Evidence of cross-curriculum priorities and evidence of general capabilities

In this piece of evidence, the cross-curriculum priorities I have implemented is Sustainability and one of the general capabilities I have selected is ethical understanding. I created a classroom activity for a year 9 geography class I had the students pick their attitudes towards the environment and explain why they chose this. This evidence uses sustainability because the main focus is about the environment and what their perspective on it is while the general capability of ethical understanding was chosen because of how it takes the students own perspective and knowledge on the environment and asks them to choose the attitude that best suits their ethical understanding

Australian Professional Standards for Teachers

Standard 1: Know students and how they learn

This standard is centred on the students and how they learn taking into consideration the physical, social and intellectual characteristics and development of the student, the diverse linguistic, cultural and religious backgrounds that can be found in all Australian schools. This standard provides strategies as to how to teach Aboriginal and Torres Strait students as well as differentiate teaching to reach a wider range of students with different learning needs and abilities.

My development in this area has come a long way since I first went on my placements as I have gone to schools with a wide range of students with learning needs and abilities to schools with a diverse range of cultural and religious backgrounds which has, as a result, developed my understanding on how students learn

Evidence:

Standard 1: Know students and how they learn. Focus area 1.1: Physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of students.

• This piece of evidence clearly demonstrates that I have achieved a graduate-level for the focus area as during the class I had a lot of text on the board but being at an all-boys school I had to clearly show what they were expected to write in a red whiteboard marker as they need a lot of guidance and demonstration to grasp a topic or activity

Standard 1: Know students and how they learn. Focus area 1.2: Understand how students learn.

• This piece of evidence was a teacher’s feedback to my lesson that clearly demonstrates I have achieved the graduate level of the focus area. By being more aware of my tone of voice and asking questions about the topic.

Both these chosen pieces of evidence were the lessons observation and feedback from the teachers who were watching me. They both clearly illustrate my attainment of the chosen focus areas in their writing.

Standard 2: Know the content and how to teach it

This standard focuses on content knowledge and how to implement it into teaching such as the selection of the content and its organisation, strategies for teaching the content. The use of curriculum, assessment and reporting when teaching the content of the chosen subject. Implementing literacy and numeracy strategies into teaching along with the use of information and communication technology (ICT) will be implemented in throughout the content.

My development in this area has seen some improvement however, I still have much to learn as to implementing the content into my classes effectively and be engaging to students of a diverse range of learning needs and abilities. I have had the experience in my early practical placements to be placed at a special needs school which has helped me with content selection and implementation in my classes where I know has several students with special needs or learning needs

Evidence:

Standard 2: Know the content and how to teach it Focus area 2.1: Content and teaching strategies of the teaching area Graduate level

• This piece of evidence clearly demonstrates that I have achieved the requirement for focus area 2.1 as the teachers’ comments on the lesson observation sheet states I have the good content knowledge and know-how to teach it.

Standard 2: Know the content and how to teach it. Focus area 2.2: Content selection and organisation

• This piece of evidence was taken from a lesson plan I had made with several worksheets from a year seven English class on my first placement. It demonstrates adequate content knowledge on the Roald Dahl topic and content selection and organisation asked for in the focus area.

Standard 3: Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning

In this standard, the implementation of effective teaching and learning strategies is the focus area. There are a wide range of strategies that a teacher must implement when planning their classes which include the following challenging learning goals, plan, structure and sequence programs, teaching strategies and the selection and the use of resources for the specific class It is important that a teacher uses effective classroom communication to ensure full student participation and engagement and evaluate their teaching programs for improvement. Engaging with parents/carers is another strategy to implement effective teaching and learning strategies in the class to achieve the best outcome for their students.

Development in this area has been problematic for me and my teaching practice as during my placements I struggled to understand and implement effective teaching and learning strategies that would be appropriate for my classes with my most recent placement in 2019 being a big factor for my struggles. Discussions with my supervising teachers and ACU supervisor on this has brought more knowledge and ways to overcome this for my next placement this year.

Evidence:

Standard 3: Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning. Focus area 3.1: Establish challenging learning goals

• This piece of evidence is taken from a lesson plan I had prepared for my year 8 English class. It clearly outlines the establishment of challenging learning goals for the lesson by taking the syllabus outcomes and using them as learning goals for the class

Standard 3: Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning. Focus area 3.2: Plan, structure and sequence learning programs

• This image is taken from a unit of work I had created with another student for an assessment in 2017. It demonstrates the planning, structure and sequence of the unit and achieves what the focus area is asking of the teacher.

Standard 4: Create and maintain supportive and safe learning environments

In this standard, the main focus is the creation of safe and supportive learning environments. This is achieved through supporting student participation, management of classroom activities and managing challenging behaviour. It is also a priority for all teachers to maintain the safety of their students at all times to ensure their wellbeing and safety are the priority at all times as well as using ICT safely, responsibly and ethically with no harmful sites or content on the internet impacting on the students.

In this area, I have the most to learn and develop in particular focus areas 4.2 Manage classroom activities and 4.3 Manage challenging behaviour. In both my placements in high schools I have struggled greatly with classroom management and managing problematic and challenging behaviour which has led to me losing control of the class and not able to regain it which has led to wasted lessons or my supervising teacher having to step in and take control. This is partly to blame on my soft and non-confrontational personality and inexperience with managing groups of people. This area, in particular, was the focal point of the discussions I had with my supervising teachers and ACU supervisor which ultimately led me to learn and develop more effective strategies to complete my recent placement.

Standard 5: Assess, provide feedback and report on student learning

Standard 5 requires the teacher to assess student learning, provide feedback on their students learning and make consistent comparable judgements to ensure that their students are able to see and understand how their learning is progressing and what they may need to improve do develop their knowledge and skills. Teachers should be regularly interpreting student data and reporting on student achievement to their students and the students’ parents/carers.

My development in this standard still has a lot to improve as well as still experiences such as reporting on student achievement as I never had the chance to write reports or interact with the parents of my students or interpreting student data. Providing consistent and effective feedback to students outside of in classwork and activities was little as there was no assessment marking or reporting happening during the time of my placements.

Standard 7: Engage professionally with colleagues, parents/carers and the community

In standard 7 the main focus is the professional engagement with the various people that are linked to the school such as colleagues, parents/carers and the surrounding communities. At school teachers are required to meet the professional ethics and responsibilities that they are expected to achieve and comply with legislative, administrative and organisational requirements. Part of the teacher’s job as a professional is to engage with their students’ parents/carers and the professional teaching networks and broader communities.

This standard has been a challenge to gain any development in as I haven’t had an opportunity to engage with parents/carers in particular but have had the chance to engage with the other teachers in my faculty during school on matters such as unit creation and outcomes and matters of designing assessments for students.

Educational Philosophy and Rationale

Educational Philosophy

There are many ways people learn in this world. I think some of the most effective ways for a student to learn is to work in collaboration with others to better their education. Through working together students will be able to develop unique skills that individual learning may not provide such as Paget’s learning theories. It is through Vygotsky’s Social Constructivism theories that I base my own philosophy on how people learn and how I would teach a class as Vygotsky believed that cognitive functions develop in and therefore must be explained as products of social interaction. Furthermore, I think that Vygotsky’s belief of the importance of others involved in the learning process allowed them to scaffold learning through Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) theory which commonly visualises an interaction on a task between a more competent person and a less competent person, which then allows the less competent person to become independently proficient at what was previously a joint task. As my degree has progressed I have also grown to adopt more teaching strategies into my professional practice through observations at recent practical experiences with university and through units, I have participated in. I have grown to appreciate the idea of self-directed learning in my philosophy as well as collaborative learning as students who are given the ability to learn and grow their knowledge at their own discretion will be more motivated to learn instead of having a linear program that does not allow them to branch out and self-learn while I as a teacher can provide guidance and support to push the students to develop their own understanding of the topic at hand. Through using both Vygotsky’s and self-directed learning techniques in my teaching I believe that students will be able to gain independent learning skills while also learning the values of collaborating with others to achieve the set goals.

Rationale

My professional learning will never end as the more I teach the more I learn about teaching and new teaching strategies. From previous placements and at university I have learned about the complexities of the professional demands of teachers through the study of the professional standards in particular standard 6: Engage in professional learning. I have come to use these standards to provide advice for me in my professional development and also take advice from my colleagues. There are gaps in my professional knowledge that must be improved such as planning professional learning needs, identifying my personal development goals and improving classroom practice such as management and behaviour control. Using sites like NESA (NSW Education Standards Authority) I can use it as a professional development resource to address the professional learning needs I have identified to improve my professional development as a teacher.

Relevant Qualifications and Experience

I am currently in my fifth year of my Bachelor of Teaching/Bachelor Arts (Humanities) Degree at Australian Catholic University Strathfield Campus. I have completed three practical experiences so far at three different schools lasting one week to three weeks of practical experience at each school. This has provided me with a wealth of knowledge and experience of teaching in a school environment. Relevant qualifications I have completed or obtained during university in order to be qualified to teach in school includes my working with children check and the anaphylaxis training certificate which qualifies me to enter a school as a teacher or a practice teacher.