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EDM5002 Diversity in Educational Contexts

Semester 2, 2020 Online
Short Description: Diversity Educational Contexts
Units : 1
Faculty or Section : Faculty of Business, Education, Law and Arts
School or Department : School of Education
Student contribution band : National Priority - Teaching
ASCED code : 070100 - Teacher Education
Grading basis : Graded

Staffing

Examiner:

Requisites

Pre-requisite: EDM5000

Rationale

Educators encounter people from diverse backgrounds and with varied needs as part of everyday life. Diversity presents itself in a multitude of ways. Cultural, linguistic, socio-economic, gender, age, ethnicity, disability and giftedness are all aspects of the differences each of us brings to any context. Gaining the capacity to understand and work effectively in diverse settings is a vital skill for educators who must be capable of differentiating learning experiences according to student need; and of working proactively to engage all students in productive and inclusive ways within the whole school context. Ensuring equitable access to a quality education for all students is a fundamental pillar of the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians. Teachers must therefore be able to meet these challenges including the pressing need to improve the educational outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, students with English as another Language and children with special needs within the range of diverse groups in Australian classrooms.

Synopsis

This course explores the diversity that educators encounter as part of their professional practice. It explores diversity in its many forms, expressed through culture, identity, language, ethnicity, socio-economic experience, religion, abilities and disabilities, gender and age. EDM5002 focusses on recognition of the identities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander background students and relevant pedagogies to engage learners. It identifies the learning needs of individual children with special needs across the full range of abilities in the frame of an inclusive whole-school approach to education. Accessing relevant legislative, administrative, educational and organisational policy and processes is a tool used for understanding and implementing the complex demands of Diversity.

Objectives

On successful completion of this course students should be able to:

  1. demonstrate an advanced understanding of diversity and inclusion at a conceptual level (all assessment) (Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) 1.1, 1.2, 1.3);
  2. demonstrate understanding of the needs of all students to feel safe, connected and accepted, as well as the policies and practices that pertain to ensuring student well-being is prioritised (APST 1.2, 4.1, 4.4);
  3. demonstrate advanced understanding of suitable strategies for the differentiation of learning and teaching practices that respond to students with special needs and the applicable legislative implications with reference to the relevant literature (Assignment 1) (APST 1.5, 1.6, 7.2);
  4. critically analyse communication approaches and strategies to effectively engage with students from diverse cultures, languages and backgrounds (Assignment 2) (APST 1.4, 2.4, 3.1, 3.5);
  5. evaluate an educational context for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and explore appropriate pedagogical strategies to engage students with learning (Assignment 3) (APST 1.4, 2.4);
  6. utilise expert cognitive, literacy and communication skills, including spelling, grammar, punctuation and bibliographic referencing (all assessment).

Topics

Description Weighting(%)
1. Concepts of diversity 10.00
2. Language diversity 20.00
3. Diversity of special needs 20.00
4. Indigenous perspectives 25.00
5. Indigenous pedagogies 25.00

Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed

ALL textbooks and materials available to be purchased can be sourced from (unless otherwise stated). (https://omnia.usq.edu.au/textbooks/?year=2020&sem=02&subject1=EDM5002)

Please for alternative purchase options from USQ Bookshop. (https://omnia.usq.edu.au/info/contact/)

There are no texts or materials required for this course.

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.
Arshad, R, Wrigley, T & Pratt, L 2012, Social justice re-examined, Trentham Books.
Ashman, A 2015, Education for inclusion and diversity, Pearson, Melbourne, Victoria.
Bottrell, D & Goodwin, S 2011, Schools, communities and social inclusion, Palgrave Macmillan, South Yarra, Victoria.
Purdie, N, Milgate, G & Bell, H 2011, Two way teaching and learning, ACER Press, Camberwell, Victoria.
Tomlinson, C 2008, The differentiated school, ASCD, Alexandria, Virginia.

Student workload expectations

Activity Hours
Directed ¾«¶«´«Ã½app 80.00
Independent ¾«¶«´«Ã½app 85.00

Assessment details

Description Marks out of Wtg (%) Due Date Notes
ASSIGNMENT 1 50 50 21 Aug 2020
ASSIGNMENT 2 50 50 16 Oct 2020

Important assessment information

  1. Attendance requirements:
    On-campus Attendance requirements: It is the students' responsibility to attend and participate appropriately in all activities (such as lectures and tutorials) scheduled for them, and 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.

    Online 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.

  2. 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 for that item.

  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:
    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.

  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:
    Not applicable.

  8. ¾«¶«´«Ã½app Student Policies:
    Students should read the USQ policies: Definitions, Assessment and Student Academic Misconduct to avoid actions which might contravene ¾«¶«´«Ã½app 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).

Evaluation and benchmarking

In meeting the ¾«¶«´«Ã½app’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).

Date printed 6 November 2020