CQUniversity Unit Profile
EDED14354 The Ethical Professional
The Ethical Professional
All details in this unit profile for EDED14354 have been officially approved by CQUniversity and represent a learning partnership between the University and you (our student).
The information will not be changed unless absolutely necessary and any change will be clearly indicated by an approved correction included in the profile.
General Information

Overview

In The Ethical Professional, students critically reflect on the nature of teaching as a complex profession in this capstone unit. They draft their own philosophical framework in relation to teaching and learning and test it by analysing the extent to which it supports them in discharging their professional responsibilities in educational contexts. Students are encouraged to prepare for their final placement in schools by using the National Professional Standards for Teachers; Codes of Ethics and Conduct that apply to the profession; and an understanding of the influence of the broader macro socio-political and policy environment affecting educational contexts to develop a framework of critical questions. These questions are used to guide reflection in, on and for action throughout the placement for Professional Practice 4 and subsequent internship. On conclusion of the full 10-week placement, students select one or more written reflections and apply an ethical decision-making framework to the central incident/s to develop and articulate a personal professional philosophy of teaching illustrating how it shapes their professional practice.

Details

Career Level: Undergraduate
Unit Level: Level 4
Credit Points: 6
Student Contribution Band: 7
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load: 0.125

Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Co-requisite:- Students must be enrolled in both EDFE14021 and EDFE14020 in the same term of study as 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 - 2021

Online

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).

Class and Assessment Overview

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

Bundaberg, Cairns, Emerald, Gladstone, Mackay, Rockhampton, Townsville
Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney

Assessment Overview

1. Written Assessment
Weighting: 40%
2. Written Assessment
Weighting: 60%

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.

Previous Student Feedback

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 Informal communication

Feedback

Assessment support

Recommendation

Continue to build additional support for assessment tasks

Unit Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
  1. Use professional standards and codes of ethics that apply to the teaching profession to set professional learning goals and generate a framework for appraising professional practice.
  2. Analyse teaching practice to make professional reasoning explicit and ethically defensible.
  3. Outline and reflect on specific strategies that will assist in engaging with ethical dilemmas.
  4. Formulate a personal professional philosophy of teaching illustrating how it shapes professional and ethical practice in highly accountable educational contexts.

Successful completion of this unit provides opportunities for students to demonstrate the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (Graduate Career Stage) focus areas of:

6.1 Identify and plan professional learning needs

6.2 Engage in professional learning and improve practice

6.4 Apply professional learning and improve student learning

7.1 Meet professional ethics and responsibilities

7.2 Comply with legislative, administrative and organisational requirements

7.4 Engage with professional teaching networks and broader communities

Alignment of Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Graduate Attributes
N/A Level
Introductory Level
Intermediate Level
Graduate Level
Professional Level
Advanced Level

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes

Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Written Assessment - 40%
2 - Written Assessment - 60%

Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes

Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
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 - Written Assessment - 40%
2 - Written Assessment - 60%
Textbooks and Resources

Textbooks

There are no required textbooks.

IT Resources

You will need access to the following IT resources:
  • CQUniversity Student Email
  • Internet
  • Unit Website (Moodle)
Referencing Style

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.

Teaching Contacts
Gillian Busch Unit Coordinator
g.busch@cqu.edu.au
Schedule
Week 1 Begin Date: 12 Jul 2021

Module/Topic

The Profession: Situating Teaching as Ethical and Intellectual Work

Chapter

Readings in the eReading list and embedded in the Moodle topic.

Key Readings for all topics listed below:



Ayers, W. (1993). To Teach. The Journey of a Teacher. London: Teachers College Press.
Bentley, D. F. (2015). “Your job is to take care of us”: Teaching our way through the Boston Marathon bombings. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 16(3),

Mockler, N. (2005). Trans/forming teachers: new professional learning and transformative teacher professionalism. Journal of In-service Education, 31(4), 733-746.

Silin, J. (2017). Risking hope in a worried world. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 18(1), 91-98.

Swadener, B. (2000). "At Risk” or "At Promise”? From deficit constructions of the "Other Childhood” to possibilities for authentic alliances with children and families. In L. Diaz-Soto (Ed.), The Politics of Early Childhood Education. NY: Peter Lang.

Turney, C. et al. (1986). The teacher's world of work. Sydney, Australia: Sydmac Academic Press.

Woodrow, C (1999). Revisiting images of childhood in early childhood: Reflections and reconsiderations- Australian Journal of Early Childhood 24 (4) 7-14.

