Unit rationale, description and aim
This unit supports final-year pre-service teachers in confidently transitioning into the teaching profession by integrating key principles of ethical, inclusive, and evidence-informed practice. Drawing on research-based strategies, the unit reinforces proactive classroom management, positive relationship-building, and personalised goal-setting to foster respectful, high-expectation learning environments. Pre-service teachers will engage critically with whole-school frameworks and develop skills in modelling and promoting positive behaviour. A strong focus on cultural responsiveness and self-reflection encourages pre-service teachers to examine their positionality and challenge biases, particularly in relation to First Nations and EAL/D learners. The unit also explores effective family and community engagement, its impact on student outcomes, and the teacher’s role in sustaining collaborative partnerships. Through reflective practice, effective communication, and a commitment to inclusive teaching, students will strengthen their professional identity and be equipped to meet the diverse needs of learners in contemporary classrooms.
The unit aims to prepare pre-service teachers for the profession by promoting reflective, ethical, and communicative practices. It helps them develop a teaching philosophy, understand diverse communities, and demonstrate readiness to meet the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers at the Graduate level. The unit aims to support diverse learners by including multimodal expressions of understanding.
Learning outcomes
To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.
Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.
Explore the graduate capabilities.
Evaluate professional communication in relation to...
Learning Outcome 01
Apply knowledge of expectations – including codes ...
Learning Outcome 02
Communicate effectively and professionally across ...
Learning Outcome 03
Develop a personal professional teaching philosoph...
Learning Outcome 04
Critically reflect on collaborative and networked ...
Learning Outcome 05
Content
Topics will include:
· Professional identity and practice
· Expectations of the professional teacher
· Professional ethics
· Codes of conduct and codes of ethics for teachers
· Social media practices and profiles
· Professional Learning, strategies for ongoing professional development and practice
· Engaging with professional networks and associations
· Professional identity and communication
· Models of communication for effective and ethical communication in school and community
· Classroom communication and management; classroom and school-based approaches
· Representational systems, verbal, non-verbal and digital communication and cues
· Communicating with colleagues, parents and allied professionals
· Tools and practices for communicating learning updates and outcomes
· Transitioning into the profession
· Workload and self-care, balancing personal and collaborative priorities
· Presenting yourself as the professional teacher
· Professional expectation from the principal’s perspective
· Preparing for applications, curriculum vitae, and interviews
Assessment strategy and rationale
This unit focuses on pre-service teachers applying knowledge and skills relevant to the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers: Graduate level in preparing to transition into independent professional practice and to take responsibility for their own professional learning and identity. Ethical and responsible use of all resources, including generative AI, will be expected of pre-service teachers.
For Assessment Task 1, pre-service teachers will design and resource a professional learning plan to address an area for improvement in their own teaching practice. Assessment Task 2 requires the construction of a portfolio of artefacts of professional communication used in an educational setting. Pre-service teachers will reflect on these artefacts, considering their learning and readings in this course. The two assessment tasks are sequenced to allow feedback and progressive development of content knowledge and skills.
The assessment tasks for this unit are designed to demonstrate achievement of the learning outcome. To pass this unit, pre-service teachers are required to achieve a passing grade in each assessment task, thereby achieving a minimum passing grade overall. It should be noted that Task 2 is a critical task designed as a summative assessment of the nominated APST: Graduate.
Overview of assessments
Assessment Task 1: Professional Learning Plan Co...
Assessment Task 1: Professional Learning Plan
Compose a professional statement outlining your educational philosophy and a rationale for continued professional learning. Identify an area for improvement and design a Professional Learning Plan to develop relevant skills, knowledge and practice. Then, participate in an Annual Review Meeting role-play including a semi-structured professional learning conversation.
50%
Assessment Task 2: Professional Communication Por...
