EDFD454 - Curriculum Literacies

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

Unit rationale, description and aim

To develop successful life long learners, every student must develop strong skills in literacy and numeracy as the foundation for learning (Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration, 2019).

In this unit pre-service teachers examine the range of literacies and language learning required for different curriculum areas in secondary school subjects and the way these literacies need to be developed for learners from diverse language and cultural backgrounds. Pre-service teachers will develop and extend their knowledge of the role of language in curriculum learning, including metalanguage for discussing the affordances of spoken, written, visual, symbolic, graphic representations and their interactions in multimodal texts. Pre-service teachers will also identify and examine the numeracy skills inherent in their curriculum areas. This will culminate in the development of literacy and numeracy high challenge/high support strategies which differentiate teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities and are responsive to the strengths and needs of students from diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds.

The aim of this unit is to provide pre-service teachers with strategies and practices for integrating explicit literacy and numeracy instruction into an effective teaching and learning sequence. This knowledge will offer a resource for teachers to enhance the development of literacy, numeracy and learning within all curriculum areas.

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.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1     Demonstrate an understanding of the skills and concepts of literacy and numeracy relevant to the different curriculum areas (GA5; APST 2.1, 2.5)

LO2     Evaluate classroom practice in the teaching of literacy and numeracy (GA4, GA5; APST 3.3, 3.6)

LO3     Use relevant questioning and assessment strategies to identify the literacy and numeracy knowledge, skills and understandings of students  (GA5, GA8; APST 2.1, 2.3, 5.1, 5.3)

LO4     Identify appropriate teaching strategies to respond to diverse learner needs in the areas of literacy and numeracy (GA1, GA5, GA8; APST 1.3, 1.4)

LO5     Design and integrate tasks in a sequence of lessons which will allow for explicit teaching of literacy and numeracy including the use of ICT (GA8, GA9, GA10; APST 2.1, 2.2, 2.5, 2.6, 3.3, 3.4)

Graduate attributes

GA1 - demonstrate respect for the dignity of each individual and for human diversity

GA4 - think critically and reflectively 

GA5 - demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession 

GA8 - locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information 

GA9 - demonstrate effective communication in oral and written English language and visual media 

GA10 - utilise information and communication and other relevant technologies effectively.

AUSTRALIAN PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS FOR TEACHERS - GRADUATE LEVEL

On successful completion of this unit, pre-service teachers should be able to:

Content

Topics will include:

• The nature of literacy, language and numeracy and their role in learning in the different areas of the curriculum
• Language as a social process, meta-language and numeracy in context
• Constructions of literacy and numeracy in relevant state, territory and national curriculum and support documents from upper primary level through to secondary level
• Integrating numeracy and literacy within culturally responsive learning frameworks (e.g. 8 ways framework)
• The purpose and structure of different types of spoken, written, visual, graphic and multimodal texts
• Introduction to the system of grammatical and discourse used in the current curriculum and assessment documents
• The nature of mathematical reading, writing processes and strategies used in the relevant curriculum and assessment documents including national and state tests   
• A range of strategies used for the explicit teaching of literacy and numeracy
• Task design, construction and critical evaluation of resources used in the teaching of literacy and numeracy
• Strategies for evaluating, developing, assessing, monitoring and programming for literacy and numeracy development relevant for the different curriculum areas.

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

Pre-service teachers should expect to participate in a range of the following: lectures, tutorials/workshops, seminar presentations and group discussions, both online and face-to-face, self-directed study activities and assessment tasks. Some participation in appropriate educational settings may be required, in particular tasks expected on classroom placement.

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. To achieve a passing standard in this unit, students will find it helpful to engage in the full range of learning activities and assessments utilised in this unit, as described in the learning and teaching strategy and the assessment strategy. The learning and teaching and assessment strategies include a range of approaches to support your learning such as reading, reflection, discussion, webinars, podcasts, video etc.