Thomas, L. (2012). New possibilities in thinking, speaking and doing: Early childhood teachers' professional identity constructions and ethics. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 37(3), 87.

Newmann, L. (2016) Ethics and the law. Every Child, 20(3), 20-21.

Newman, Linda. & Pollnitz, Lois. & Australian Early Childhood Association. (2002). Ethics in action : introducing the ethical response cycle. Watson, ACT: Australian Early Childhood

Mausethagen, S. (2013). A research review of the impact of accountability policies on teachers’ workplace relations. Educational Research Review, 9, 16-33.

Codes of Ethics and Conduct from your State Authority

Shulman, L. S. (1998). Theory, practice, and the education of professionals. The elementary school journal, 98(5), 511-526.

Professional boundaries: A guide for Queensland teachers, 2017 Australian Professional Standards

Churchill, R., Godinho, S., Johnson, N. F., Keddie, A., Letts, W., Lowe, K., . . . Vick, M. (2015). Teaching: Making a Difference (3rd ed.). Milton, Qld: Wiley.

UN Declaration on the Rights of the Child, 1989.

Events and Submissions/Topic

This unit works with PP4. Our schedule is as for PP4.

Zoom Session Wednesday 2 pm (Qld Time)

Week 2 Begin Date: 19 Jul 2021

Module/Topic

Codes of Ethics and Code of Conduct

Chapter

Readings in the eReading list and embedded in the Moodle topic.

Events and Submissions/Topic

Zoom Session Wednesday 2 pm (Qld Time)

Week 3 Begin Date: 26 Jul 2021

Module/Topic

The macro context and accountability

Chapter

Readings in the eReading list and embedded in the Moodle topic.

Events and Submissions/Topic

Zoom Session Wednesday 2 pm (Qld Time)

Week 4 Begin Date: 02 Aug 2021

Module/Topic

Guest Lecture: Application of Code of Conduct and Professional Judgement

Chapter

Readings in the eReading list and embedded in the Moodle topic.

Events and Submissions/Topic

Zoom Session Wednesday 2 pm (Qld Time)

Week 5 Begin Date: 09 Aug 2021

Module/Topic

Application of tools to support ethical decision making

Chapter

Readings in the eReading list and embedded in the Moodle topic.

Events and Submissions/Topic

Zoom Session Wednesday 2 pm (Qld Time)

First assessment task due


Plan for professional learning and reflection Due: Week 5 Friday (13 Aug 2021) 11:55 pm AEST
Vacation Week Begin Date: 16 Aug 2021

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Drop in zoom session Wednesday 4pm (Qld time) - the purpose of this zoom session is to drop in and ask questions or share experiences. This session will
not be recorded and is not compulsory.

Week 6 Begin Date: 23 Aug 2021

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Drop in zoom session Wednesday 4pm (Qld time) - the purpose of this zoom session is to drop in and ask questions or share experiences. This session will
not be recorded and is not compulsory.

Week 7 Begin Date: 30 Aug 2021

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Drop in zoom session Wednesday 4pm (Qld time) - the purpose of this zoom session is to drop in and ask questions or share experiences. This session will
not be recorded and is not compulsory.

Week 8 Begin Date: 06 Sep 2021

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Drop in zoom session Wednesday 4pm (Qld time) - the purpose of this zoom session is to drop in and ask questions or share experiences. This session will
not be recorded and is not compulsory.

Week 9 Begin Date: 13 Sep 2021

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Drop in zoom session Wednesday 4pm (Qld time) - the purpose of this zoom session is to drop in and ask questions or share experiences. This session will
not be recorded and is not compulsory.

Week 10 Begin Date: 20 Sep 2021

Module/Topic

Developing a personal professional philosophy

Chapter

Readings in the eReading list and embedded in the Moodle topic.

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 11 Begin Date: 27 Sep 2021

Module/Topic

Further exploration of developing your philosophy

Chapter

Readings in the eReading list and embedded in the Moodle topic.

