Year
2021Credit points
10Campus offering
No unit offerings are currently available for this unitPrerequisites
EDFX661 Graduate Professional Experience 1 (Birth-3 Years) and EDFX663 Graduate Professional Experience 3 (5-8 Years and 8-12 Years) , LNTE100 LANTITE - LITERACY TEST FOR INITIAL TEACHER EDUCATION STUDENTS , LNTE101 LANTITE - NUMERACY TEST FOR INITIAL TEACHER EDUCATION STUDENTS
Unit rationale, description and aim
Pre-service educators will use an action research project/topic as a reflective process of progressive problem solving to address an issue, problem or theory within their community of practice in order to improve the way the issue or problem is addressed. Students will document, under the guidance of their supervisor, an exploration on how they plan to improve their strategies, practices, and knowledge of the environments within which they practice.
This final 20 day professional experience provides the pre-service educator with sustained engagement in a 5 to 8 years context. It is designed as a capstone experience drawing on all components of the course and culminating with a engagement in the Graduate Teacher Performance Assessment as critical enquiry into professional practice.
This unit aims to assist pre-service teachers to foster critical understanding of research when working with young children.
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 - identify reflective educational research paradigms, methodologies and techniques (GA8)
LO2 - consider ethical issues (GA3)
LO3 - demonstrate a beginning understanding and sensitivity to the impact of research on young children and educational practice (GA2, GA4)
LO4 - demonstrate an understanding in the formulation of a research question (GA8)
LO5 - discuss approaches to action research and techniques for inquiry (GA9)
LO6 - critically review early childhood research literature (GA4, GA8)
LO7 - outline and plan for data analysis and report writing (GA4, GA8, GA10; APST2.2)
LO8 - develop a sound action research course for consideration (GA8)
LO9 - demonstrate sound autonomous pedagogical practice through clear teaching and learning sequences as appropriate to the professional practice context. (APST2.1)
Graduate attributes
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
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:
On successful completion of their initial teacher education, graduate teachers should be able to draw upon three domains of teaching: Professional Knowledge (know students and how they learn and know the content and how to teach it); Professional Practice (plan for and implement effective teaching and learning, create and maintain supportive and safe learning environments and assess, provide feedback and report on student learning) and Professional Engagement (engage in professional learning and engage professionally with colleagues, parents/carers and the community).
In this final professional experience pre-service teachers are required to demonstrate mastery of all of the APST: Graduate level by completing two culminating assessments:
Additionally, on successful completion of this unit, pre-service teachers should have developed the ability to: |
2.1 Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the concepts, substance and structure of the content and teaching strategies of the teaching area. |
2.2 Organise content into an effective learning and teaching sequence. |
Content
Topics will include:
- Researching early childhood: Constructing childhoods, constructing pedagogy
- Research paradigms: Ways of seeing
- The research process
- Ethics and integrity in research
- Formulating a research question
- The literature review: Reading, referencing and the management of information
- Data collection, analysis and interpretation, reporting
- Writing a research course.
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
Students should anticipate undertaking 150 hours of study for this unit, including engaging with the online materials, workshop/tutorial attendance (where applicable), readings, discussion forums and assignment preparation. The unit delivery will consist of a digital core with the expectation of students working with these materials for a minimum of two hours or equivalent each week. In addition, a two hour workshop/tutorial may be held in online mode. There will be an opportunity for the content to be applied in the professional experience and students will draw on the ethical, theoretical and practical considerations of this unit for their professional practice.
Through immersion in the field pre-service teachers will examine the nexus between theory and practice by knowing, doing and being in the context. The supervised and assessed placement will consist of:
- 20 day block
Assessment strategy and rationale
The professional experience included in this unit represents the culmination of the pre-service teacher’s development towards readiness for the profession. The assessment comprises two culminating pieces of evidence of professional readiness; i) the final report of Professional Experience Assessment; and ii) the Graduate Teacher Performance Assessment (GTPA). Pre-service teachers must achieve a pass in both assessments to satisfactorily complete this unit.
An ungraded pass or fail grade will be awarded for the completion of this unit. The University will award the final grade based on the two pieces of evidence collated about the student’s attainment of the Australian Professional Standards of Teachers: Graduate. Students must meet the graduate level requirements for both tasks/pieces of evidence to pass this unit.
If a fail grade is determined for either assessment requirement, regardless of the outcome of the other, this will result in a fail for the entire unit. Pre-service teachers who fail this unit will be asked to ‘show cause’ and their enrolment in the course will be terminated if the unit is failed twice.
Overview of assessments
| Brief Description of Kind and Purpose of Assessment Tasks | Weighting | Learning Outcomes | Graduate Attributes |
|---|---|---|---|
Assessment Task 1: Graduate Teacher Performance Assessment (GTPA) Learning outcomes for this unit will also be demonstrated by completion of the GTPA. The GTPA asks pre-service teachers to reflect critically on a teaching, learning and assessment cycle and its impact on student learning. It must be accompanied by documentary evidence of the teaching, learning and assessment cycle and of student learning. The GTPA is a common, culminating assessment used across multiple ITE programs and providers. Information about the specific requirements of the GTPA is detailed in the guideline materials supplied via the LEO site of this unit. | Pass/Fail | LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4, LO5, LO6, LO7, LO8, LO9 | GA2, GA3, GA4, GA8, GA9, GA10 |
Assessment Task 2: Professional Experience Assessment The summative Professional Experience is assessed in consultation with a supervising teacher and a university academic over the placement. The pre-service teacher must demonstrate attainment of the Australian Professional Standards of Teachers: Graduate within the context of classroom/school setting practices. Refer to the Unit Professional Experience Guidebook for interim and final reports. | Pass/Fail | LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4, LO5, LO6, LO7, LO8, LO9 | GA2, GA3, GA4, GA8, GA9, GA10 |
Representative texts and references
Aubrey, C., David, T., Godfrey, R., & Thompson, L. (2000). Early childhood educational research, London: RoutledgeFalmer
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (2012). Australian Curriculum. Accessed from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/
Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (2009). Being, belonging and becoming: Early Years Learning Framework for Australia. ACT: Commonwealth of Australia.
Bell, J. (2005). Doing your research project. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Harcourt, D., Perry, B., & Waller, T. (Eds). (2011). Young children’s perspectives: Ethics, theory and research. London: Routledge.
Lambert, E. B. (2003). Introducing research to early childhood students. South Melbourne: Cengage Learning.
MacNaughton, G., Rolfe, S., & Siraj-Blathford, I. (2010). Doing early childhood research (2nd ed.). Maidenhead: Open University Press.
MacNaughton, G. & Hughes, P. (2009). Doing action research in early childhood studies. Maidenhead, Berkshire: Open University Press.