Introduction to Curriculum Planning and Assessment for Primary: Practicum 1

Overview

This is the first of four professional experience units for the Bachelor of Education (Primary). Pre-service teachers will undertake 20 days of professional experience in an approved Primary School setting, with children in a Foundation to Year 2 classroom under the supervision of approved mentors. The unit provides pre-service teachers with knowledge and skills needed to teach children effectively and gain knowledge about a variety of theoretical approaches to curriculum and assessment. Pre-service teachers become familiar with the relevant national and/or state or territory curriculum documents and demonstrate competence against the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers appropriate to the course stage of this professional experience.

Learning outcomes

Teaching methods

Swinburne Online

Assessment

Students must achieve a minimum overall score of 70% for the Professional Experience Placement Report, including meeting the Australian Institute of Teaching and School Leadership Focus Areas 4.4 (Maintain student safety), 7.1 (Meet professional ethics and responsibilities) and 7.2 (Comply with legislative, administrative and organisational requirements):

• Not met (0%-49%)

• At risk (50%-69%)

• Met (70%-89%)

• Exceeding (90%-100%).

Students who achieve an ‘At Risk’ result will be offered one opportunity to improve their assessment through an appropriate supplementary task determined by the Unit Convenor. This hurdle requirement is in line with Initial Teacher Education Accreditation and meets the National Program Standard 5.4 (Professional Experience-Providers work with their placement school(s)/systems to achieve a rigorous approach to the assessment of pre-service teachers’ achievements against the Graduate Teacher Standards) set by the Australian Institute of Teaching and School Leadership that partner with State Teacher Education registration organisations to register all qualified Teachers.

Content

• Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (Graduate) Standards 1-7
• Code of Ethics
• How children learn in the Primary education context
• Teaching with intention 
• Expectations for young children 
• Self-assessment of teaching 
• Learning experiences 
• Promoting confidence and engagement in learning 
• Adapting teaching methods to young children’s skills, knowledge and interests 
• Demonstrating an awareness of children’s interest in contemporary technologies
• Recognising individual difference and supporting learning accordingly
• Engaging collaboratively with colleagues and contributing to reflective practice
• Planning for and assessing children’s learning 
• Creating and maintaining safe, healthy and challenging learning environments
• Using relevant documents to plan, implement and evaluate learning experiences
• Intervening effectively to encourage appropriate behaviour and deal with inappropriate behaviour
• Relevant national and/or state or territory curriculum  and framework documents
• Family partnerships-strategies for communication with families
• Links between theory, research and practice
• Graduate Attribute – Communication Skills: Verbal communication
• Graduate Attribute – Communication Skills: Communicating using different media
• Graduate Attribute – Teamwork Skills: Collaboration and negotiation
• Graduate Attribute – Teamwork Skills: Teamwork roles and processes
• Graduate Attribute – Digital Literacies: Information literacy
• Graduate Attribute – Digital Literacies: Technical literacy