Assessment Task 2: Professional Communication Portfolio
Critical Task
Create six artefacts demonstrating different types of communication used in educational settings, demonstrating ethical and professional use of digital and/or multimodal technology, including generative AI. Annotate each artefact to demonstrate connections to professional standards and research evidence of effective and ethical communication. Include examples of communication with: (1) parents/carers that supports family engagement for learning, (2) colleagues that support professional learning and engagement, and (3) students that support student learning.
50%
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
This unit adopts a constructivist learning and teaching approach, recognising that learners build new knowledge on pre-existing understandings shaped by their sociocultural context. Learning is active, inquiry-based, and student-centred, positioning pre-service teachers as adult learners who take responsibility for their own development and engage in critical problem-solving. Designed to foster deep understanding, the unit includes strategies that promote active engagement, knowledge application, and the development of analytical and evaluative skills. This design ensures that theories of professional engagement, communication and identity are closely connected to teaching practice.
Teaching strategies are flexible and support both guided and self-regulated learning, in line with adult learning principles. Key learning activities include self-paced learning through online modules, structured engagement with readings, peer collaboration and reflective dialogue, and professional critical engagement with lecturers and other pre-service teachers. Per-service teachers will be scaffolded through discussion in relation to the appropriate and ethical use of generative AI in professional practice and communication.
Australian Professional Standards for Teachers - Graduate Level
In connection to the learning outcomes, on successful completion of this unit, pre-service teachers should have developed the following industry specific knowledge based on the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers - Graduate Level standards:
Relating toDemonstrate knowledge of teaching strategies that are responsive to the learning strengths and needs of students from diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds
Relevant Learning OutcomeLO4
Relating toDemonstrate a range of verbal and non-verbal communication strategies to support student engagement.
Relevant Learning OutcomeLO3
Relating toDescribe a broad range of strategies for involving parents/carers in the educative process.
Relevant Learning OutcomeLO3
Relating toDemonstrate an understanding of the relevant issues and the strategies available to support the safe, responsible and ethical use of ICT in learning and teaching.
Relevant Learning OutcomeLO1
Relating toDemonstrate understanding of a range of strategies for reporting to students and parents/carers and the purpose of keeping accurate and reliable records of student achievement.
Relevant Learning OutcomeLO3
Relating toDemonstrate an understanding of the role of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers in identifying professional learning needs.
Relevant Learning OutcomeLO4
Relating toUnderstand the relevant and appropriate sources of professional learning for teachers.
Relevant Learning OutcomeLO5
Relating toSeek and apply constructive feedback from supervisors and teachers to improve teaching practices.
Relevant Learning OutcomeLO5
Relating toDemonstrate an understanding of the rationale for continued professional learning and the implications for improved student learning.
Relevant Learning OutcomeLO4
Relating toUnderstand and apply the key principles described in codes of ethics and conduct for the teaching profession.
Relevant Learning OutcomeLO2
Relating toUnderstand the relevant legislative, administrative and organisational policies and processes required for teachers according to school stage.
Relevant Learning OutcomeLO2
Relating toUnderstand strategies for working effectively, sensitively and confidentially with parents/carers.
Relevant Learning OutcomeLO3
Relating toUnderstand the role of external professionals and community representatives in broadening teachers’ professional knowledge and practice.
Relevant Learning OutcomeLO5
Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) Core Content
On successful completion of this unit, pre-service teachers should have developed the following industry specific knowledge based on the AITSL Core Content:
Relating toThe research evidence that shows the positive impact of building positive relationships on classroom behaviour and student outcomes.
Relevant learningLO4, LO5
Relating toHow to effectively model desired behaviour (such as respectful interactions, being organised, and being on time) and how to explicitly point to this modelling to prompt positive behaviour by setting and reinforcing expectations.
Relevant learningLO3
Relating toExamples of common ‘whole school approaches’, processes or frameworks for positive behaviour and how a teacher engages effectively with these frameworks.
Relevant learningLO2
Relating toThe research evidence that shows the positive impact of engaging with communities and families to drive successful outcomes for First Nations students and teach what appropriate engagement with families and communities can look like in practice.
