EDET501 - Effective Teaching 1: Promoting Positive Learner Engagement

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

Nil

Incompatible

EDFX521 Effective Teaching and Graduate Professional Experience Primary 1 , EDET561 Effective Teaching 1: Early Years Learning and Pedagogies: Play-Based Curriculum and Assessment

Unit rationale, description and aim

This unit includes 20 days professional experience placement.

Teachers need to have an understanding of the complexities of the teacher’s role in order to inform their teaching practice and meet the challenges of teaching in diverse contexts. Learning settings that are inclusive and safe promote engagement and teachers must be able to apply effective planning, teaching, assessment and management practices to facilitate learning.

In this unit, pre-service teachers will develop knowledge of lesson planning and pedagogy through exploring and analysing a range of planning procedures and teaching, learning and assessment strategies. They will apply this knowledge in the development of a range of teaching and assessment strategies which include setting differentiated learning goals to meet the needs of diverse learners. Throughout these activities they will develop their understanding of principles and strategies for communicating professionally with parents/carers and engaging them in the educative process.

Through critical analysis of key theories, contemporary research and system policies, pre-service teachers will acquire a critical understanding of approaches to establish positive learning environments and promote well-being, and practical strategies to manage challenging behaviours. Informed by the principles of Catholic Social Teaching, they will synthesise models, policy and practice to develop a holistic approach to engaging learners and guiding learner behaviour.

The professional placement will enable pre-service teachers to engage with experienced practitioners, and to apply their knowledge and skills in a school setting. Observations in classroom and school contexts will be reflected upon to support the nexus between theory and practice and alignment with the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers: Graduate level.

The aim of this unit is to enable pre-service teachers to develop the knowledge and skills to promote meaningful engagement in learning and to develop pre-service teachers’ professional identities as confident and effective teachers.

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.

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:

Content

Topics will include:

The complexities of the teacher’s role and the implications for practice, including:

• Australian Professional Standards for Teachers
• Organisational policies and processes; principles and codes of ethics and conduct
• Legal and professional responsibilities including Duty of Care, Child Protection and Mandatory reporting.

Communication skills to facilitate teaching and learning:

• Principles and practice of effective verbal and non-verbal communication in facilitating teaching and learning
• Building positive relationships and rapport with students
• A range of communication strategies to engage sensitively and confidentially with parents/ carers and involve them in the educative process.

A range of teaching strategies that may include:

• Direct instruction: Explanations and demonstrations
• Questioning, feedback and discussion skills to facilitate higher order thinking
• Group work and co-operative learning
• Problem solving

Planning for teaching:

• Purposes and elements of planning
• Structuring and implementing learning sequences
• Interpreting curriculum documents to select content and set learning goals

Differentiation of content and teaching strategies to cater for diverse learners including:

•  learners from diverse cultural, linguistic and SES backgrounds
• learners across a full range of abilities
• learners from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds

Introduction to fundamentals of assessment including:

• The role of assessment in the planning, teaching, learning and evaluation cycle and improvement of teaching and learning
• Purposes and forms of assessment, (formal, informal, diagnostic, formative, summative)
• Differentiating assessment tasks to meet the specific needs of diverse learners
• Approaches for providing timely, focused and constructive feedback to learners
• Processes for gathering, organising and interpreting evidence of learning
• Maintaining accurate records and reporting student progress to learners and parents/carers

Promoting learner engagement and behaviour management:

• Contemporary research and theories relating to effective behaviour management:
• Cognitive and Behaviorist models
• Psychological or needs-based models: Dreikurs
• Glasser’s Choice Theory; Bill Rogers’ Decisive Discipline; Canter and Canter’s Assertive Discipline; Ford’s Responsible Thinking
• Developing proactive engagement and management plans.
• Strategies for creating safe and positive learning environments and promoting physical, psychological and social well-being:
• Establishing positive teacher-learner relationships
• Promoting class cohesion
• Engaging learners in setting expectations to develop ownership of their behaviour
• Practical strategies for promoting learner self-motivation and self-direction
• Behaviour management strategies applicable to diverse learners.
• Application of the principles of Catholic Social Teaching.
• Factors contributing to undesired behaviours:
• Learner related factors
• Home and social group factors
• Classroom and teacher factors
• The impact of changing technologies and social media.
• A range of practical strategies for responding to low-level undesired behaviours:
• Positive reinforcement
• Unobtrusive, non-punitive interventions
• Re-engaging disengaged learners
• A range of practical strategies for managing challenging behaviour:
• Re-building relationships: Student-teacher conferences; Learning and behaviour contracts
• Cracking the challenging class
• Engaging with professional colleagues and other education professionals
• Engaging sensitively and confidentially with parents/carers
• Policy, curriculum and legislative requirements that underpin learner wellbeing and safety.
• Maintaining safe online environments: anti-bullying and cyber-bullying.
• Strategies for protecting teacher safety and well-being: building resilience and self-care.

