James Cook University Subject Handbook - 2024

ED1401 - Education Perspectives and Practice

Townsville Mixed attendance available only to RATEP students. JCU Online offering is available only to Online B Ed ECE and Primary students enrolled in the carousel offering.

Subject Description

The subject is an orientation to teaching as a profession. It inducts pre-service teachers into the habit of professional practice to draw on research, experience and policy as resources to inform curricular, pedagogical, and ethical decision-making processes. Current issues in education, including equity, student diversity, policy priorities, the structure of education system in Australia, and competing expectations of teachers are explored through theory and research to induct pre-service teachers into the intellectual, creative, and political dimension of the profession. The subject develops pre-service teachers' understanding of the connections of schools to the community, and sense of agency about their professional responsibilities and identity. Upon completion of this subject, pre-service teachers will be able to explore ways to understand the sociocultural backgrounds of students and interpret current policy priorities to enable them to be responsive teachers to individual students.

Learning Outcomes

• 4. demonstrate awareness of key legislative, administrative and organisational policies and processes required for teachers according to school stage
• 5. reflect on the role of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers for identifying professional learning needs, and the rationale for and appropriate sources of continued professional development to improve student learning
• 3. critically reflect on knowledge as a social and historical construct, to ethically inform productive relationships with students, families and communities, and broaden teachers' professional knowledge and practice
• 1. demonstrate an inquiry approach to developing professional knowledge informed by social theories, research and policies on issues in education
• 2. set learning goals and plan a lesson that provides achievable challenges for students of varying abilities and characteristics, including diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds

Subject Assessment

• Written > Learning plan - (50%) - Individual
• Written > Reflection/reflective task 1 - (15%) - Individual
• Written > Critical Analysis - (35%) - Individual

Note that 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.

Availabilities