Relevant learningLO1, LO3
Relating toThe concept of positionality through engagement in critical self-inquiry for both academic writing and as a core mechanism of effective ongoing professional teaching practice.
Relevant learningLO5
Relating toThe concept of ongoing intercultural development and the importance of self-reflection and reflexivity as ever-evolving career practices.
Relevant learningLO5
Relating toAbout the cultural diversity within classrooms and communities in Australia, and in the local context, to understand and value the perspectives of diverse groups including EAL/D and First Nations students.
Relevant learningLO3
Relating toHow biases and assumptions about diverse groups and worldviews affect practices, behaviours, and attitudes in the classroom and how these biases adversely impact specific groups.
Relevant learningLO3
Relating toThe research evidence that outlines the most effective approaches for engaging with families to promote learning appropriate to student stage of learning.
Relevant learningLO3, LO5
Relating toPractices schools may employ, including two-way positive communication, light-touch learning updates and collaborative planning and problem solving, and understanding the role and responsibility of an individual teacher in these practices.
Relevant learningLO3
Relating toDiverse learning needs, including students with disability
Relevant learningLO2
Relating toThe evidence-based approaches to cater for specific needs and disabilities that a teacher may encounter during their career, with a focus on needs with high prevalence in Australian classrooms. Content should be developed in collaboration with appropriate subject matter expertise from a range of disciplines – for example, linguistics, psychology, health, and education.
Relevant learningLO5
Representative texts and references
Recommended Text and Documents
Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership. (n.d.). Australian professional standards for teachers. [PDF] Retrieved from aitsl website
Churchill, R., Apps, T., Batt, J., Beckman, K., Grainger, P., Holloway, J., Keddie, A., Letts, W., Mackay, J., & McGill, M. (2025). Teaching : making a difference (Sixth edition.). John Wiley & Sons
Ewing, R., Lowrie, T., Higgs, J. (2010). Teaching and communicating: Rethinking professional experiences. Oxford University Press.
Fenech, M., & Ribarovski, J. (2020). Professional communication for early childhood educators: Interpersonal and workplace communication in everyday practice. Oxford University Press.
Recommended References
Baxter, G., & Toe, D. (2021). Parents don’t need to come to school to be engaged: Teachers use of social media for family engagement. Educational Action Research, 31(2), 306–328. https://doi.org/10.1080/09650792.2021.1930087
Knoster, K. C., & Goodboy, A. K. (2023). A zoom teaching experiment using CTML principles of multimedia design. Communication Quarterly, 71(4), 367–389. https://doi.org/10.1080/01463373.2023.2203829
Monfrance, M., Haelermans, C., Leenders, H., de Jong, J., & Coppens, K. (2024). Parental engagement in primary education: differences in teacher perceptions and parent-teacher communication explained. Teachers and Teaching, Theory and Practice, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2024.2397581
Murray, E., McFarland-Piazza, L., & Harrison, L. J. (2015). Changing patterns of parent-teacher communication and parent involvement from preschool to school. Early Child Development and Care, 185(7), 1031–1052. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2014.975223
Rogers, B., (2015). Classroom behaviour (4th edition). Sage Publications
Schneider, C., & Arnot, M. (2018). Transactional school-home-school communication: Addressing the mismatches between migrant parents’ and teachers’ views of parental knowledge, engagement and the barriers to engagement. Teaching and Teacher Education, 75, 10–20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2018.05.005
Skehan, L. (2018). Growing High Standards : Using the AITSL standards to develop your teaching. Agora (Melbourne, Vic.), 53(3), 26–33
Stokes, H., & Brunzell, T. (2024). Implementing trauma-informed pedagogies for school change : shifting schools from reactive to proactive (1st edition.). Emerald Publishing Limited.
Witter, M. & Brunzell, T. (2025). Teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs about trauma informed education practices. International Journal of Educational Research 131 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2025.102589.
*All state-based Codes of Conduct and Ethics for Teachers