Curriculum and Pedagogy for Primary: Practicum 3P

Overview

The pre-service teachers will undertake 20 days of professional experience in an upper primary school setting under the supervision of a registered teacher mentor. In this unit pre-service teachers involve themselves in the life of the school and reflect on their practice and performance in discussion with their school mentor teacher and university staff. Pre-service teachers will take a large percentage of full class teaching. In preparation for their placement in schools, they will engage with material relating to pedagogy and curriculum for a primary school setting and assessment for learning in the primary classroom and establishing professional relationships from the onset and demonstrate competence against all the Australian professional standards for teachers at graduate level.

Unit learning outcomes

Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:

1. Critically evaluate curricula and pedagogical principles in relation to effective teaching and learning using a variety of curriculum documents and resources
2. Write, evaluate, reflect and implement detailed and professional learning/teaching plans, including designing safe learning environments
3. Enact professional relationships with education professionals and caring and professional relationships with students
4. Apply pedagogical approaches to promote children’s learning and wellbeing in ways that are responsive to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing, doing and being as well as of all diverse learners

Teaching methods

Swinburne Online

Assessment

It is a requirement that students achieve an overall pass grade for the Professional Experience Portfolio assessment task.

This task is designed to evidence attainment of various Australian Professional Standards for Teachers and National Program Standards in line with external accreditation by the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL).

Students who do not achieve an overall pass grade will, if feasible, be granted one additional opportunity to evidence their attainment of unmet requirements. This requirement is aligned to the National Program Standard 5.4 that ensures providers work collaboratively with placement schools and systems to rigorously assess pre-service teachers against the Graduate Teacher Standards.

Content

• Engagement in a professional practicum under the guidance of a mentor teacher
• Upper primary school (Grades 3 to 6) relevant national and/or state or territory curriculum policies and documents
• Pedagogy
• Introduction to assessment practices and their relationship to effective learning
• Lesson and unit planning and documentation
• Forming professional relationships
• Self-assessment of teaching performance
• Creating and maintaining a safe and challenging learning environment
• Using a range of teaching practices and resources
• Strategies for supporting students’ well-being and safety, including policy and legislative requirements
• Code of Conduct
• Australian Professional Standards for Teachers 
• 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