James Cook University Subject Handbook - 2002

ED4498:00

Graduate BEd Second Year Professional Experience

Townsville, Cairns

HECS Band 1

4 hours lectures, 300 hours professional experience including approximately 400 hours of James Cook University academic staff contact for the cohort. Full year.

Available to students who have successfully completed 16 units of BEd subjects including 12 units in each discipline area from the first degree for BEd (Secondary) and ED3498 and are concurrently enrolled in ED4091 (Early Childhood), ED4191 (Primary) or ED4290 (Secondary) and ED4291.

Staff: Dr K Martinez (Townsville campus); Dr P Matters (Cairns campus).

This subject is part of the developmental curriculum for professional experience within the Graduate Bachelor of Education program. Students will complete one week of professional orientation at the beginning of the academic year, engaging in whole group visits to educational settings and sessions with key educational leaders in the community. Students will also participate in field-based experiences for 12 weeks, spread across different stages throughout the year. During this pre-professional year, students will develop and integrate their knowledge of policies, research and practices, and their personal practical theories of effective teaching for all learners in their specialist sector (Early Childhood, Primary, Secondary). Students will actively participate in the life of a school/centre during the entire school year, and develop an understanding of the complexities of the varied roles of professional teachers. Students will develop appropriate competencies to be autonomous, reflective, collaborative practitioners ready to begin to teach.

Learning Objectives:

  1. the ability to plan, prepare and self-evaluate teaching activities and units;
  2. a critical knowledge base for learning and teaching;
  3. effective interactive skills with all learners;
  4. the ability to establish and manage effective learning environments appropriate to all learners;
  5. the ability to develop and use appropriately a variety of assessment techniques to monitor, record and provide feedback on learners’ progress;
  6. understanding of complexities and ethics of teachers’ roles, including ability to maintain collaborative relations with colleagues.

In the final phase of this practicum, students will demonstrate the ability to apply these skills consistently over a three week continuous teaching and learning unit.

School-based teacher educators will complete a written report on the student’s demonstrated competence to begin to teach.