Overview
In this unit, you will adopt an holistic view of learning and wellbeing and apply knowledge of the general capabilities of Personal and Social Competence and Sustainability that underpin the Australian curriculum to examine the rationale, aims and content of the Personal, Social and Community Health strand of the Australian curriculum: Health and Physical Education. You will evaluate the strength of the Health strand in facilitating the connectedness of children, families and community with each other and with the environment for sustainable futures. You will explore these concepts personally by identifying strategies that support their own wellbeing as members of a profession and reflect on their own experiences as they position children as active informed citizens of the future. You will observe children’s experiences in a range of learning, natural and social environments to identify the contributions children make to sustainable futures as they build and exercise personal and social competence. You will engage with research that documents both the impact of nature and natural play on health and wellbeing and the effects on healthy lifestyles of a disconnection from nature. You will apply knowledge gained from a policy analysis into public expressions of commitment to healthy, sustainable ways of living to their engagement with the curriculum strand. The implications of these factors for children and futures are analysed and students propose strategies and pedagogical approaches for implementing the Health strand of the curriculum in ways that optimise the transition of young children to formal school environments and that create learning environments as places of belonging for children and families and as sites for cultivating dispositions and knowledge necessary for sustainability where children are active agents in shaping healthy futures.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
There are no requisites for this unit.
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 2 - 2020
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes – in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University’s Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback – Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from Unit Evaluation
The use of videos within the topics on the moodle site helped me construct my personal learning.
Maintain and update video support for additional content clarification.
Feedback from Unit Evaluation
The assessment tasks are highly engaging and relevant to the unit.
Maintain the assessment tasks
Feedback from Unit Evaluation, email
The lecturer was highly engaging, passionate and caring.
Continue to deliver the content in a passionate manner to engage the students.
Feedback from Unit Evaluation
Include discussion items in the forum to enable engagement by students who cannot attend the live zoom sessions
Provide stimulus questions and invite student comment in the discussion forum.
- Identify and discuss the contextual knowledge including knowledge of diversity needed to support the wellbeing and engagement of young children
- Identify, discuss and represent how the wellbeing of children, self and others can be enhanced by educators’ attitudes, actions and relationships with others
- Synthesise research obtained from multiple sources including interviews with children to draw implications for pedagogical decisions for teaching health and sustainability
- Describe strategies for implementing curriculum that creates responsive and healthy early childhood environments and contributes to personal, social and community sustainability
- Identify strategies to facilitate child participation in building a sustainable, democratic, equitable and just society by critically reflecting on curriculum aims and the diversity of children’s experience
- Engage in professional learning to evaluate and enhance education for health and wellbeing in early childhood contexts and classrooms.
Successful completion of this unit provides opportunities for students to engage with the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (Graduate Career Stage) focus areas of:
1.1 Physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of students
1.2 Understand how students learn
2.1 Content and teaching strategies of the teaching area
3.3 Using teaching strategies
3.5 Use effective classrrom communication
3.7 Engage parents/carers in the educative process
4.1 Support student participation
4.4 Maintain student safety
6.2 Engage in professional learning and improve practice
6.4 Apply professional learning and improve student learning
7.2 Comply with legislative administrative and organisational requirements
7.3. Engage with the parents/carers
Additionally students build understandings required by the registering body for early childhood (ACECQA – Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority) including child health, wellbeing and safety and early childhood pedagogies.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 1 - Portfolio - 60% | ||||||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 40% | ||||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 1 - Communication | ||||||
| 2 - Problem Solving | ||||||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | ||||||
| 4 - Information Literacy | ||||||
| 5 - Team Work | ||||||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | ||||||
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | ||||||
| 8 - Ethical practice | ||||||
| 9 - Social Innovation | ||||||
| 10 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | ||||||
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
| 1 - Portfolio - 60% | ||||||||||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 40% | ||||||||||
Textbooks
There are no required textbooks.
Additional Textbook Information
Useful textbooks are listed in the Unit Profile under the Teaching Schedule. These texts are not mandatory but may be used to support your learning.
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: American Psychological Association 7th Edition (APA 7th edition)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
g.busch@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
An introduction to Health and Sustainability in early childhood contexts. What does this mean for teachers?
Chapter
A detailed list of resources and readings will be available in the weekly topics on Moodle
The Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Understanding - Personal, Social and Community Health strand.
It is expected that students will contribute to their own learning by accessing the material on the Moodle site and by engaging in self research.
