA

Great stuff theman3285!
Best thing I ever did as well.

Thanks all, for the kind words!

Like Aristocrat said, the workload is intense. I somehow expected it to be on par with my other post-grad experiences (I did an honours year in film studies), but there's really no comparison. It's only the pressure of potentially disappointing my family back in Korea that's kept me going until now. The workload hasn't become any lighter (I got to bed at 4am this morning, woke up at 6:30 for school), but at least I've come to terms with my new reality. Don't be misled by the word 'certificate' lol, this isn't a 120-hour online TEFL. What you get is a four-year education degree crammed into two semesters.

Congrats on the PGCE. I'm guessing (apologies if I am mistaken) you did your PGCE through a South African university?

I'm interested in doing a PGCE but it would be through a university in the UK. Has anyone done a PGCE through a British university whilst working here? If so, how is/was it? Furthermore, did anyone here have an MA in TESOL/AL etc. which the uni gave credits for towards the PGCE?

Yup, I'm doing my PGCE through Nelson Mandela University, in the Eastern Cape. I've already been teaching at school for about forty days, and it'll be closer to 90 by the end of year. I do that three days a week, and have lectures from 07:45 - 18:15 the other two days. Thanks to the constant stream of tests, assignments, in-depth lesson plans and reflections for every lesson I teach, etc.  etc., the word 'weekend' is no longer in my vocabulary.

YMMV, of course. I'm not sure how much standardization there is between PGCE courses across different countries, but I imagine it'd be similar. I'll post a summary of my modules/responsibilities, if anyone's interested. It might give you a clearer idea of what to expect. Just let me know.

A PGCE will certainly give you credit toward a master's, but I'm not sure if you can reverse engineer it. One thing I've noticed is that the online PGCE courses (especially from the UK universities) come in two varieties: They're either bona fide Postgraduate Certificates in Education, or so called Professional Graduate Certificates in Education. Here's a quote from Wikipedia:

The Professional Graduate Certificate in Education (ProfGCE) is an award in England and Wales for undergraduate degree holders that attended the Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) and trained to be a teacher. It is very similar and enables candidates to gain their Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), but does not carry credits towards a master's degree of which the PGCE provides 60. It sits on the Honours Level of the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications (FHEQ), a level lower than the Postgraduate Certificate in Education.

I'm struggling to wrap my head around the first sentence of the above, since as far as I know, the ProfGCE isn't an extension of the PGCE (as the quote seems to imply), but rather an alternate qualification. I'm not sure how reliable the rest of the quote is, but maybe someone here can clear things up.