Professional studies and the QTS review

The British Department of Education and Science (DES) has announced a review of teacher education courses which confer qualified teacher status (QTS). Professional studies will be a major focus of attention in this review, which may investigate the use being made of recent suggestions by Her Majesty's Inspectors (HMI) on course content. A classification of professional studies for Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) (Primary) courses is proposed, dividing professional knowledge into propositional knowledge and practical knowledge; professional skills are subdivided into organizational skills and auricular skills. The latter are based on a classification of five communication skills which, it is suggested, can use an across‐the‐curriculum approach to help resolve the traditional professional/academic dichotomy of teacher education courses.