Course Title: Early Childhood Professional Practice 3

Part A: Course Overview

Course Title: Early Childhood Professional Practice 3

Credit Points: .00

Terms

Course Code

Campus

Career

School

Learning Mode

Teaching Period(s)

TCHE2274

Bundoora Campus

Postgraduate

360H Education

Workplace

 Sem 2 2012,
Sem 2 2013,
Sem 2 2014,
Sem 1 2015,
Sem 2 2015

Course Coordinator: Dr Josephine Ng

Course Coordinator Phone: +61 3 9925 7861

Course Coordinator Email: josephine.ng@rmit.edu.au


Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities

None


Course Description

This is a core course that focuses on the development of professional practice skills directly related to work integrated learning. The course involves placement in an educational setting with children aged 3-6 years for a period of 25 days. Particular focus will be given to observing and implementing best practice management strategies.


Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development

This course is designed to assist students to build and refine their knowledge and skills in the areas of observation, learning and teaching, assessment, reflection and knowledge of innovations and initiatives based on reflection and feedback from their previous professional practice experiences and current learning within the course.


Upon completion of the course students will be able to:

  • Observe, reflect and implement best practices management strategies.
  • Articulate and integrate into their planning a range of best practice strategies and organisational skills.
  • Plan, implement and evaluate small and whole group experiences that may be a part of a sequence of lessons.
  • Observe, record and reflect on the ways in which teachers use effective teaching and learning strategies.
  • Provide feedback to children as learners.
  • Show further development in assessing the progress of individual students including the keeping of appropriate assessment records.
  • Demonstrate the ability to modify a session as it occurs, in response to the evaluation of children’s needs and external factors.
  • Articulate some of the innovations and initiatives that are being implemented in the educational setting.
  • Seek and accept guidance and respond constructively to feedback from professional mentors.
  • Reflect on their teaching and issues impacting on the professional practice classroom.

ICT Outcomes
At the conclusion of this course students will have demonstrated and/or acquired the following ICT capabilities:

  • Understandings of how ICT resources can be integrated in meaningful ways that take into account students’ existing and diverse technological skills and to produce engaging and challenging curriculum.
  • Understandings of how to use ICT in the classroom to facilitate learning, in particular critical skills such as information skills, analysis, problem-solving and decision-making.
  • Abilities to provide opportunities for students to be engaged in ICT-enriched activities that are essential self-regulating and cooperative.

Professional Standards

This course is aligned with the following standards:

  • Teachers know how children learn and how to teach them effectively.
  • Teachers know the content they teach.
  • Teachers know their students.
  • Teachers plan and assess for effective learning.
  • Teachers create and maintain safe and challenging learning environments.
  • Teachers use a range of teaching strategies and resources to engage children in effective learning.
  • Teachers reflect on, evaluate and improve their professional knowledge and practice.
  • Teachers are active members of their profession.


Overview of Learning Activities

Students’ learning in this course will involve a range of activities both at the educational setting and university that are designed to focus on addressing characteristics of effective professional practice.


Overview of Learning Resources

See Part B


Overview of Assessment

Assessment tasks are directly linked to the stated objectives and outcomes. Assessment in the course will be both theoretical and practical in nature. A range of formative and summative assessment types will be incorporated into the course (for example, developing a Professional Portfolio and a variety of assessment that demonstrates how the specific areas of professional experience have been addressed).

Students should refer to Part B of the course guide for further information on assessment.