ED2990 - Education for Cultural Diversity

Credit points:	03
Year:	2009
Student Contribution Band:	Band 4
Administered by:	School of Education

External offering available to Cairns and ECE online students only. Limited offering available to RATEP students only [36110 Majors BED-RA4, BED-RA3].

Education is viewed through a lens of cultural diversity, with a specific focus on "race", gender, socio-economic status and location. We explore systemic and structural inequalities within education and develop appropriate classroom policies and practice which work towards possibilities for the future. In the context of social justice and reconciliation, students will explore theoretical, practical and personal themes relating to the construction of identities, identity and resistance to schooling; historical legacies and current issues; multicultural persons, classrooms and societies and culturally inclusive classroom practices. The professional necessity to understand and address educational inequity is highlighted by the education achievement of Indigenous students which, on average is at significantly lower levels than that of non-Indigenous students at every major educational milestone (Purdie and Stone, 2005). Given the ongoing educational disadvantage experienced by Indigenous people within Australian society (Department of Education Science and Training, 2006), Indigenous education will provide the main focus for the study of these themes. Students will use their understandings of these themes to develop competencies needed to make decisions about learning in classrooms and communities in culturally diverse societies.

Learning Outcomes

• students use selected theories of culture to: explore themselves as cultural beings and;
• students develop engaging and inclusive learning resources that describe diversity within local contexts, the broad context of Australian society as well as within the classroom;
• critically analyse the relationships between cultural diversity and systematic and structural inequalities in Australian schools;
• students derive classroom practices and strategies that: respond to individual learning needs based on approaches to culture addressing gender, socioeconomic status, ethnicity and language issues; and are compatible with the diverse nature of Australian classrooms;
• critically examine a range of curriculum and policy interventions in Australian education that have addressed the issue of diversity from different perspectives.

Prerequisites:	6 credit points of level 1 ED subjects
Inadmissible Subject Combinations:	ED1451

Availabilities
Townsville, Internal, Study Period 2
Census Date 28-Aug-2009
Coord/Lect:	Dr Malcolm Haase.
Contact hours:	13 hours lectures 24 hours tutorials
Assessment:	end of semester exam (40%); workshop faciliation (20%); assignments (40%).
Townsville, Limited, Study Period 2
Census Date 28-Aug-2009
Face to face teaching (Face to face teaching is via teleconferences)
Coord/Lect:	Dr Malcolm Haase.
Contact hours:	13 hours - teleconferences
Assessment:	end of semester exam (20%); assignments (40%); personal reflection (four reflections, 200-250 words each) (40%).
Cairns, Internal, Study Period 2
Census Date 28-Aug-2009
Coordinator:	Dr Pauline Taylor
Lecturer:	jc165873.
Contact hours:	13 hours lectures 24 hours tutorials
Assessment:	end of semester exam (40%); workshop facilitation (20%); assignments (40%).
External, Study Period 2
Census Date 28-Aug-2009
Coordinator:	Dr Pauline Taylor
Lecturer:	jc165873.
Method of Delivery:	WWW - LearnJCU
Assessment:	assignment (30%); tutorial preparation and participation (20%); centrally-administered final exam (50%).

Note: Minor variations might occur due to the continuous Subject quality improvement process, and in case of minor variation(s) in assessment details, the Subject Outline represents the latest official information.