EDPP600 - Critical Enquiry and Evidence-Based Practice A

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

EDFD683 Evidence-Based Practice AND EDFX532 Graduate Professional Practice 2

Unit rationale, description and aim

This is the first in a two unit sequence undertaken in the second year of the Master of Teaching (Secondary) as part of the Professional Practice (Prof Prac) specialisation. This unit draws upon previous units within the course, in particular EDFD683 Evidence-Based Practice.

This unit supports the early career teacher's induction into the profession. It is embedded within the realities of everyday teaching and challenges the early career teacher to undertake substantial reflective and reflexive processes in order to consolidate and expand their professional knowledge, ethically based practice and engagement. The early career teacher will use a critical enquiry approach to further develop competencies in the alignment of curriculum, assessment, learning, and teaching. Evidence-based practice in this unit will focus specifically on the national priority areas of literacy and numeracy across the curriculum.

This unit aims to provide pre-service teachers with and induction into the profession, with a evidence-based practice in this unit will focus specifically on the national priority areas of literacy and numeracy across the curriculum.

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 - Reflect on, and critically analyse, the ways in which they have consolidated their professional knowledge, practice and engagement commensurate with relevant professional codes of ethics and conduct, the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) Graduate Standards, and their progression towards a repertoire of skills consistent with the APST Proficiency Standards (GA4, GA5, GA8; APST 6.1, 6.3, 6.4, 7.1)

LO2 - Use a critical, evidence-based approach, applying appropriate codes of ethics, that aims to: explore the alignment of curriculum, assessment, learning, and teaching; and enhance student learning outcomes in their curriculum areas, literacy and numeracy (GA3, GA4, GA5, GA7, GA8; APST 1.2, 3.6, 5.1, 5.4, 7.1)

LO3 - Demonstrate an in-depth understanding of strategies for assessing, moderating, interpreting assessment data, making consistent judgements, keeping accurate records, tracking and profiling, for the purposes of reporting to parents/carers and modifying teaching practice. (GA5; APST 5.1, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5)

LO4 - Critically analyse a variety of evidence, including that derived from assessment, which relates to the impact of the ECT’s pedagogy on student learning outcomes (GA3, GA4, GA5, GA6, GA7, GA8; APST 1.2, 3.6, 5.1, 5.4)

LO5 - Demonstrate the ability to participate as a member of a critical collaborative learning community of professional educators and demonstrate their ability to transmit their knowledge, skills and ideas to specialist and non-specialist audiences (GA5, GA7, GA9; APST 6.3, 6.4)

LO6 - Articulate a rationale for continued professional learning, demonstrate understanding of the role of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers in identifying professional learning needs, and knowledge of sources of professional learning for teachers, including external professionals and community representatives (GA5; APST 6.1, 6.2, 6.4, 7.4)

LO7 - Demonstrate an understanding of the importance, policies and strategies for building safe and supportive environments for working with children and young people (GA1, GA5; APST 7.2). 

Graduate attributes

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

GA3 - apply ethical perspectives in informed decision making

GA4 - think critically and reflectively 

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

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

GA7 - work both autonomously and collaboratively 

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

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

AUSTRALIAN PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS FOR TEACHERS - GRADUATE LEVEL

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

Content

Topics will include:

• Designing and managing projects; strategies for responding to researchable questions and organising research processes, timelines and data
• Principles of ethical data collection and analysis techniques commonly used in educational research
• Preparing proposals; refining, contextualising and justifying a research problem and researchable questions
• Strategies to record, interpret and analyse student assessment data in order to evaluate student learning and modify teaching practice.
• Assessment strategies, including informal and formal, diagnostic, formative and summative approaches to assess student learning
• Assessment, feedback and formal reporting procedures for effective learning, as applied in their teaching context
• Communities of practice; improving pedagogical practice within teaching areas
• Australian Professional Standards for Teachers; developing from the Graduate Teacher Standards to the Proficient Teacher Standards
• Professional identity, resilience and wellbeing
• Reflective professional practice; self-auditing, collegial engagement and mentoring to identify professional learning strengths and needs
• Professional learning; strategies and sources across school, systems and communities
• Data and evidence; designing assessment practices for collecting data to evaluate student learning and student perspectives on learning
• Data and evidence; strategies to record, interpret and analyse qualitative and quantitative data relating to student learning and professional practice
• The complexities of the teacher’s role and the implications for practice, including: organisational policies and processes
• Effective communication and classroom management skills for creating and maintaining positive, safe and challenging learning environments as applied in their context
• Notions of professional identity, resilience and wellbeing: risks and protective factors
• The early career teacher’s role in engaging with contemporary debates related to curriculum, assessment, student achievement, literacy and numeracy performance
• Reflective and self-audit of pedagogical practices and the role of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers in identifying professional learning needs
• Relevant and appropriate sources of professional learning for teachers and the role of external professionals and community representatives in broadening teachers’ professional knowledge and practice.

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

Engagement in praxis-oriented learning is the key driver in the delivery of this curriculum which is offered in online mode with local support from professional mentors. The unit will be implemented with early career teachers (ECTs) completing a Masters level (AQF9) initial teacher education program through an employment-based route. The ECTs are working within educational contexts where they are being supported towards meeting the Proficient Teacher Standards required to move to full registration.

In this unit ECTs are supported in their development as critical and reflective practitioners through induction in the teaching profession. The online unit provides modularised content that focuses on identifying professional learning strengths and needs and then using these in the design of project proposals in a selected area of pedagogical practice. These modules will facilitate ECTs successfully implementing practice-based enquiry within their employment context. Each module will provide core content, relevant readings, and support materials for applying learning to professional learning and practice.

The online content will be supported by specialised communities of learning (CoL) focused around specific teaching areas. Participants will include ECTs in the unit, academic mentors and school-based personnel. The CoL will interrogate pedagogical content knowledge and pedagogical practice related to the teaching area and the learning needs of ECTs. The CoL will focus on understanding and meeting the Proficient Teacher Standards in the context of the selected teaching area. The learning activities might involve face-to-face meetings, synchronous and asynchronous communication, interactive learning activities and experiences; and ECT-led discussions. The CoL will provide support for the development of project proposals. 

Assessment strategy and rationale

The assessment tasks and their weightings are designed to allow pre-service teachers to progressively demonstrate achievement against the unit learning outcomes and demonstrate attainment of professional standards.

This is a 20-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 300 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, workshops, and assignments etc. 

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Alber, S. (2011). A tool kit for action research. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Bullough, R.V. (2014). Toward reconstructing the narrative of teacher education: A rhetorical analysis of preparing teachers. Journal of Teacher Education. 65(3). Pp. 185-194.

Cairns, L. (2011). Learning in the workplace: Communities of practice and beyond. In M. Malloch, L. Cairns, K. Evans, & B.N. O’Connor (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of workplace learning (pp. 73-85) London, England: SAGE

Elliot, J. (Ed) (2011). Reconstructing teacher education. Routledge: New York.

Fichtman, D.F., & Yendol-Silva, D. (2009). The reflective educator's guide to classroom research: Learning to teach and teaching to learn through practitioner inquiry (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Johnson, A.P. (2012). Short guide to action research. (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson

Kemmis, S., McTaggart, R., & Nixon, R. (2014). The action research planner: Doing critical participatory action research. Singapore: Springer Singapore.

Koshy, V. (2010). Action research for improving educational practice: A step-by-step guide (2nd ed.). London, England: Sage.

Macintyre, C. (2012). The art of action research in the classroom. London, England: David Fulton Publishers Ltd.

Roffey, S. (Ed) (2013). Positive relationships: Evidence based practice across the world. New York: Springer Publications.

Shagoury, R., & Miller-Power, B. (2012). Living the questions: A guide for teacher-researchers (2nd ed.). United States: Stenhouse Publishers.

Stewart, D., & Knott, A. (2002). Schools, courts and the law: Managing student welfare. Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson Education Australia.