Technology Enhanced Learning

Technology will be used to enhance teaching and learning, as well as in assessment, as a means of communication, production and feedback. Students will be required to create digital artefacts and interact with the unit’s ‘Learning Environment Online’ (LEO) site, online resources and technology requirements. The LEO site for this unit is available here:

Assessment strategy and rationale

The assessment tasks and their weightings allow pre-service teachers to progressively demonstrate achievement against the course learning outcomes by demonstrating academic and professional standards. The unit focuses on developing understanding of, and skills across the professional knowledge, practice and engagement needed to meet expectations of the Graduate Attributes and the APST - Graduate level. In this unit assessment task 1 focusses on preservice teachers’ identifying the literacy and numeracy demands in their teaching areas. Assessment task 2 fosters collaboration with peers which would occur in a school setting to identify students who need additional support for literacy and numeracy and possible methods of assessment. Assessment task 3 builds on the previous tasks and enables pre-service teachers to design learning activities which provide appropriate literacy and numeracy support for students to achieve the learning outcomes of the planned activities.

A range of assessment procedures are used to meet the unit learning outcomes and develop graduate attributes and professional standards and criteria consistent with University assessment requirements. (http://www.acu.edu.au/policy/student_policies/assessment_policy_and_assessment_procedures).

 Minimum Achievement Standards

The assessment tasks for this unit are designed to demonstrate achievement of each learning outcome. To promote sustained learning, pre-service teachers are expected to complete weekly readings and practice tasks as assigned by teaching staff and submit ALL assessment tasks. Assessments in EDF454 include one Critical Task:

Assessment Task 3 Teaching Portfolio 

These tasks are core to the demonstration of a number of Australian Professional Teacher Standards. In order to pass this unit, pre-service teachers must demonstrate mastery of every summative standard listed in the learning outcomes and attain a score of at least 50% in Task 3 and achieve a Passing grade overall.

Electronic Submission, Marking and Return

Assessment Tasks will be submitted, marked and returned electronically via LEO as appropriate and in accordance with the ACU assessment policy. This unit uses Turnitin as a text matching tool. 

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Required text(s)

The Australian Curriculum: https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/

National Literacy Learning Progressions: https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/resources/national-literacy-and-numeracy-learning-progressions/national-literacy-learning-progression/

National Numeracy Learning Progressions: https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/resources/national-literacy-and-numeracy-learning-progressions/national-numeracy-learning-progression/ 

Recommended texts for developing knowledge of language and literacy

Derewianka, B. and Jones, P. (2013) Teaching Language in context London, Oxford University Press

Freebody, P., Maton, K., and Martin, J.R. (2008) Talk, Text and Knowledge in cumulative, integrated learning: A response to ‘intellectual challenge’ in Australian Journal of Language and Literacy. Vol 31.No 2 pp 188-201

Humphrey, S. (2017). Academic Literacies in the Middle Years: A Framework for Enhancing Teacher Knowledge and Student Achievement. UK: Routledge

Humphrey, S., & Vidal Lizama, M. (in press for 2020). Developing ‘Bridging’ Semiotic and Pedagogic Knowledge for Pre-Service Subject Area Teachers in the ‘New Mainstream’. In Cardozo-Gaibisso, L., & Vazquez Dominguez, M. (Eds). Advancing Language Equity Practices with Immigrant Communities: Learning in and Out of Schools. IGI Global

Gibbons (2009) English Learners, Academic Literacy and Thinking: Learning in the Challenge Zone Portsmouth Heinemann – Chapter 3 Literacy in the Curriculum: Challenges for EL learners pp-43-57

Rose, D (2010) Beating educational inequality with an integrated reading pedagogy in F. Christie and A. Simpson Literacy and Social Responsibility: Multiple Perspectives Equinox London

Readings related to literacy and numeracy pedagogy

What Works. The Work Program: Core Issues 3. Literacy for Succeeding at school. Australian Gov. Department of Education, Science and Training. http://www.whatworks.edu.au/upload/1282032251737_file_3Literacy.pdf

Rose, D. 2015 Myth making and meaning making: the school and Aboriginal children. A discussion of the problems of Indigenous children in school and solutions through reading. In M Hamilton, R Heydon, K Hibbert & R Stooke [eds.] Multimodality and Governmentality: Negotiating Spaces in Literacy Education. London: Continuum, 167‐184

Yunkaporta, Tyson Kaawoppa (2009). DET NSW Our Ways of Learning in Aboriginal Languages. NSW Department of Education and Training https://research.qut.edu.au/ydc/resources/https://

Illustration of practice: www.aitsl.edu.au/tools-resources/resource/eight-ways-of-learning-illustration-of-practice

Literacy in Mathematics. Chs 6 and 7. In YuMi Deadly Maths Supplementary Resource 3 Prep to Year 12). Queensland University of Technology. https://research.qut.edu.au/ydc/resources/