PTLLS course at Cambridge Regional College

Photo: © 2006, John McCullough

I started as a student in the Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector (PTLLS) course (CA5PTLLSJ) on Monday 10 January 2011 17:30–20:30 at Cambridge Regional College. The course can be followed by a Certificate in Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector (CTLLS one year) or a Diploma in Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector (DTLLS two years).

The sixteen other students and I met the lecturers, James Woodworth and Lewis Williams. Both very nice. The administration was a little trying. My course offer letter informed me that I would be able to pay the first evening, which turned out not to be possible due to the unavailability of the finance department, whose normal hours are 09:00–17:00. Still, I was able to pay over the telephone the following day. With my newly acquired student number, and after an exchange of emails with a very friendly ILCT Systems Administrator, I was able to log in to the course Virtual Learning Environment.

The course, the timetable and the assignments were explained. We were informed that the course could be studied at level 3 or 4. The basic difference is that level 4 students would be expected to complete an additional assignment and maintain Harvard citation standards throughout. We were told it was not compulsory to continue level 4 if we started that way and decided to continue at level 3. We were also told that completing the course at level 4 awards no special concessions for further study.

Then the first lecture started with the topic on the defining characteristics of an effective teacher. As a class we considered different words to describe an effective teacher such as inspiring, creative, encouraging.