 Critical Reflective Practice:

• Strategies and lenses for critiquing the implementation of learning activities
• Seeking and responding to feedback from supervisors and teachers to improve practice
• Approaches to developing a personal Philosophy of Teaching

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

This is a 10-credit point unit and has been designed to ensure that the time needed to complete the required volume of learning to the requisite standard is approximately 150 hours in total across the semester. This includes guided teaching, independent study and preparation of assessments, and a 20-day professional experience placement.

This unit applies a social constructivist approach to develop pre-service teachers’ understanding of the teacher’s role. They will build their understanding through critical reading, lecturer modelling, active engagement, rehearsing and discussion. The ability to work collaboratively will be practised through group activities in tutorials, culminating in group micro-teaching presentations to the class. These support pre-service teachers to build their communication and teaching skills, and their confidence in managing groups, in a safe and supportive environment prior to applying these skills in a primary school setting.

Conceptual knowledge and skills of communicating and planning, plus teaching and assessment strategies to promote positive learner engagement, will be developed through lectures and critical reading, and practised in tutorial activities which model the real world of classrooms. Participants will develop their ability to work autonomously, and to locate and synthesise information, through designing teaching, learning and assessment strategies appropriate for the needs of diverse learners. The professional experience placement will enable engagement with experienced practitioners and to make links between theory and its application to the learning environment.

To support this strategy, examples of the teaching and learning approaches that are likely to be applied in this unit include:

• Face-to-face lectures and /or online lectures (synchronous and asynchronous)
• Hands-on tutorials, practical workshops and discussions that promote peer learning
• Self-directed reading and research
• Collaborative learning opportunities

Technology Enhanced Learning

The unit includes a Learning Management System site with resources and online links, announcements, and a discussion board to post questions and reflections that promote connection between on campus content and educational experiences.

1. Lecture-style recorded content and supporting notes
2. Tutorial guides
3. Video illustrations of teaching practice and focused readings to address a wide spectrum of teaching contexts, practices and competencies;
4. Online focused readings to help students prepare for the weekly schedule.

Face-to-face/Online Learning support

Students are required to regularly log into Canvas to access recorded lectures and important announcements, to communicate with other students and lecturers, and to submit assessment and access feedback and grades. Students who are enrolled in either face to face or online learning will have equal access to support from the lecturer in charge and tutors.

Additional equipment requirements for online learning:

• Reliable broadband access is recommended.
• Headset with microphone to listen to podcasts, view videos and interact in synchronous classes.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: TEACHING REQUIREMENTS

Integral to unit pre-service teachers will apply their knowledge, skills and strategies through undertaking a professional experience placement comprising 20 days in a primary school setting.

Pre-service teachers will develop the habit of critically reflective practice through guided reflection upon their observations of their class and the educational setting. In collaboration with their supervising teachers and other professional colleagues, they will develop basic teaching skills through assisting in the delivery of high-quality teaching episodes and teaching small groups and whole classes. They will critically reflect upon their teaching, and self-audit their progression and attainment of key teaching skills and standards.

The recommended arrangement of the 20 days is:

• Up to 5 days prior to the commencement of the block, for example one day a week, by negotiation with the educational provider
• 15 days of continuous engagement (the “Block”).

Recommended Teaching Experiences

The following engagements are recommended across the 20-day placement. They provide a scaffolded, praxis-oriented approach to building experience, competency and confidence, and are designed to align with on-campus content. These engagements are to be discussed, negotiated and planned with the supervising teacher/s.

Days 1 – 5 (Single days or incorporated into the block) - Proposed Teaching Expectations

Day 1-3: Orientation, observation and assisting the supervising and nominated teacher/s in the teaching and learning process

Day 3–5: Observation and assisting the supervising and nominated teacher/s, plus planning and implementation of one teaching episode per day with a focus on small groups and practicing the skills developed through micro-teaching opportunities

Block Practicum: Days 6 – 20 - Proposed Teaching Expectations

Day 6 – 10:

• Observation and assisting the class teacher/s, plus planning and implementation of one to two teaching episodes per day, including transitions, small groups and building to taking responsibility for whole classes/groups and class routines.
• Practicum midpoint reflection, self-auditing and evaluation.

