Unit rationale, description and aim
Effective teachers are responsive to student diversity and make intentional curriculum and pedagogical decisions to foster engagement, inclusion, and learning. This unit supports development and understanding of the complexities of the teaching profession, with a particular emphasis on curriculum design and pedagogical practice.
Pre-service teachers will build the knowledge, skills, and reflective capacities required to design, implement, and evaluate inclusive, evidence-informed teaching and assessment sequences that promote learning for diverse student populations. They will critically examine and apply various teaching strategies including explicit teaching, modelling and scaffolding that support how a student’s brain learns, are aligned with curriculum requirements and responsive to learner needs. Through a situational analysis of a targeted school context, pre-service teachers will apply this detailed knowledge to inform curriculum planning and sequencing of content for challenge, spacing and retrieval practice, adapt existing lesson sequences, and develop assessment tasks for evidence of student learning.
A key unit component is a 20-day professional experience placement in an educational setting. During this placement, pre-service teachers will demonstrate professional and ethical practice, effective communication, and the creation and management of safe, engaging learning environments. Ongoing reflection on feedback from colleagues and supervisors will support the development of future professional practice.
Campus offering
No unit offerings are currently available for this unit.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.
Understand curriculum alignment in making pedagogi...
Learning Outcome 01
Adapt lessons and sequence of lessons, including f...
Learning Outcome 02
Justify pedagogical decisions based on alignment w...
Learning Outcome 03
Reflect on evidence of learning and feedback to ap...
Learning Outcome 04
Use effective written and oral communication skill...
Learning Outcome 05
Complete a successful intermediary professional ex...
Learning Outcome 06
Content
Topics will include:
- Learning and assessment task design principles, including alignment with understandings of the brain and learning
- Positive learning environments for supporting engagement and participation, including routines, self-regulation skills, metacognitive skills, and mindset
- Emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, are being used in education
- Structure and content of the Australian and State-based Curriculum/s
- Curriculum alignment, incorporating Cross-Curricular Priorities and General Capabilities
- Teaching and learning cycles, a holistic approach to planning and reflection
- Planning and sequencing lessons, including aligning learning goals with curriculum-based learning objectives
- Student-centred approaches to curriculum, pedagogy, assessment and reporting
- Models for planning and sequencing teaching and learning
- Designing learning goals to guide teaching and learning
- Strategies and pedagogies for aligning learning of curriculum expectations with student needs
- Developing evidence-based teaching strategies, including explicit teaching, modelling, scaffolding, worked examples, problem-solving, and questioning
- Planning for differentiated teaching for student diversity
- Models for differentiating teaching and learning, including curriculum, teaching, assessment, and resources
- Assessment, data and feedback for monitoring of learning and modifying teaching
- Planning and differentiating assessment in learning sequences, aligning with curriculum expectations and student needs
- Maintaining wellbeing in professional practice
- Goal setting, developing teacher identity and practice
- Professional communication and conduct, including ethics, code of conduct, privacy, confidentiality
- Models for reflective practice
- Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST), including structure and role in professional learning
- Professional identity and growth, reflecting in and on professional experience
Assessment strategy and rationale
The unit emphasises the development of pre-service teachers’ ability to make informed and responsive curriculum decisions that address students' diverse learning needs and are founded on understanding the brain and learning. They will demonstrate knowledge and skill in planning and sequencing content along with selection of appropriate curriculum-aligned teaching strategies. Assessments are scaffolded through weekly classes, with opportunities for peer discussion and formative feedback. The supports pre-service teachers to engage meaningfully with professional standards and curriculum while developing pedagogical skills in planning, teaching and assessing learning.
Task 1 requires pre-service teachers to analyse an existing or AI-generated learning sequence for a specific diverse learner group, propose adaptations and justify how these will more effectively support planning and sequencing of content and how a student’s brain learns.
Task 2 draws on data and feedback collected on learning planned during Placement. Pre-service teachers will reflect and develop a targeted plan, focusing on how they will apply their knowledge and skills of planning and sequencing content from the Unit to support their own professional growth.
To pass this unit, pre-service teachers must successfully complete both hurdle tasks, and submit both weighted assessments, achieving a passing grade of 50% overall.
Overview of assessments
Hurdle Task 1: Logbook Preparation for Professio...
