UNIT INFORMATION

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EDU4384 Strategies for Teacher Development
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
Credit Points: 15
 
Description:
Being an effective teacher is a challenging and multi-dimensional task. This unit will provide participants with an opportunity to explore strategies which encourage self-directed, ongoing, personal-professional development and provide a basis for involvement in school based research. It focuses on developing professional learning in the workplace through action learning/research. Participants will have an opportunity to build on their own professional knowledge and expertise; participate in an educational action learning/research project; and develop critical reflective work practices. Tasks in this unit are designed to grow out of participants' authentic encounters with professional challenges and concerns. Underpinning this unit is the notion of reflective practice, which Dewey defines as: “Active, persistent, and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it, and the further conclusions to which it tends”. Shirley Grundy (1995) expands by arguing that reflective practice has two principal aims: improvement and involvement. Improvement targets three areas: improvement in practices, improvement in the situation in which the practice is occurring, and improvement in understanding both the practice and the situation. The aim of involvement is to engage practitioners in all facets of the action and research. It is premised on people acting together to bring about change.

Participant research is one important way of developing reflective practice because it enables those involved to gain control over their work and find their voices in the formal knowledge base for teaching. Importantly, teacher research provides a way for teachers' personal practical theories and practice-generated knowledge to be systematically examined. This in turn enhances the personal-professional development of teachers and leads to improved educational practice (Jenne, 1994,61). The unit will be structured to support the transition from university studies to teaching for those participants completing their final semester of the BEd degree. Those participants completing PPA4600 or EDU4600 will be able to draw on experiences in those units. Participants already in employment will be able to focus on a chosen aspect of their current employment.

 
 
Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005)
For the purposes of considering a request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005), inherent requirements for this subject are articulated in the Unit Description, Learning Outcomes, Graduate Attributes and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the support for students with disabilities or medical conditions can be found at the Student Equity, Diversity and Disability Service website:
http://intranet.ecu.edu.au/student/support/student-equity

Last Updated - Higher Education: 9/30/2006 VET: 9/30/2006