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An understanding of student development and how the environment influences development, are critical for a professional teacher’s decision-making. Additionally, understanding the learning process will assist teachers to create effective and supportive educational environments. Familiarity with typical developmental milestones will assist educators to distinguish between individual differences and atypical developmental differences. Understanding developmental patterns, both typical and atypical, will assist teachers to create inclusive educational environments for diverse learners, as well as informing choice regarding differentiation strategies for use in classroom practice. To perform the ‘teacher as researcher’ role, teachers must develop the knowledge and skills to critically read contemporary and relevant literature related to learners and learning theory.

This course will provide an introduction to key concepts about learner development, specifically cognitive, physical and psychosocial development. The course will examine different explanations for learning, including the behaviourist, cognitive and social-learning perspectives. Individual differences (e.g. intelligence, motivation and social-cultural factors) and how they affect the learning process will also be examined. On the completion of this course, preservice teachers will have an understanding of learner development, which they will utilise to promote creativity, confidence and life-long learning through their professional practice (Alice Springs Education Declaration, 2019: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia, 2019). Preservice teachers will also develop the critical literacy skills to analyse and evaluate research literature. Embedded within the course is a 20-day Professional Experience under the supervision of a registered teacher. Preservice teachers in the Early Years (MELT) program will attend professional experience in a primary school (Foundation - Year 3) The professional experience for preservice teachers in the Primary (MPLT) program will require a placement in a primary school (Foundation - Year 6). The professional experience for preservice teachers in the Secondary (MSLT) program will require placement in year levels from Year 7 to Year 12. which is guided by, but not limited to, their nominated teaching areas.

Students need to pass the competency Assessment in this Course and reach a total passing Mark of 50% to be awarded a passing Grade in this course. Failure of the Professional Experience component will result in a fail grade for the course, regardless of the graded mark. Full details of the Professional Experience particulars can be found on the Professional Experience website and in the Professional Experience Book.

On successful completion of this course preservice teachers should be able to:

1. demonstrate broad knowledge and understanding of legislative requirements and teaching strategies that support participation and learning of students with disability and apply reflective understanding of research into how students learn and advanced knowledge of learner development (eg. physical, cognitive and psychosocial development) and its effect on learning, to critically analyse professional practice and suggest strategies to support inclusive student participation and engagement in classroom activities (Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) 1.1, 1,2, 1.6, 4.1);
2. use assessment strategies, including informal and formal, diagnostic, formative and summative approaches to assess student learning (e.g. information, processing, student engagement), and propose a range of appropriate teaching approaches, focused on differentiation and the setting of challenging and achievable learning goals to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities and with varying characteristics (APST 1.5, 3.1, 3.3, 5.1);
3. demonstrate a range of communication strategies (verbal and non-verbal) to support student engagement in learning and knowledge of practical approaches to manage challenging behaviour (APST 3.5, 4.3);
4. apply credible research to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of physical, cognitive and psychosocial development and characteristics of students and how these may affect learning and the implications for teaching with specific focus on teaching strategies that are responsive to the learning strengths and needs of students from diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds (APST 1.1, 1.2, 1.3);
5. use curriculum, assessment and reporting knowledge and student assessment data to design learning sequences and lesson plans into an effective learning and teaching sequence with learning goals that provide achievable challenges for students of varying abilities and characteristics, and then implement classroom activities that provide clear directions and evaluate the teaching program to improve student learning (APST 2.2, 2.3, 3.1, 3.6, 4.2);
6. critically reflect on their own practice demonstrating an understanding of the:
   • purpose of providing timely and appropriate feedback to students about their learning;
   • role of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers in identifying their professional learning needs;
   • the relevant and appropriate sources of professional learning (APST 6.2);
   • and demonstrate their ability to seek and apply constructive feedback from supervisors and teachers to improve teaching practices (APST 5.2, 6.1, 6.3);
7. apply advanced cognitive, literacy and communication skills, including spelling, grammar, punctuation and bibliographic referencing.