Applying for a PGCE in the UK? Read these

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1. Natives by Akala
This is essential reading - particularly the chapter about schooling - for anyone in teaching in the UK right now. It will make you examine the way you relate to kids in your classroom and more broadly. If you're going to be going into schools and observing, or need to show in interview that you can think about the reality of lives in schools today, this is a must-read. (I actually think EVERYONE should read this. It should be compulsory reading before you get a license to be an adult. Along with the washing machine manual.)

2. That Asian Kid by Savita Kalhan
This is a great teen novel. If you're applying to teach English, it's a good idea to have read some YA - tick! It centres kids of colour and a great moral dilemma for our YouTube time, which for once is not about sending naked snapchats. It's a romp but it also has a serious issue at the centre: how racism can affect kids, go uncalled out, and undermine even the most dedicated of students, which is why it's not just for English students.

3. How to be an Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi
I've only just started reading this, but it is EXCELLENT. A very important book - because we know that education structures in the UK lead to worse outcomes for black students. Our job as teachers is mitigating that - and this book makes you think and teaches you how. Also essential for anyone thinking "I'm not racist."

4. Common People: An Anthology of Working Class Writers ed. Kit de Waal
Most people going into teaching are middle class. Or have assimilated into the middle classes. This anthology reminds us of the wide variety of kids - and culture - that we have in the UK and also values those. Plus it's hilarious.


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