This task requires you to summarise, compare and analyse the audience, organisation, relationship to social context and view of learners, teaching and learning outlined in two current curriculum documents that frame the work of educators in Australian early learning settings and schools. These documents are The Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) and the Australian Curriculum.

Your response to this task should be no more than 2000 words and should be organised according to the headings in sections 1-5 outlined below. In each section, you will need to examine BOTH the Early Years Learning Framework and the Australian Curriculum and compare them according to their similarities and differences on the key points outlined in the section headings. Your conclusion will evaluate each document in terms of how it is designed to help teachers create meaningful and relevant curriculum for diverse student groups and individuals.

Your response must include references to unit readings and the documents themselves to support your discussion, comparison and evaluation.

Tutorial activities, group discussions, online forums and formative assessment opportunities for examining each document according to the section headings for this assessment will occur throughout the term.

Format for developing your assessment response

1. Introduction

Identify each curriculum document and the intended users or audience, i.e. the learners and teachers the framework has been designed for and the purpose that each framework is designed to achieve.

2. Organisation of the curriculum documents

In this section, create a summary of each curriculum framework and its organisation and content. The summary should provide answers to the following key questions for EACH curriculum framework:

· What is included in the curriculum framework?

· What is the focus for learning specified in the curriculum framework?

· What information is given about what will be learned, when it will be learned and how it will be learned in each curriculum document?

· How will learning be assessed?

At the end of this summary, briefly identify the main similarities and differences in the approach to curriculum design taken for each document and explain why you think these differences have occurred. Suggest ways in which their organisation and key features will affect how the curriculum is used and implemented by teachers in schools or early learning sites.

3. Social, political and cultural influences

Provide a brief summary of “external factors” such as key social, political or cultural influences that you think have informed the development of each curriculum framework and compare and evaluate how successful each framework is in responding to the priorities for learning in the 21st century. Discuss any problems or issues that might affect the learning outcomes for different student groups as a result of these influences and back up your claims with examples and references from unit readings or the curriculum documents.

4. View of learners, learning and teaching

Summarise the view of learners and learning embedded in each document. Consider the responses to the following questions to construct your summary and support the point of view you are proposing. What learning theories are evident? What role do the documents imply for learners and for teachers? How do the frameworks support engagement and motivation for learning?

5. Evaluation

Evaluate the success of each document in terms of meeting the needs of diverse student groups and individuals. What implications can you draw about the way these documents should be used by teachers in the design of meaningful and relevant curriculum?

This assessment task addresses aspects of the following standards:

Task 1- 1.1,1.3, 3.5, 4.1, 4.2, 6.3.

Knowledge of the key elements and organisation of current curriculum documents. ( APST 1.3 Students with diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds, APST 4.2 Manage classroom activities, APST 6.3 Engage with colleagues and improve practice.)

Ability to identify and evaluate ways in which current curriculum documents are influenced by contemporary social and cultural contexts and respond to issues of diversity and equity (APST 1.1 Physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of students, APST 1.3 Students with diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds, APST 3.5 Use effective classroom communication, APST 4.1 Support student participation.)

Application of knowledge of key learning theories to views of learning embedded in curriculum documents (APST 1.1 Physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of students, APST 1.3 Students with diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds, APST 3.5 Use effective classroom communication, 4.1 Support student participation, APST 4.2 Manage classroom activities.)

Ability to draw implications from the analysis for educators as curriculum decision-makers (APST 4.2 Manage classroom activities, APST 6.3 Engage with colleagues and improve practice.)

Ability to construct a comparative analysis using professional levels of personal literacy (APST 3.5 Use effective classroom communication.)

This assessment task focuses on the design of student-centred learning and consists of two parts.

Part A (Individual Observation of teaching practice)

On the moodle site for this unit you will find short video clips demonstrating learning in a particular setting. Choose one of the videos and complete a 500-word observation that answers the following questions:

• How are the students learning in this sample of teaching practice?
• What does the teacher do to facilitate student learning?
• How does the learning experience achieve some or all of these outcomes:

o encourage learners’ independence and autonomy

o assist in the development of thinking skills

o promote real life learning

o embed meaningful literacy and/ or numeracy learning

o allow for creativity and imagination

o provide for child-centred or student-centred learning that caters for a diverse range of interests, needs and backgrounds

o provide creative and / or challenging opportunities to stimulate learning in a developmentally appropriate way?

Part B (Individual, pairs or small group)

You have a choice of working individually, in pairs or small groups for this assessment task.

Use the knowledge gained from unit readings and your observation from Part A above to design a learning environment or open-ended learning experience. Your planning should focus on an environmental or sustainability topic or issue that is developmentally appropriate for learners in a chosen educational setting, i.e. a school/ year level or other early learning setting. A template for recording your planning will be provided on the unit Moodle site and will require you to document the following:

• An outline for an open-ended inquiry or investigation into a real world environmental issue suitable for diverse learner groups
• Opportunities for enhancing literacy, numeracy or learning through the use of technology in the activities the learners complete,
• Opportunities for social interaction and discussion between learners about the learning focus
• Opportunities for learners to engage in problem-solving and higher-order thinking

Your plan will be presented to a group of your peers in Week 11 or 12 (depending on campus arrangements). The presentation should demonstrate some of your planning ideas and include a brief description of (a) how it has been designed to develop the knowledge, skills and dispositions underpinning a curriculum framework i.e. the general capabilities of the Australian curriculum OR the learning outcomes of the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF); and (b) how a teacher might mediate or facilitate the learning.

Important Note: Each group member should upload Part A and documentation for Part B of this assessment task through the link on Moodle by the due date.

This assessment task addresses aspects of the following standards:

Task 2- 1.1, 1.3, 3.5, 3.7, 4.1, 4.2, 6.2, 7.3.

Ability to identify the relationship between observed teaching strategies and learning outcomes (APST 3.5 Use effective classroom communication, APST 3.7 Engage parents/carers in the educative process, APST 4.1 Support student participation, APST 4.2 Manage classroom activities.)

Knowledge and understanding of constructivist approaches to curriculum development that promote relevance, engagement and higher order thinking for learners from diverse backgrounds (APST 1.1 Physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of students, APST 1.3 Students with diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds, APST 4.1 Support student participation, APST 4.2 Manage classroom activities, APST 4.5 Use ICT safely, responsibly and ethically, APST 6.2 Engage in professional learning and improve practice, APST 7.3 Engage with the parents/carers.)

Ability to create opportunities for meaningful integration of literacy, numeracy and ICTs into curriculum planning (APST 4.5 Use ICT safely, responsibly and ethically.)

Knowledge of ways in which social interaction promotes learning (APST 1.1 Physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of students, APST 1.3 Students with diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds, APST 3.5 Use effective classroom communication.)

Application of pedagogical approaches consistent with the learning outcomes underpinning current curriculum frameworks (APST 1.3 Students with diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds, APST 3.5 Use effective classroom communication, APST 3.7 Engage parents/carers in the educative process.)