EBTS100 - Teaching, Learning and Context

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

Unit rationale, description and aim

In order to operate as effective educators, a knowledge of the scholarship surrounding learning and teaching as it articulates with different cultural contexts is required.

This unit assists participants to explore specific worldviews of specified South East Asian and /or Pacific Island peoples, how they learn and communicate with one another and how this influences their implementation of national curriculum. Participants are encouraged to share their teaching experiences as a foundation to reflectively engage with appropriate international teaching perspectives. The focus of this unit is to respectfully assist participants working collaboratively, to critically explore their own teaching and the complex dynamics that promote learning by students, whose first language is not English.

This is one of four units within the mission-focused Certificate in Learning and Teaching which is delivered offshore.

This unit aims to enable participants to be able to contextualise their teaching practices in light of cultural-sensitive scholarship.

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 - Describe learning practices that influence and support learning for all. (GA1, GA7, GA9)

LO2 - Demonstrate knowledge of local cultures and how they influence reflective teaching and learning experiences. (GA2, GA6, GA7)

LO3 - Design approaches to creating and sustaining learning that is responsive to policy contexts, community needs, and the professional learning needs of teachers. (GA1, GA3, GA4, GA7, GA9)

Graduate attributes

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

GA2 - recognise their responsibility to the common good, the environment and society 

GA3 - apply ethical perspectives in informed decision making

GA4 - think critically and reflectively 

GA6 - solve problems in a variety of settings taking local and international perspectives into account

GA7 - work both autonomously and collaboratively 

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

Content

Topics will include: 

• Contextual Analysis 
• Immediate school experiences 
• Cultural and national priorities 
• Critique of national curriculum 
• Teacher responsibilities including “Duty of Care”, mandatory reporting and other legislation 

• Tension between western education and local cultural values 
• Uncritical transfer of western curriculum and values to developing countries 
• Critiquing teacher centered, student centered and learner centered pedagogical perspectives 
• Critiquing local understandings of quality teaching 

• Improving teaching and learning 
• Summary of current and planned research on teaching, learning curriculum in the local context 
• Innovations in teaching and learning in developing countries 
• Visible learning and its application to the local context  
• Reflective educational practice: professional, community, assessment preparation 

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

A variety of learning and teaching approaches are sequenced and integrated to comprise a progressive and developmental learning and teaching strategy emphasising collaborative learning and cultural sensitivity. Culturally relevant pedagogies accompanied by new pedagogies and critical reflection are explored. Students are encouraged to share experiences and challenges with each other in order to develop a community of practice in their schools. The unit employs stimulating adult learning strategies to maximise student engagement and critical reflection. These include:  

• Face to face learning – seminars, tutorials and workshops 
• Collaborative learning 
• Practical activities 
• Self-directed study 
• Required reading 
• Multi-media sources and viewing 

Assessment strategy and rationale

The underpinning assessment strategy needs to relate to: 

• Knowledge of context 
• Implementation of pedagogical practices that are culturally appropriate 
• Critical evaluation of teaching and student learning 

The assessment tasks for this unit have been designed to contribute to high quality student learning by both helping students learn (assessment for learning), and by measuring explicit evidence of their learning (assessment of learning). Assessments have been developed to meet the unit learning outcomes and develop graduate attributes consistent with University assessment requirements. These have been designed so that they use individual and group tasks to measure the different learning outcomes of the unit. Assessments are adapted to the contexts where the learning in the unit occurs and include practical activities, presentation of findings and a reflective report. 

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Ganimian, A. Murnane, R. (2016). Improving education in developing countries: lessons from rigorous impact evaluations, Review of Education Research, 86, 3, 719-755 

Guthrie, G. (2010). Progressive education fallacy in developing countries: In favour of formalism, London: Springer. 

Guthrie, G. (2018). Classroom change in developing countries, London: Taylor & Francis. 

Masino, S., & Niño-Zarazúa, M. (2016). What works to improve the quality of student learning in developing countries? International Journal of Educational Development, 48, 53-65. 

McLaughlin, J. (2017). Shifting boundaries and education development discourses: Implications for comparative and international education in Oceania. In: Annual Review of Comparative and International Education, Published online: 22 Jan 2018; 205-230. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-367920180000034018 

Reid, K., & Kleinhenz, E. (2015). Supporting teacher development: Literature review, Canberra: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.