Events and Submissions/Topic
It is expected that you will supplement your learning in EDEC11030 through self research. Journal articles on the unit topics can be found by searching the university library search engines, google and google scholar to supplement your learning in this unit.
The texts listed below are very relevant to the content of this unit and the assessment tasks. These texts are not mandatory but are recommended.
1. Garvis, S. & Pendergast, D. (eds). (2017). Health and wellbeing in childhood. Melbourne: Cambridge University Press.
2. Davis, J. M. (2015). Young children and the environment: Early education for sustainability (2nd ed.). Melbourne: Cambridge University Press.
3. Elliot, S. (2015). Sustainability and the early years learning framework. Mt Victoria: Pademelon Press
The text listed here will be of great support if you access them while working your way through the weekly content.
Kathy
Module/Topic
What are the social determinants of health and wellbeing?
Chapter
Moodle resources and self research.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Why is it important to examine social and emotional learning & identify strategies to support this area?
Chapter
Moodle resources and self research.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
What does wellbeing and resilience in children and adults mean to you?
Chapter
Moodle resources and self research.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
How does building a strong sense of identity relate to health and sustainability?
Chapter
Moodle resources and self research.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
There are no tutorials this week. It is hoped that you will use this time to finalise your first assessment task.
Chapter
Moodle resources and self research to contribute to the submission of assessment task 1.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
What is the World Health Organisation and how does it relate to health and sustainability?
Chapter
Moodle resources and self research.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
How do we support health and wellbeing in diverse cultural contexts and students?
Chapter
Moodle resources and self research.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Why should we examine nature and nature play in an effort to identify belonging, wellbeing and sustainability?
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
How are children, families and the environment connected to contribute to sustainable futures?
Chapter
Moodle resources and self research.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
What are the implications for children, families, communities, teachers when positive, proactive health and wellbeing strategies are implemented?
Chapter
Moodle resources and self research.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
What does health, wellbeing and sustainable teaching mean in the 21st Century?
Chapter
Moodle resources and self research.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Self reflection and peer discussion of personal strategies. Sharing session.
Chapter
Moodle resources, tutorial discussions on campus or the Zoom session.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Portfolio
Assessment task 1 - Strategies for wellbeing and learning
The purpose of this task is to provide you with an opportunity to reflect on your own physical and mental health, wellbeing and coping strategies for life experiences. This will be related to the classroom context. Links will be made between your knowledge, skills, experiences and strategies and how this can be transferred to support the health and wellbeing of children in your future classroom.
Part A
Conduct a self-study of wellness, wellbeing and personal coping strategies leading to the creation of a personal/professional wellness and wellbeing strategy for the beginning years of teaching.
Part A will be presented as a timescape/timeline, which may include photographs, anecdotes, stories and artefacts displayed digitally in a wiki, prezi, weebly or other to illustrate experiences, relationships or events that have supported or challenged your wellbeing, coping strategies and self care. Examples of ways to represent the timescape/timeline will be explored during tutorials.
Part A should be equivalent to 500 words.
Part B
Develop a ‘child-centred wellbeing and learning strategy’ for children which focuses on the role of educators in the early years to promote holistic wellbeing and health for children in the classroom. Links for involving parents /carers in supporting child-centred wellbeing need to be identified and included.
Part B of the assessment task could be submitted as a reflective written piece, a series of reflective blog entries, website, movie, narrative, timescape/timeline, or any combination of these.
Your reflections must make reference to your understanding of the rationale, aims and content of the Australian curriculum: Health and Physical Education along with other sources of curriculum decision-making for educators, such as the Early Years Learning Framework with regards to health and wellbeing in the early years.
It is expected that you are creative in your response to the task and that it provides a reflection of the value you place on physical and mental health and wellbeing for yourself and children in your future classrooms.
This assessment submission can include images and visual components. Part B should be equivalent to 1800 words.
Weighting: 60%
Vacation Week Thursday (20 Aug 2020) 11:00 pm AEST
Assignment to be submitted via Moodle
Week 9 Monday (14 Sept 2020)
Marked and graded assignments will be returned to students at least 2 week prior to the submission of task 2.
