Ready to Teach Professional Experience: Practicum 4P

Overview

In this ‘Ready to Teach’ professional experience unit pre-service teachers will undertake a 20 days placement within a primary school setting under the supervision of a mentor teacher. Pre-service teachers will involve themselves in the life of the school and reflect on their practice and performance in discussion with their school supervisor and university staff. In preparation for their placement in schools, pre-service teachers engage with material relating to the primary curriculum, assessment, pedagogy and professional relationships and are prepared to demonstrate competence against ALL the Australian Professional Standards for teachers: Graduate stage and can therefore be deemed ‘Ready to Teach’.

Unit learning outcomes

Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:

1. Prepare and appraise learning experiences using a variety of curriculum documents and resources. Including; Writing detailed and professional learning/teaching plans and reflect upon teaching and learning experiences
2. Apply professional relationships with education professionals, students and families
3. Critically evaluate curriculum and pedagogical principles in relation to effective teaching and learning including designing safe, relevant learning plans
4. Design and implement learning programs to measure impact on student learning and wellbeing, and promote reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, in ways that are responsive to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing, doing and being
5. Enact teaching performance, responsibility for the curriculum and professional readiness at an appropriate standard for a graduate teacher

Teaching methods

Hawthorn

Assessment

It is a requirement that students achieve an overall pass grade for the Professional Experience Portfolio (TPA) assessment task. This task is designed to evidence “graduate level” attainment of the 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

• Australian Professional Standards for Teachers 1 – 7 (Graduate) 

• Code of Ethics 

• Engagement in a professional practicum under the guidance of a mentor teacher 

• Upper Primary School (Grades 3 to 6) 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 resource 

• Strategies for supporting students' well-being and safety, including policy and legislative requirements 

• Completing the GTPA Preparation Assessment 

• Completing the GTPA Portfolio Assessment 

• GA1 Communication - Verbal communication  

• GA2 Communication - Communicating using different media  

• GA3 Teamwork - Collaboration and negotiation  

• GA4 Teamwork – Teamwork roles and processes  

• GA5 Digital literacies– Information literacy  

• GA6 Digital Literacies– Technical literacy