ED2092:04
English Education for Young Children
Townsville, Cairns
HECS Band 1
26 hours lectures, 13 workshops. Semester 1 (Cairns campus); Semester 2 (Townsville campus).
Compulsory for all students specialising in the Early Childhood area, studying at the Bachelor of Education level and BEd Professional Development (Upgrading) degree programs.
Staff: Dr G Ward (Townsville campus); Ms G Shopen (Cairns campus).
The basis of this subject is teaching young children in subject English across the areas of listening, speaking, reading, writing and viewing, with particular reference to the Queensland syllabus for English in Years 1 to 10. Topics include a critique of several models of instruction which influence teaching across the language/literacy area, with a view to maximising learning opportunities for all children in today’s classroom; a review of children’s literature; investigation of a variety of text forms; issues of language diversity and learning styles and their impact on best teaching practice; and a variety of means for assessing and reporting such learning. There is a focus on meaning and relevance within the schooling and other contexts, as the basis for selecting literacy instructional techniques and materials to be used. Consideration of the profound changes in literacy demands for children today and the major role media and technology play are featured.
Learning Objectives:
- be familiar with the English in Years 1 to 10 Syllabus for Queensland and a range of instructional models for achieving the outcomes set out for children in the Early Childhood years;
- use this knowledge to build on a personal theory of English language and literacy that will inform the future classroom praxis for the teacher, including planning, assessment and reporting strategies;
- use materials in motivating young learners to build new knowledges in age-appropriate ways and contexts;
- demonstrate an awareness of the diversity in classrooms and develop ways of accommodating such diversity in the Early Childhood English teaching and learning context;
- highlight the use of children’s literature within a variety of genres, and incorporate these in teaching across the five major elements of the subject English;
- develop skills at modelling how reading, writing, listening, speaking and viewing have important roles to play in life out of school in a variety of contexts
- show an understandings of the changing nature of literacy demands today and means of teaching, assessing and reporting these dynamics.
Assessment by:
Townsville
Planning activity (30%); self-assessment (10%); two hour examination (60%).
Cairns
Writing folio (30%); workshop presentation (45%); two hour examination (25%).