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Staffing

Examiner:

Requisites

Pre-requisite: EDM5000 and EDM5001 and Students must be enrolled in one of the following Programs: MOLT or MPLT or MSLT

Other requisites

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.

Before commencing this course students will be assumed to have read the full details of Professional Experience particulars and familiarised themselves with the requirements. Please see the Education Placement Professional Experience website and the Professional Experience Book for full details.

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 must hold a valid blue card OR exemption card .

If undertaking placement outside of Queensland you must ensure that all relevant checks are completed and evidence of this is provided to the Professional Experience office .

Students need to lodge their blue card application or renewal online . Students will need to register with blue card services and validate their identification online. If successful, the student will be provided an online account number to send to the Professional Experience Team to ensure there are no delays with their placement. Students will not be able to commence their placement without a current blue card. USQ recommends students lodge their renewal at least 28 days prior to the expiry of their current card.

Where a student is denied approval for a blue card, enrolment in any initial teacher education program will be withdrawn (refer to .

If undertaking Professional Experience outside of Queensland, students are advised to check the Working with Children requirements of the state within which Professional Experience will be undertaken (refer to .

Rationale

Beginning teachers report that there are significant differences between their experiences as preservice teachers and those they encounter in their first year of teaching. A service learning placement provides a bridge between the more closely supervised placements and the first year of the education career. Each preservice teacher is fully immersed in the role of the educator at the host site. Such immersion provides the preservice teacher with, authentic opportunities to demonstrate the responsibilities, skills, attitudes and knowledge required of an emerging professional educator. These opportunities will be reflected up and plans for future learning developed through the development of a professional teaching portfolio. Some of these learning opportunities will be available to the preservice teachers by way of industry presentations throughout the semester. Preservice teachers are required to show professional judgment and adaptability in meeting the diverse needs of learners. The preservice teacher must therefore be able to reflect on and critically analyse their learning and professional practice through action research, in relation to their identity as contemporary educators.

Synopsis

In this course, preservice teachers will be required to seek the authorisation of a host site to undertake a 50 hour service learning placement. In all settings, appropriate arrangements for mentoring, supervision and evaluation will be required as part of the process of approval for proposed placements. Preservice teachers will undertake an action research project. Preservice teachers will, undertake a range of duties involving the full repertoires of professional practice in which educators engage in schools or the professional community, and conduct of research.

This course expects preservice teachers to reflect on their prior learning and professional experiences and critically analyse how these inform their personalised frameworks of professional practice. This analysis will lead to the identification and justification of examples of professional practice that demonstrate their capacity as beginning educators. They will also identify and plan for future learning needs. This justification will be framed against the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (Graduate Career Stage) supported by relevant literature demonstrating an advanced and integrated understanding of the complexities of education, and articulated through the development of a professional e-portfolio.

Teachers are required to understand and apply key principles of codes of ethics and conduct as well as to understand relevant legislative, administrative and organisational policies and processes. During this course, preservice teachers will be given access to a range of professional learning opportunities from industry partners. They will reflect upon these opportunities and their key message and examine the implications each has on their development as beginning teachers.

Objectives

Topics

Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed

Reference materials

Student workload expectations

Assessment details

Important assessment information

1. Attendance requirements:
   
   There are no weekly 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. Students must attend Service Learning.
   
   
2. Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
   
   To satisfactorily complete an individual assessment item students must achieve at least 50% of the marks for that item in addition to the successful completion (mark of 1) of the Service Learning component.
   
   
3. Penalties for late submission of required work:
   
   Students should refer to the Assessment Procedure (point 4.2.4)
   
   
4. Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:
   
   To be assured of receiving a pass grade in this course students must submit each assessment item, achieve an aggregate of 50% of the marks available for the summative assessment (Seminar Presentation, ePortfolio, Reflective Responses) and satisfactorily complete (mark of 1) 50 hours of Service Learning.
   
   
5. 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 items for the course.
   
   
6. Examination information:
   
   There is no examination in this course.
   
   
7. Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
   
   There is no examination in this course, there will be no deferred or supplementary examinations.
   
   
   
   
8. University Student Policies:
   
   Students should read the USQ policies: Definitions, Assessment and Student Academic Misconduct to avoid actions which might contravene University policies and practices. These policies can be found at .
   
   

Assessment notes

1. Referencing in assignments must comply with the APA referencing system. This system should be used by students to format details of the information sources they have cited in their work. The APA style to be used is defined by the USQ library's referencing guide. This guide can be found at .
   
   
2. Students are required to demonstrate competence in and appropriate use of academic language and literacy, including spelling, grammar, punctuation, and referencing in all assessment responses. Marks allocated to the aforementioned criteria will be specified in the criteria for assessment of all assessment items.
   
   
3. Students are required to submit ALL assignments to evidence meeting or exceeding the mandatory requirements of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APSTs).
   
   
4. Professional Experience is a compulsory component of this course and integral to completion of the assessment tasks. Dates for each Professional Experience course are selected to support students’ capacity to apply the theory of the coursework in the Professional Experience placement. Students are advised not to select a course that includes Professional Experience in a semester where they are unable to meet the specified requirements of Professional Experience. Any application for a ‘change of dates’ for Professional Experience placement must qualify for consideration under the conditions of the USQ Assessment Extension Policy. An unsupported application will delay program completion.
   
   

Evaluation and benchmarking

In meeting the University’s aims to establish quality learning and teaching for all programs, this course monitors and ensures quality assurance and improvements in at least two ways. This course:
1. conforms to the USQ Policy on Evaluation of Teaching, Courses and Programs to ensure ongoing monitoring and systematic improvement.
2. forms part of the Master of Learning and Teaching and is benchmarked against the:
• internal USQ accreditation/reaccreditation processes which include (i) stringent standards in the independent accreditation of its academic programs, (ii) close integration between business and academic planning, and (iii) regular and rigorous review.
• professional accreditation standards of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST), Queensland College of Teachers (QCT) and Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF)

Other requirements

1. Students are required to have access to a personal computer, e-mail capabilities and Internet access to UConnect. Current details of computer requirements can be found at
   
   
2. 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 or Exemption 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' or EXEMPTION CARD. For further information:
   • If you are undertaking practical experience outside the State of Queensland, Australia you should check local requirements.