Unit rationale, description and aim
Within the context of relevant legislation, national frameworks, policy and curriculum documents, the notion of teaching for social justice, personal safety, and wellbeing is applied to develop personal and social capabilities and meet the diverse needs of children and young people. The unit particularly focuses on the areas of gifted and talented, additional learning and support needs, those for whom English is an additional language or dialect and refugees. The unit develops pre-service teachers’ knowledge and skills to meet relevant professional and ethical requirements, communication and interpersonal skills. There will be a focus on intercultural understandings and promoting respectful relationships, in working with children and young people, and parents and colleagues, through a spirit of service and care within education settings and school communities.
The unit includes 15 days of professional experience with a minimum of 10 days of block teaching practice in one educational setting. Pre-service teachers’ will work in their teaching areas, with their mentor teachers, to plan and implement effective teaching and learning experiences which cater for and support learners with diverse needs. This teaching will be put into practice through mentored professional experience in secondary school classrooms.
This unit aims to provide pre-service teachers with the knowledge, skills and values needed to meet the diverse needs of children and young people with a focus on developing a commitment to social justice applied to inclusive education and a teacher’s duty of care.
Campus offering
No unit offerings are currently available for this unitLearning 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.
Demonstrate an understanding and apply principles ...
Learning Outcome 01
Demonstrate effective strategies and the use of a ...
Learning Outcome 02
Implement and evaluate a variety of classroom stra...
Learning Outcome 03
Demonstrate an understanding of student wellbeing ...
Learning Outcome 04
Identify and demonstrate an awareness of practices...
Learning Outcome 05
Critically examine and apply the relevant legislat...
Learning Outcome 06
Complete a successful professional experience in m...
Learning Outcome 07
Content
Topics will include:
- Teaching for social justice
Safe and supportive learning contexts are underpinned by pro-social values of respect, compassion, acceptance of difference, cooperation and friendliness. This theme explores the whole centre/school and class practices that are an expression of these values and studies and critiques national and state policies such as the National Safe Schools Framework and the National Framework for Values in Education.
- Child Protection: Duty of Care and Wellbeing
Pre-service teachers in this module will develop an understanding of a wide range of child protection issues. They will explore the context of prevention and the design and implementation of teaching and management practices to reduce risk and enhance protective factors. Legislation and policy in the area of child protection and duty of care is addressed within the context of prevention within the school context. The pre-service teachers are prepared as mandatory reporters of students at risk of harm.
- Inclusive Education
This theme discusses and critiques the social justice concept of normalisation and current policies, principles and legislation on anti-discrimination for gifted students and students with disabilities or learning difficulties. It is underpinned by the fundamental principle of inclusive schools that all students should learn together, wherever possible, regardless of any differences or difficulties they might have. This module then explores whole school and class practices that respond to the diverse needs of students with a focus on the task of differentiating the secondary school curriculum to accommodate both different styles and rates of learning and to ensure high quality education through appropriate curricula, adaptations to tasks, teaching strategies, resources and the class and school environment, with a particular emphasis on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and students from diverse cultural and ESL and EAL/D backgrounds.
- Teaching for positive respectful relationships.
This theme emphasises a proactive rather than reactive approach in establishing a safe classroom and whole school context. The role of the secondary classroom teacher and the school is explored in developing and implementing appropriate curriculum and management principles/strategies related to positive behaviour and respectful relationships within school communities, with a particular emphasis on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and students from diverse cultural backgrounds. Consideration will be given to strategies for responding to and managing bullying, including cyber-bullying.
Assessment strategy and rationale
A range of assessment procedures will be used to meet the unit learning outcomes and develop graduate attributes consistent with University assessment requirements. Such procedures may include, but are not limited to, essays, reports, examinations, online activities, student presentations or case studies. This unit requires that two or three assessment tasks be completed one of which is the common assessment task.
Minimum Achievement Standards
The assessment tasks for this unit are designed to demonstrate achievement of each learning outcome.
The total of assessment tasks will amount to the equivalent of 4,000 words.
Pre-service teachers must achieve a pass in the professional experience component of the unit in order to satisfactorily complete this unit. If a fail grade is determined in professional experience, regardless of the marks achieved in the other assessment tasks, this will result in a fail for the entire unit. The student will also fail the unit if the grade for the combination of the other assessment tasks is a fail. Pre-service teachers who fail this unit will be asked to ‘show cause’ and will be terminated if the unit is failed twice.
Overview of assessments
Assessment Task 1 Individualised planning and di...
Assessment Task 1
Individualised planning and differentiation
The development of appropriate teaching strategies designed in a series of individual learning plans that are reflective of curriculum and policies that support additional needs. The task relates to adapting and developing lesson content, tasks, resources (including the use of ICTs) and classroom behaviour management strategies to enhance the learning opportunities for the individual needs of identified students. This task will incorporate pre-service teachers’ knowledge of required legislation and teaching strategies that assist centres/schools to become safe and supportive environments for all students, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and ESL and EAL/D students.
40%
Assessment Task 2 Focused Summary paper: descr...
Assessment Task 2
Focused Summary paper: describe strategies that support students’ well-being and safety. Pre-service teachers will address the following questions:
- How do you collaborate with others eg parents/ carers, school counsellor, specialist services, medical world to make sure you are providing the appropriate support strategies for students?
- How do you adapt curriculum and teaching strategies for your students and legislative requirements - workplace safety, child protection, privacy, duty of care, anti-discrimination?
- What particular legislation do we need to comply with which will influence our practices when supporting students who with special needs e.g. privacy, duty of care, anti-discrimination? <
30%
Assessment Task 3 Pre-service teachers, using di...
Assessment Task 3
Pre-service teachers, using digital, written, individual and/or group formats, reflect on professional experience undertaken in a range of secondary school contexts, with a focus on students from diverse cultural backgrounds with English as an additional language. They will link their learning from these experiences with knowledge of current multicultural and anti-racism policies, to the core work of teachers.
30%
Successful completion of the professional experie...
Successful completion of the professional experience requirements for second year of the course including compilation of evidence to support the assessment tasks outlined above.
NIL
Pre-service teachers must pass the professional experience in order to pass the unit
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
Pre-service teachers will be involved in a variety of teaching-learning strategies to progress and demonstrate their understandings in this unit.
The unit will consist of the equivalent of 150 hours in total with a normal expectation of 36 hours of directed study and the total contact hours should not exceed 36 hours. Directed study might include lectures, tutorials, webinars, podcasts etc. The balance of the hours then become private study.
The unit may also be linked to the student’s professional experiences through the Community Engagement Program.
AUSTRALIAN PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS FOR TEACHERS - GRADUATE LEVEL
On successful completion of this unit, pre-service teachers should be able to: