EDE4103 Multilevel Early Childhood Pedagogy and Curriculum

EDE	4103	87347	1, 2009	WEB	Multilevel Early Childhood Pedagogy and Curriculum	1.00	Toowoomba
Subject	Cat-nbr	Class	Term	Mode	Description	Units	Campus

Academic group:	FOEDU
Academic org:	FOE002
Student contribution band:	National Priority Teaching
ASCED code:	070101

Staffing
Other requisites
Rationale
Synopsis
Objectives
Topics
Texts
Reference materials
Student workload
Assessment details
Important assessment information
Other requirements
Production date
PDF version

STAFFING

Examiner: Deborah Geoghegan
Moderator: Shirley O'Neill

OTHER REQUISITES

Students must have successfully completed the entire previous year's professional experience courses in order to enrol in this course. Students must be available for a prescribed period of time to undertake a placement in a school or other approved site as required in this course. State law in Queensland (Australia) requires that all adults working/undertaking professional experience/researching with children under the age of 18, in the state of Queensland are required to possess a current suitability card (Blue Card). (See "Other Requirements" for further information.) Also see: http://www.childcomm.qld.gov.au/employment/bluecard/informationSheets.html.

RATIONALE

Curriculum is often taken to mean a course of study. When we set our imaginations free from the narrow notion that a course of study is a series of textbooks or specific outline of topics to be covered and objectives to be attained, broader and more meaningful notions emerge" (Connelly & Clandinin 2006, p.1). To construct curriculum effectively it is widely recognised that early childhood teachers rely upon their prior knowledge and their personal experience as well as the knowledge, interests and experience that each child brings into the early childhood classroom. While Curriculum Guidelines and Syllabus documents offer direction about what to teach, ultimately it is the early childhood teacher who makes decisions about the creation and construction of this curriculum. Early childhood educators require an understanding of how negotiated curriculum decision making can be enacted in the early years' multi-age contexts given schools' focus on curriculum document frameworks.

SYNOPSIS

This course will provide practical frameworks for making curriculum effective and meaningful for children in the early years of school. It is designed to assist students to develop confidence and professional competence necessary for creating responsive learning and teaching environments in the early years of school in multi-age contexts. This course will investigate curriculum priorities in the early years of school and will explore school and institutional policy and practice. It will involve an in- depth and critical examination of curriculum documents with particular emphasis on teaching in P-3 multi -age settings. Students will explore organisation and administration of P-3 classes in which they will experience their teaching practice. Emphasis will be placed on the development of integrated, authentic inquiry -based programs and assessment with a strong focus on incorporating early childhood philosophy and pedagogical approaches in the early years of school. A 25 day professional experience placement is attached to this course. NOTE: Minimum enrolment numbers apply to this offering. Should enrolments not reach the minimum number required for on-campus study, students may be transferred to the EXT or WEB offering and advised of this change before semester commences.

OBJECTIVES

The course objectives define the student learning outcomes for a course. The assessment item(s) that may be used to assess student achievement of an objective are shown in parenthesis. On successful completion of this course students will be able to:

1.: analyse emerging curriculum priorities and policies which relate to P-3 (Seminar, Curriculum Project and Professional Experience)
2.: design integrated and negotiated programs based on P-3 curriculum documents (Curriculum Project and Professional Experience)
3.: demonstrate the ability to enhance access and equity in early childhood programs (Curriculum Project and Professional Experience)
4.: create motivating, challenging and creative early years learning programs (Seminar, Curriculum Project and Professional Experience)
5.: critically reflect on own professional development and their personal pedagogy for children in the early years of school (Curriculum Project and Professional Experience)
6.: demonstrate competence in and appropriate use of language and literacy, including spelling, grammar, punctuation and bibliographic referencing (Seminar, Curriculum Project and Professional Experience)

TOPICS

	Description	Weighting (%)
1.	Emerging trends and recent policies related to early years of school curriculum.	20.00
2.	P-3 curriculum documents	25.00
3.	Integrated and negotiated programming and planning	25.00
4.	Assessment in the early years of school	15.00
5.	Ways of conceptualising curriculum and theories related to curriculum development in early years classrooms	15.00

TEXT and MATERIALS required to be PURCHASED or accessed

ALL textbooks and materials are available for purchase from USQ BOOKSHOP (unless otherwise stated). Orders may be placed via secure internet, free fax 1800642453, phone 07 46312742 (within Australia), or mail. Overseas students should fax +61 7 46311743, or phone +61 7 46312742. For costs, further details, and internet ordering, use the 'Textbook Search' facility at http://bookshop.usq.edu.au click 'Semester', then enter your 'Course Code' (no spaces).

