476-109 Teachers, Inquiry and Learning 2

Note:

Credit Points:

Coordinator:

Prerequisite/s:

Corequisite/s:

Timetable:

Contact:

Objectives:

On completion of this subject students should be able to:

• demonstrate a knowledge of how teachers and schools structure and vary programs - through both short and long term curriculum development- to enable learners to develop, reflect upon and refine conceptual understandings about their world and the skills they utilise in building these understandings;

• demonstrate the continuing development of a repertoire of teaching strategies and knowledge to guide selective and effective use of these;

• demonstrate a developing knowledge of the various dimensions of teachers' work, both in and out of the classroom, and an awareness of the diverse and changing expectations which teachers must address and attempt to satisfy; and

• demonstrate an awareness of a variety of ways in which assessment of learning (formative and summative) can be integrated, recorded and reported within curriculum implementation.

Content:

An extension and development of studies in Teachers, Inquiry and Learning 1. Drawing variously on practicum and other field experiences, workshop activities, and reading from policy documents, accounts of experience, and research and theoretical literature, these studies encompass several areas of knowledge and skill which underpin teachers' professional practice including their work in school curriculum review and development and the assessment and reporting of learning.

• Continuing work on learning in relation to curriculum design and implementation; teachers' knowledge and skills; the overall professional role of teachers;

• Consideration of strategies within curriculum programs and activities to maximise individual learning and foster greater learner independence, and to recognise and counter barriers to learning;

• The relationship between objectives, assessment and learning; the range of formative and summative assessment procedures and their application across the learning areas; the provisions made for learners, teachers, schools and systems to assess, record and report on learning for different audiences and purposes; current Victorian and national policies on assessment and reporting;

• Critical examination of current policy and debate about curriculum content and approaches for schools including study of alternatives in both theory and practice and the role of the profession in policy formation; and

• Teachers' work as members of the profession, and in relationship to families, groups and institutions; evaluation, appraisal and development of teacher performance; teaching as a career subject to changing community expectations.

Assessment:

Prescribed Texts:

• Hatton E (ed), Understanding Teaching, Harcourt Brown Sydney 1995.