EDUC404: Professional Classroom Practice

Professional Experience Activities
EDUC404:
Professional Classroom Practice
(10 day block)
Primary Setting
 Professional Experience Activities
EDUC404: Professional Classroom Practice
This first primary school professional experience placement is a 10 day block placement. During this two week placement you are expected to immerse yourself in the life of the school and develop your understanding not only of teaching and learning in a classroom context, but also of the wider context of the school. As this is your first professional experience placement, this fortnight is seen as a very important component of your journey towards becoming a teacher and an opportunity for you, your supervising teacher and your unit lecturers to determine your suitability for and commitment to teaching. This first placement is assessed against modified focus areas of teaching standards 1, 2, 3, 6 and 7 (see pages 10 - 12).
Upon successful completion of this professional experience, you should:
show a capacity to be thoughtful and questioning with respect to observations and experiences within a school environment;
demonstrate an understanding of the attributes and responsibilities of effective learners and teachers;
demonstrate critical reflection about curriculum and pedagogy as relevant to the teaching and learning of students through observation of and interaction with teachers and students and through appropriate recording and reflecting;
demonstrate an awareness of the skills of critical reflection as a feature of professional learning;
through observation, demonstrate critical reflection about effective levels of classroom management and responsiveness to individual students including appropriate teaching strategies; and
Communicate with teachers, students and all other school personnel in an effective and professional manner.
During the 10 day placement, while you will be assigned to a supervising teacher and his/her class, you are also expected to seek opportunities to visit other classes, with the agreement of both your supervising teacher and the other classroom teacher(s) in order to observe a range of stages and types of lessons.
During the first week the focus is on watching and interacting with students in order to build relationships. This extended period of observation is necessary for you to observe modelling of activities, interactions and teacher responses prior to commencing any teaching of your own. In this first placement you are NOT expected to teach a whole class, but you should be ready, with your supervising teacher’s guidance, to take small group activities in the second week.
The specific activities for this placement are outlined in the next section. Please note: these activities assist with assignment 3 and external students are encouraged to complete their placement between 6th to 24th May (Trimester 1) or 5th to 30th August (Trimester 2) to benefit from this experience....