- Knowledge of the social development of young children, the importance of holistic wellbeing and the links to learning
- Personal reflection on wellness, wellbeing and personal coping strategies are synthesised
- Personal/professional wellness and wellbeing strategies are conceptualized and represented
- Strategies and attitudes for supporting a ‘child-centred wellbeing and learning strategy’ for children in the early years is identified
- Respectful strategies for involving parents/carers in the supporting child-centred wellbeing are identified
- Reflections link to the Australian curriculum: Health and Physical Education and additional research that informs curriculum decision-making
- Presentation is organised, coherent and presented using multimodal representations and supported by recent research with references following the APA 6th edition format
- Identify and discuss the contextual knowledge including knowledge of diversity needed to support the wellbeing and engagement of young children
- Identify, discuss and represent how the wellbeing of children, self and others can be enhanced by educators’ attitudes, actions and relationships with others
- Describe strategies for implementing curriculum that creates responsive and healthy early childhood environments and contributes to personal, social and community sustainability
- Communication
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Cross Cultural Competence
- Ethical practice
2 Written Assessment
Assessment task 2
The purpose of this task is to build on and broaden the awareness and knowledge developed for task 1. Task 2 requires you to look more broadly at health and sustainability and link it to children's experiences and the wider community with reference to the Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education and the Early Years Learning Framework.
The task:
You are required to gather information from a range of sources to develop a health and sustainability 'portfolio'. The portfolio will contain strategies that guide health, wellbeing and sustainable practices within early childhood contexts and, where applicable, involve the wider community.
The portfolio will contain:
- 3 strategies to support sustainable futures in the environment
- 3 strategies to support personal health and wellbeing (not taken from AT1).
- interview data (conversations between child and adult) from a child or children that is used to draw implications for pedagogical decisions for teaching health and sustainability (ie what places, spaces or activities do children engage with or want to engage with to promote environmental sustainability and sustainable health and wellbeing)
- photos or children's drawings representing documentation of sustainable practices
- researched information to support the strategies identified in the portfolio
- links between sustainable environmental practices and health and wellbeing must be evident and supported by reference to the Australian Curriculum : Health and Physical Education learning area with particular reference to the personal, social and community health strand, along with reference to the Early Years Learning Framework.
This task requires you to consider the weekly unit content on Moodle, policy documents, Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education (personal, social and community health strand), additional personal research, conversations with children and others, personal and observed experiences to complete this task.
You are asked to gather information from children through a range of methods, including conversations during nature walks, engaging in representative drawings of sustainable practices, collage construction activities and interviews/conversations. This information will be used to represent children’s view of sustainable environments and sustainable wellbeing practices.
It is important to acknowledge and represent the ‘voice of the child’ to acknowledge their agency. The interviews (conversations) and produced artifacts will inform the development of a child/parent friendly portfolio that provides classroom and family strategies for health, wellbeing and sustainable living.
Connections to community awareness should be visible as well as connections to nature and the environment.
The portfolio of written and researched information and images will be presented as a weebly (or other digital format) or powerpoint presentation. If using a web based format - a word document with the website link is to be uploaded through moodle. If using a powerpoint this will be uploaded through moodle (please be mindful of upload limits and the size of images). It is expected that headings will be used throughout the portfolio to highlight the aspect of health, wellbeing and sustainability addressed in each section. Examples of methods of presentation will be explored during tutorials.
The portfolio should be the equivalent of 2000 words.
Weighting: 40%
Review/Exam Week Monday (12 Oct 2020) 11:00 pm AEST
The assignment is due on or before the designated date and time.
Exam Week Friday (23 Oct 2020)
Assignments will be returned within 3 weeks after submission.
- Respectful implementation of strategies to listen to the child’s voice about sustainability and wellbeing issues
- Synthesis of research identifying children’s knowledge of sustainability and wellbeing issues and practices and the implications for classroom pedagogy (literature and engagement with children’s views)
- Knowledge and understanding of the concepts, substance and structure of the Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education (personal, social and community health)
- Strategies to involve parents/carers in developing sustainability and wellbeing practices are sensitive and inclusive
- Articulation of strategies for implementing curriculum that creates responsive and healthy early childhood environments and contributes to personal, social and community sustainability.
- Identification of strategies to facilitate child participation in building a future sustainable, democratic, equitable and just society
- Academic writing, relevant research and use of referencing format APA 6
- Synthesise research obtained from multiple sources including interviews with children to draw implications for pedagogical decisions for teaching health and sustainability
- Describe strategies for implementing curriculum that creates responsive and healthy early childhood environments and contributes to personal, social and community sustainability
- Identify strategies to facilitate child participation in building a sustainable, democratic, equitable and just society by critically reflecting on curriculum aims and the diversity of children’s experience
- Engage in professional learning to evaluate and enhance education for health and wellbeing in early childhood contexts and classrooms.
- Communication
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Team Work
- Cross Cultural Competence
- Ethical practice
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