Day 11 - 20

• Observation and assisting the supervising teacher/s, plus planning and implementation of two to three teaching episodes per day.
• Build to teaching half a full-time load including taking responsibility for whole classes and managing routines and transitions.
• Design, implementation and marking of assessment tasks as relevant to the teaching episodes.
• Practicum culminating reflection, self-auditing and evaluation.

Completion of all specified preparation and legal modules is compulsory prior to commencement of the professional experience placement.

Assessment strategy and rationale

The assessment load and weighting of the assessments in this unit have been designed to incorporate the professional experience. The written assessment load in this unit has been adjusted accordingly.

A range of assessment procedures are designed to allow pre-service teachers to progressively demonstrate achievement of the unit learning outcomes and to develop graduate attributes consistent with University assessment requirements. The units in this course focus on developing understanding of, and skills across the professional knowledge, practice and engagement domains needed to meet expectations of the APST: Graduate level.

There are four assessment tasks in this unit, including two hurdle requirements, all of which must be passed to pass the unit. Assessment tasks are sequenced to allow feedback and progressive development. Through completing Hurdle Requirement 1 pre-service teachers will demonstrate understanding of the legal and ethical expectations of teachers. In Assessment Task 1 pre-service teachers apply their conceptual knowledge of pedagogies to engage learners in the analysis and application of teaching strategies. In Task 2 pre-service teachers develop and demonstrate conceptual knowledge and understanding of theoretical models of classroom management and the complexities of managing challenging behaviour, through construction of a learner engagement and behaviour management plan. The final hurdle requirement comprises successful completion of a 20-day professional experience placement in a school setting. This placement facilitates connections between unit content and the ‘real world’ of learning and teaching, thereby preparing pre-service teachers for their role as teacher.

Minimum Achievement Standards

The assessment tasks and their weighting for this unit are designed to demonstrate achievement of each learning outcome. In order to pass this unit, pre-service teachers are required to submit all assessment tasks, to meet the learning outcomes of the unit and achieve a minimum overall passing grade of 50%. In addition, pre-service teachers must attain a Pass in the two hurdle tasks. These are the preparation for the Professional Experience Placement (PEP) and the Professional Experience Assessment (PEA).

Assessment in EDET501 includes a Critical Task: Assessment Task 2 – Rationale and Plan for Engaging Learners, fostering positive behaviour and managing challenging behaviour. This task is core to the demonstration of a number of Australian Professional Teacher Standards.  Pre-service teachers must demonstrate mastery of every summative Graduate Teacher Standard identified and attain a score of at least 50% in Task 2 in order to pass this unit.

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Required text(s)

Australian Curriculum:  https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/Australian Curriculum and Reporting Authority (ACARA): https://www.acara.edu.au

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership: https://www.aitsl.edu.au/

Relevant State and Territory curriculum documents

Recommended references

Brady, L., & Kennedy, K. (2018). Curriculum construction (6th ed.). Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson Australia.

Churchill, R., Keddie, A., Moss, J. Nagel, M., Shaw, K., Mackay, J., Letts, W., McGill, M., Batt, J., Beckman, K., Apps, T., & Grainger, P. (2022). Teaching: Making a difference (5th ed.). John Wiley & Sons Australia.

Cleak, H., & Wilson, J. (2019). Making the most of field placement (4th ed.). Cengage Learning Australia.

De Nobile, J., Lyons, G., & Arthur-Kelly, M. (2017). Positive learning environments: Creating and maintaining productive classrooms. Cengage Learning Australia.

Ewing, R., Kervin, L., Glass, C., Gobby, B., le Cornu, R., & Groundwater-Smith, S. (2019). Teaching: Dilemmas, challenges and opportunities (6th ed.). Cengage Learning Australia.

Lyons, G., Ford, M., & Slee, J. (2014). Classroom management: Creating positive learning environments (4th ed.). Cengage Learning Australia.

Killen, R. (2016). Effective teaching strategies: Lessons from research and practice (7th ed.). Cengage Learning Australia.

Morrison, G., Ross, S., Morrison, J., & Kalman, H. (2019). Designing effective instruction (8th ed.). John Wiley and Sons

Welch, A., & Connell, R. (Eds.). (2018). Education, change and society (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.

Whitton, D., Barker, K., Nosworthy, M., Humphries, J., & Sinclair, C. (2016). Learning for teaching, Teaching for learning (3rd ed.). Cengage Learning Australia.