Hurdle Task 1: Logbook
Preparation for Professional Experience
Prior to commencing placement, you must finalise a logbook of actions to prepare for engaging in a school context. This includes: (1) obtaining a Working with Children Check or Police Check, where mandated; (2) completing a ‘fitness to teach’ review; (3) any mandatory requirements specified by your state/territory; and (4) attaining a score of 95% or better in each online preparation module in the relevant calendar year.
Complete/ Incomplete
Hurdle Task 2: Professional Experience Placement ...
Hurdle Task 2: Professional Experience Placement
Submit the Professional Experience Assessment Report as completed by an experienced educator in your placement school context and your Attendance Record. The report must demonstrate successful completion of 20 professional experience days and satisfactory progress towards attainment of relevant Australian Professional Standards for Teachers: Graduate level. Refer to the Professional Experience Handbook and Assessment Report for detailed information about the minimum standards of progress expected in this intermediary placement.
Pass/Fail
Assessment Task 1: Written Task Analysis and jus...
Assessment Task 1: Written Task
Analysis and justification for an adapted learning sequence
Analyse an existing or AI-generated learning sequence tailored for a specific diverse learner group. Propose adaptations to the learning sequence and justify how these will more effectively sequence teaching of content that aligns with curriculum and evidence-based practices from neuroscience to support learners and their learning.
50%
Assessment Task 2: Written Task Written reflecti...
Assessment Task 2: Written Task
Written reflection and plan
Reflect on a sequence of learning experiences that you planned and implemented during placement, drawing on observations and feedback you collected. Your reflections should consider: (1) curriculum-aligned learning objectives, (2) student evidence of mastery, (3) spacing and retrieval to support learning and long-term memory, and (4) sequencing of tasks to support skill development. Using these reflections, identify next-steps in professional learning to address gaps and enhance your knowledge and skills in future practice.
50%
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
Informed by a social constructivist approach, the unit recognises that sociocultural contexts shape learning and effective teaching builds on prior knowledge. Learning experiences are designed to develop an understanding of curriculum planning, pedagogical decision-making, and assessment design. Pre-service teachers will engage in various active and collaborative tasks, including critical reading, reflection, discussion, and analysis of teaching and learning strategies responsive to diverse student needs and curriculum requirements. Digital resources such as webinars, podcasts, and interactive tools further support the development of curriculum knowledge and planning practice.
Pre-service teachers actively participate in learning activities and assessments to develop the knowledge, skills, and reflective capacity needed to design, implement, and evaluate inclusive and effective teaching, planning, and assessment sequences aligned with the Australian Curriculum. A 20-day professional experience placement enables pre-service teachers to apply their learning in authentic classroom settings, implement curriculum plans, demonstrate classroom management, and engage ethically and professionally. Feedback from experienced educators will support ongoing reflection and growth.
Representative texts and references
Recommended texts and documents
Australian Curriculum https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) www.acara.edu.au
Australian Education Research Organisation. (n.d.). Teaching for how students learn: Practice guides. https://www.edresearch.edu.au/resource-collections/teaching-how-students-learn-practice-guides
Australian Education Research Organisation. (n.d.). Teaching for how students learn: Research and explainers. https://www.edresearch.edu.au/resource-collections/teaching-how-students-learn-research-and-explainers
Recommended references
New South Wales Education Standards Authority. (n.d.). NSW curriculum. https://curriculum.nsw.ed.au
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 Australia, Ltd.
Fisk, S. (2023). Using and analysing data in Australian schools (Second edition.). Amba Press.
Killen, R. (2016). Effective teaching strategies: lessons from research and practice (Seventh edition.). Cengage Learning Australia.
OECD (2025), Unlocking High-Quality Teaching, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/f5b82176-en. Note: Part 1 only (pp. 11 - 25)
OECD. (2025). What should teachers teach and students learn in a world of powerful AI? (OECD Education Spotlights No. 20). OECD Publishing. https://www.oecd.org/education/spotlights
Thomas, J., Egeberg, H., Parada, R. H., Tracey, D., & Martin, K. (2025). Student engagement: Promoting positive classroom behaviour. Cambridge University Press.
Whitton, D., Barker, K., Nosworthy, M., Humphries, J., & Sinclair, C. (2016). Learning for teaching: teaching for learning (Third edition.). Cengage Learning Australia.