UWA Handbook 2024

Unit Overview

Description

In preparation for their first professional practice, students attend lectures and workshops to introduce them to the diverse nature of teachers' work and the competencies required for classroom teaching and management. All students undertake 30 days in schools (five distributed days followed by five weeks of professional practice). They have an opportunity to use a variety of techniques and approaches in a classroom context under the guidance of a mentor teacher in the school. Mentors provide assistance in programming, lesson planning and classroom management. Constructive feedback and reflection on each lesson provides a basis for the development of teaching skills. A University supervisor visits the student twice during the professional practice to provide feedback and make an assessment of the level of competence.

Credit

6 points

Outcomes

Students are able to (1) synthesise the knowledge and understandings acquired from their coursework and relevant curriculum documents to prepare, implement and assess learning experiences in secondary school settings; (2) prepare and implement purposeful and sequential learning experiences appropriate to a learning area, which cater for students with diverse backgrounds and are responsive to student needs, interests and abilities; (3) design and implement learning experiences appropriate to a particular group of students and use a range of instructional strategies and resources (including educational technologies); (4) plan for and implement strategies to manage and support student learning; (5) plan for and implement literacy and numeracy strategies to support learning in a specific learning area; (6) select and use resources, including educational technologies, to engage and sustain student interest; (7) begin to develop and implement strategies to assess student learning; (8) display professional and ethical conduct, including high standards of self management and collaborative behaviours to establish productive and professional working relationships with peers, school and University staff; (9) respond appropriately and act on advice from their mentors and University staff; (10) participate in a range of teacher duties and demonstrate an awareness of the (legal, social and moral) responsibilities of teachers in educational settings; and (11) use reflective practice techniques as a basis for self improvement.

Assessment

Indicative assessments in this unit are as follows: two supervisory visits made to each student during the teaching practice with both written and oral feedback provided in additional to mentor, teacher and University reports. Further information is available in the unit outline.

To pass this unit, a student must: (a) achieve an overall mark of 50 per cent or higher for the unit; and (b) achieve the requisite requirements(s) or a mark of 50 per cent or greater, whichever is higher and specified in the unit outline, for the two supervisory visits made to each student during the teaching practice with both written and oral feedback provided in additional to mentor, teacher and University reports component.

Student may be offered supplementary assessment in this unit if they meet the eligibility criteria.

Unit Coordinator(s)

Rachel Wicking

Unit rules

Prerequisites

enrolment in

one of the following: Graduate Diploma in Education.
Master of Teaching (Secondary).
Master of Science Communication and Education.
or Master of Psychology and Graduate Diploma in Education combined course

Incidental fees

Incidental student fees and charges are costs incurred by students as part of their studies at UWA that are in addition to their tuition fees (further information is available here).
Participation in this unit will incur the following incidental fee(s):
Student Name Badges (estimated cost - 9).

Contact hours

lectures/workshops: 2 hours per week for 6 weeks
professional practice: 6 weeks full-time attendance in school

Note

Conditions for Professional Practice units:
1. A current Department of Education National Police History Check (NPHC) and a Working with Children Clearance must be presented before any student undertakes professional practice in schools. If a clearance is not given the student must approach the Department of Education for permission to proceed (see Professional Requirements). Students are required to read, sign and adopt the Graduate School of Education (GSE) Professional Code of Conduct.
2. Students must gain a pass grade on assessments in core and curriculum units in which they are concurrently enrolled.
3. Students must pass the Pre-service Teacher Language Competence Test. Unsatisfactory results are reviewed by a panel of three course coordinators.