Overview
In this capstone unit, you will critically reflect on the nature of teaching as a complex profession. You will draft a philosophical framework in relation to teaching and learning and test it by analysing the extent to which it supports you to discharge your professional responsibilities in educational contexts. You are encouraged to prepare for the final placement in schools by using the Australian 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. At the conclusion of your placement, you will 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 your professional practice.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Pre-requisite: Students have completed EDFE13032 Professional Practice 3 (Primary/ECE) or EDFE12044 Professional Practice 3 - The Catholic School Placement or EDFE13033 Professional Practice 3 (Secondary). Co-requisite: Students need to be enrolled in EDFE14021: Professional Practice 4.
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 1 - 2024
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 Student feedback
Scheduling of online tutorials was effective and appreciated.
Ascertainment for the best times for online attendance will occur.
Feedback from Student feedback
Examples of assessment.
Several different scaffolds will be provided to assist students with successfully completing each task.
- 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.
- 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.
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 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 | ||||
Textbooks
There are no required textbooks.
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.
l.hughes@cqu.edu.au
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.
Biesta, G. 2015. “What is Education For? On Good Education, Teacher Judgement, and Educational
Professionalism.” European Journal of Education 50 (1): 75–87. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejed.12109
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)
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.
Codes of Ethics and Conduct from your State Authority
Dargusch, J., & Charteris, J. (2018). 'Nobody is Watching but Everything I do is Measured': Teacher Accountability, Learner Agency and the Crisis of Control.. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 43(10). https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2018v43.n10.2
Diamond, F., & Bulfin, S. (2023). Care of the profession: teacher professionalism and learning beyond performance and compliance. Pedagogy, Culture & Society.
Mausethagen, S. (2013). A research review of the impact of accountability policies on teachers’ workplace relations. Educational Research Review, 9, 16-33.
Mockler, N. (2005). Trans/forming teachers: new professional learning and transformative teacher professionalism. Journal of In-service Education, 31(4), 733-746.
Mockler, N. (2013). Teacher Professional Learning in a Neoliberal Age: Audit, Professionalism and Identity. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 38(10). https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2013v38n10.8
Noddings, N. 2012. “The Caring Relation in Teaching.” Oxford Review of Education 38 (6): 771–781.
https://doi.org/10.1080/03054985.2012.745047
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.
Professional boundaries: A guide for Queensland teachers, 2017 Australian Professional Standards
Shulman, L. S. (1998). Theory, practice, and the education of professionals. The elementary school journal, 98(5), 511-526.
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.
Taylor, A., & Thompson, P. (2020). Professional learning for teachers in a period of crisis. Leading and Managing, 26(2), [51]-59. https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.797807948523140
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.
Turney, C. et al. (1986). The teacher's world of work. Sydney, Australia: Sydmac Academic Press.
UN Declaration on the Rights of the Child, 1989.
Woodrow, C (1999). Revisiting images of childhood in early childhood: Reflections and reconsiderations- Australian Journal of Early Childhood 24 (4) 7-14.
Events and Submissions/Topic
This unit links to PP4.
Zoom Tutorial
Module/Topic
Consider the contemporary world – what does it mean for teaching and teachers
Chapter
Readings in the eReading list and embedded in the Moodle topic.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Zoom Tutorial
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 Tutorial
Module/Topic
Examine conceptual tools that may support exploration of ethical dilemmas
Chapter
Readings in the eReading list and embedded in the Moodle topic.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Zoom Tutorial
Module/Topic
The broader socio-political context and policy responses to this context
Chapter
Readings in the eReading list and embedded in the Moodle topic.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Zoom Tutorial
Assessmemt Task 1
Due Week 5 12.00pm on Monday, April 1, 2024
Plan for professional learning and reflection Due: Week 5 Monday (1 Apr 2024) 12:00 am AEST
Module/Topic
Identify aspects of the macro context that influence the children/students with whom we work and therefore our work as teachers/educators (poverty, disadvantage, domestic and family violence)
Chapter
Readings in the eReading list and embedded in the Moodle topic.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Zoom Tutorial
Module/Topic
Understand accountability requirements for teachers and how accountability is accomplished and how accountability measures are privilege.
Understand and reflect on how professional accountability can lead to ethical conflict.
Chapter
Readings in the eReading list and embedded in the Moodle topic.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Zoom Tutorial
Module/Topic
Ethical Response Cycle or the Reflect Guide to Ethical Decision Making
Chapter
Readings in the eReading list and embedded in the Moodle topic.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Zoom Tutorial
Module/Topic
Recognise that teacher identity will influence your personal professional philosophy
Chapter
Readings in the eReading list and embedded in the Moodle topic.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Zoom Tutorial
Module/Topic
Building a Professional Philosophy
Chapter
Readings in the eReading list and embedded in the Moodle topic.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Zoom Tutorial
Module/Topic
Week 10 Drop in session
Chapter
Readings in the eReading list and embedded in the Moodle topic.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Zoom Tutorial
Assessment Task 2
Due Week 10 12.00pm on Friday, May 17, 2024
Ethical Response and Personal Professional Philosophy Due: Week 10 Friday (17 May 2024) 11:45 pm AEST
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Written Assessment
Task Description:
Part A is a 1000 word professional audit of your capabilities supported by policy documents. Use the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (Graduate Career Stage) to review the evidence collected to date in your reflections and Professional Practice reports. 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.
Part B Responds to Codes of Ethics and Conduct for the profession, tutorial discussions, the concepts and readings explored in this course by writing a 500-word critical reflection. The 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;
- Outline how you will access support from external professionals and community representatives in broadening your professional knowledge and practice; and
- 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.
Total word limit for this assignment is 1500 words.
Week 5 Monday (1 Apr 2024) 12:00 am AEST
Week 7 Monday (22 Apr 2024)
- 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
No submission method provided.
- 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.
2 Written Assessment
This task is an Ethical Response to a Professional Dilemma supported by your professional teaching philosophy.
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.
This section should be between 1000 - 1250 words.
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. As part of your philosophy, you need to outline the role of external professionals and community representatives in broadening teachers’ professional knowledge and practice. Consideration of the importance of ongoing continued professional learning must be addressed in your response.
This section should be between 750 - 1000 words.
Week 10 Friday (17 May 2024) 11:45 pm AEST
Review/Exam Week Monday (3 June 2024)
- 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
- 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.
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?
