Recommended Study Sequence

This unit is designed to meet the needs of teacher education students who require in depth knowledge in the field of historical and contemporary Indigenous Australian cultures. The unit relates both to teaching Indigenous Australian children in the classroom and for the effective implementation of Aboriginal Studies in the classroom for all Australian children.

THIS UNIT WILL BE AVAILABLE IN 2009. Indigenous Australians are depicted in a wide range of texts. These representations form the way Indigenous identities are constructed yet are formed by processes involving Indigenous and non-Indigenous People. Students will examine carefully these texts, the diverse nature of them and compare the outcomes; particularly the way they affect relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Examination of the portrayal of Indigenous Australians in texts in a school context will be deconstructed so students understand the process of producing current and future identities.

Beginning a teacher education course requires students to orient themselves to learning and teaching in a variety of ways. This unit introduces them to a range of issues that are critical to effective teaching and learning. These issues centre on learning environments; the roles of teachers in schools and as life long learners; and the responsibilities of teachers to observe and understand the children in their care, plan for individual children on the basis of diagnostic evaluations, employ teaching approaches which cater for the needs of individuals as well as the group, and employ assessment processes which empower rather than simply compare children. In this unit, students will also engage in a range of school-based observations and teaching experiences in educational contexts through which the theoretical perspectives covered will be situated.

THIS UNIT WILL BE AVAILABLE FROM 2009. This unit is designed to introduce students to the characteristics of classroom s and curriculum implementation. Students will explore the structure of New South Wales teaching, learning and curriculum in all key learning areas, examine the perspectives which influence the curriculum and the way in which curriculum is interpreted in the classroom environment. The unit will assist the students in commencing the development of their professional portfolio whilst focusing on professional experience.

THIS UNIT WILL BE AVAILABLE FROM 2009. All primary school teachers need to feel confident and competent in their own mathematics as well as in mathematics pedagogy. This unit considers beginning teachers' own mathematical skills and knowledge and how they can use them to formulate their own numeracies. Students will use a variety of investigative techniques to highlight the evidence of patterns and relationships in mathematics. The inherent structure of mathematics will be approached through the examination of various mathematical systems. In addition, students will examine the nature of mathematical thought.

UNIT WILL BE AVAILABLE FROM 2009. Responsive teaching engages students holistically in learning that is tailored to meet their physical, cognitive, social, emotional and developmental needs. This unit will consider the learning needs and styles of primary children, including Indigenous children. It will introduce key approaches to instruction based on theories and research in educational psychology. A particular focus will be the development of children’s sense of self and the ways that children’s school experiences interact with cultural and familial influences to shape identity, motivation and engagement throughout the primary years. The approach will emphasise ways of establishing and maintaining positive and productive classroom environments that cultivate children’s social and emotional wellbeing.

Students need to understand and assess the intellectual, emotional, social and physical needs of all children in the mainstream classroom. They need to develop appropriate skills, attitudes and methodologies to enable them to plan, implement and evaluate programs which meet the educational needs of individual children with disabilities, learning difficulties and/or behaviour disorders. Strategies and theories for effectively integrating and including all children, as well as knowledge of Federal and State policy and legislation will be addressed.

One in four children in Australia grow up in bilingual households. Many of these children need support in developing their English. This unit aims to contribute to the overall course aims by preparing mainstream trainee teachers with some initial principals about ESL teaching and learning. The emphasis will be on developing an understanding of appropriate classroom strategies for learners of English as a second language within a mainstream cross-curricula program.