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 12 Begin Date: 04 Oct 2021

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Final assessment task due


Ethical Response and Personal Professional Philosophy Due: Week 12 Friday (8 Oct 2021) 11:55 pm AEST
Review/Exam Week Begin Date: 11 Oct 2021

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Exam Week Begin Date: 18 Oct 2021

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Assessment Tasks

1 Written Assessment

Assessment Title
Plan for professional learning and reflection

Task Description

Task Description
Part A
Use the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (Graduate Career Stage) to review the evidence collected to date
in your e-portfolio. Write a brief statement that summarises your current capabilities and achievements in
relation to the standards and construct a list of professional learning goals to guide your development
during your final year Professional Practice placements. Please ensure that you list/dotpoint your professional
learning goals. In some ways this is a little like a personal audit that contributes to the construction of your professional
learning goals.
Part B
Respond to Codes of Ethics and Conduct for the profession, tutorial discussions and the concepts and readings explored
in this course by writing a 500-word critical reflection. This reflection should acknowledge the influence of the broader
macro socio-political environment, policy and legislation on teachers’ work; explore the ways in which these influences
might affect your practice and relationships with students, parents, colleagues and the school community; and, provide
the basis for writing a series of questions to guide reflective practice and professional learning during your final
Professional Practice and internship placements.


Assessment Due Date

Week 5 Friday (13 Aug 2021) 11:55 pm AEST


Return Date to Students

The assignment will be returned in three weeks.


Weighting
40%

Assessment Criteria

  • Analysis of current professional capabilities and achievements in relation to the Australian Professional Standards
    for Teachers (graduate)
  • Development of professional learning goals to guide professional practice
  • Critical reflection on the way in which contemporary issues and policy texts (including Codes of Ethics and Codes
    of Conduct) shape the complex work of teachers
  • Development of thoughtful questions to guide reflective practice and professional learning
  • Professional levels of personal literacy

Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (Graduate Career Stage) demonstrated:
6.1: Identify and plan professional learning needs
6.4: Apply professional learning and improve student learning
7.1: Meet professional ethics and responsibilities
7.2: Comply with legislative, administrative and organisational requirements
7.4: Engage with professional teaching networks and broader communities


Referencing Style

Submission
Online

Submission Instructions
Please upload your assignment into Moodle. Please ensure that you include you name and student number in the footer.

Learning Outcomes Assessed
  • Use professional standards and codes of ethics that apply to the teaching profession to set professional learning goals and generate a framework for appraising professional practice.


Graduate Attributes
  • Communication
  • Critical Thinking
  • Information Literacy
  • Ethical practice

2 Written Assessment

Assessment Title
Ethical Response and Personal Professional Philosophy

Task Description

Select at least one incident or experience that prompted critical reflection or collegial discussion during your
Professional Practice placement around one of the key questions you developed as part of Assessment Task 1. Please
include this question at the beginning of your response. Apply an ethical response framework to examine this issue in
further detail and explore or defend the ethical and professional reasoning underpinning your actions or those you
observed in this situation. You can use the ethical response cycle (Newman & Pollnitz, 2002) or a framework
suggested by the education or accrediting body in your state. Use what you have learnt from this process to
write a personal professional philosophy. The features of your professional philosophy or the beliefs that drive what
you do and how you will be with children/students and other stakeholders will emerge as you engage in considering the
dilemma you encountered. Your philosophy should state your beliefs about your role and responsibilities as an
educator and describe how these beliefs shape what you will DO to respond to the complexity of teaching in diverse settings.


Assessment Due Date

Week 12 Friday (8 Oct 2021) 11:55 pm AEST


Return Date to Students

Weighting
60%

Assessment Criteria

  • Application of an ethical framework to examine an ethical dilemma
  • Explication of professional reasoning underpinning your actions showing how it is ethically defensible
  • Development of a personal professional philosophy informed by understandings derived from interrogating an
    ethical issue
  • Articulation of how your beliefs about your role and responsibilities as an educator/teacher shape what you will
    ‘do’ to respond to the complexity of teaching in diverse settings.
  • Professional levels of personal literacy

Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (Graduate Career Stage) demonstrated:
6.2: Identify and plan professional learning needs
6.4: Apply professional learning and improve student learning
7.1: Meet professional ethics and responsibilities
7.2: Comply with legislative, administrative and organisational requirements


Referencing Style

Submission
Online

Submission Instructions
Please upload your assignment into Moodle. Please ensure that you include your name and student number in the footer.

Learning Outcomes Assessed
  • Analyse teaching practice to make professional reasoning explicit and ethically defensible.
  • Outline and reflect on specific strategies that will assist in engaging with ethical dilemmas.
  • Formulate a personal professional philosophy of teaching illustrating how it shapes professional and ethical practice in highly accountable educational contexts.


Graduate Attributes
  • Communication
  • Critical Thinking
  • Information Literacy
  • Ethical practice

Academic Integrity Statement

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?