Teaching for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Overview
This unit critically examines how education systems both reproduce and challenge social inequalities. The unit highlights a teacher’s professional responsibility to provide children and young people with an equitable education in line with political and legislative priorities. Pre-service teachers will critically reflect on their educational experiences and assumptions to more effectively engage all students. Pre-service teachers will explore the diverse needs, strengths, interests, and backgrounds of students, especially in relation to social class, disability, culture, ethnicity, language, religion, gender, and sexuality. Pre-service teachers will formulate critically-informed and socially-just teaching strategies that value the diversity of students.
Requisites
Concurrent Requisite Rule
EDU60015 Supervised Professional Experience 1
OR
EDU60044 Supervised Professional Experience 1
OR
EDU70017 Professional Experience 1
OR
EDU70015 Professional Experience 1
27-October-2024
08-December-2024
15-June-2025
30-November-2025
Learning outcomes
Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:
- Critically reflect upon and challenge their own perspectives, experiences, assumptions, and influences regarding the education system.
- Critically examine the role of education as a site for inclusion and exclusion and the teacher’s potential to both reproduce and overcome social inequalities for students across the full range of abilities.
- Critically examine the educational experiences of students with disabilities and additional needs (incl. neurodiverse students) and formulate inclusive, differentiated, and strength-based strategies for engaging these students and their families.
- Critically examine the educational experiences of students from diverse socioeconomic, cultural, linguistic, and religious backgrounds (incl. students from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds) and formulate inclusive strategies for engaging these students and their families.
- Critically examine policy and legislation concerning diversity, disability, equity, and inclusion in education and the role of the community and external organisations in supporting student participation.
Teaching methods
Hawthorn
Type | Hours per week | Number of weeks | Total (number of hours) |
---|---|---|---|
Live Online |
1.00 |
7 weeks |
14 |
Live Online |
1.00 |
7 weeks |
7 |
On Campus |
20 |
1 week |
20 |
Specified Activities |
4 |
7 weeks |
28 |
Unspecified Activities |
12.5 |
7 weeks |
81 |
TOTAL |
150 |
Swinburne Online
Type | Hours per week | Number of weeks | Total (number of hours) |
---|---|---|---|
Online Directed Online Learning and Independent Learning |
18.75 | 8 weeks | 150 |
TOTAL | 150 |
Assessment
Type | Task | Weighting | ULO's |
---|---|---|---|
Assignment | Individual | 50% | 1,2 |
Assignment | Individual | 50% | 3,4,5 |
Content
- Key sociological tools for examining the explicit and implicit work of educators and education systems
- The ethics, theory, and practice of inclusion
- The philosophy, purpose and political nature of education
- Equity vs equality in education
- The representation and language of diversity, equity and inclusion in education
- The persistent myth of meritocracy, colourblindness, and deficit discourses in relation to educational access, participation, and achievement
- The role of schools in debating, reinforcing, and challenging classism, racism, sexism, and ableism
- The perspectives and experiences of marginalised students
- Characteristics of common additional needs
- Strategies for implementing reasonable adjustments for students with disabilities
- Strength-based and valuing approaches for diversity, equity and inclusion
- Learning environments that promote diversity, equity and inclusion
- The importance of collaborating with families and other professionals to access support, resources, and additional services
- Codes of ethics and conduct, relevant legislative, administrative and organisational policies and processes
Study resources
Reading materials
A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.