No Text

REFERENCE MATERIALS

Reference materials are materials that, if accessed by students, may improve their knowledge and understanding of the material in the course and enrich their learning experience.

Whether you are on, or off campus, the USQ Library is an excellent source of information http://www.usq.edu.au/library. The gateway to education resources is here ...http://www.usq.edu.au/library/faculties/education/default.htm

(Queensland Study Authority, ( 2007). Self-paced core professional development modules for the Early Years Curriculum Guidelines.)

Bodrova, E & Leong, D 2006, Tools of the mind: the Vygotskian approach to early childhood, 2nd edn, Merrill, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

Tomlinson, CA 2006, Integrating differentiated instruction and understanding design: connecting content and kids, Association for Supervision&Curriculum Development, Alexandra, VA.

Whitton, D, Sinclair, C, Baker, K, Nonlohy, P & Nosworthy M 2004, Learning for teaching, teaching for learning, Thompson, Melbourne Victoria.

STUDENT WORKLOAD REQUIREMENTS

ACTIVITY	HOURS
Assessments	20.00
Directed Study	40.00
Self Directed	50.00
Tutorials	30.00

ASSESSMENT DETAILS

Description	Marks out of	Wtg(%)	Due date	Notes
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE	1.00	1.00	04 Mar 2009	(see note 1)
SEMINAR	30.00	30.00	27 Mar 2009
CURRICULUM PROJECT	70.00	70.00	08 May 2009

NOTES

1.: APA style is the referencing system required in this course. Students should use APA style in their assignments to format details of the information sources they have cited in their work. The USQ library provides advice on how to format information sources using this system. http://www.usq.edu.au/library/help/ehelp/ref_guides/apastyle/default.htm A mark of one (1) indicates you have passed the professional experience component. A mark of zero (0) indicates you have not passed the professional experience component. The weighting of 1% is used for administrative purposes only and is NOT included in the overall weighting for this course. Professional Experience dates as per the Professional Experience Timetable available on the web.

IMPORTANT ASSESSMENT INFORMATION

Attendance requirements:
There are no attendance requirements for this course. However, it is the students' responsibility to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration.
Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
To satisfactorily complete an individual assessment item a student must achieve at least 50% of the marks.
Penalties for late submission of required work:
If students submit assignments after the due date without (prior) approval of the examiner then a penalty of 5% of the total marks gained by the student for the assignment may apply for each working day late up to ten working days at which time a mark of zero may be recorded. No assignments will be accepted after model answers have been posted.
Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:
To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must achieve at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course and must satisfactorily complete the sector-based professional experience and the combined academic component/s.
Method used to combine assessment results to attain final grade:
The final grades for students will be assigned on the basis of the aggregate of the weighted marks obtained for each of the summative assessment items in the course.
Examination information:
There is no examination in this course.
Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
As there are no examinations in this course, there will be no deferred or supplementary examinations.
University Regulations:
Students should read USQ Regulations 5.1 Definitions, 5.6. Assessment, and 5.10 Academic Misconduct for further information and to avoid actions which might contravene University Regulations. These regulations can be found at the URL http://www.usq.edu.au/corporateservices/calendar/part5.htm

OTHER REQUIREMENTS

Students will require access to e-mail and have Internet access to USQConnect for this course.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Working with Children: State law in Queensland requires that all adults (including university students, pre-service educators, trainers, vocational teachers, industry educators) working with children under the age of 18, in the State of Queensland*, obtain approval before commencing such work. Many education courses include a practical component (professional experience, project work, research, assessment etc.) that may require engagement with children under the age of 18. It is your responsibility to ensure that you possess a current suitability card (Blue Card) before commencing any practical components of this course. DO NOT PARTICIPATE IN ANY PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE WITH CHILDREN UNDER 18 UNLESS YOU POSSESS A CURRENT 'BLUE CARD'. For further information: http://www.childcomm.qld.gov.au/employment/bluecard/informationSheets.html *If you are undertaking practical experience outside the State of Queensland, Australia you should check local requirements.

This version produced 11 Dec 2009.