CQUniversity Unit Profile
EDFE13034 Specialisation and Teaching in the Catholic School Community
Specialisation and Teaching in the Catholic School Community
All details in this unit profile for EDFE13034 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

This unit has the dual purpose of preparing you to apply content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge in your area of primary specialisation while enhancing your religious literacy and understanding of both the knowledge components of the Catholic religion and its living components (or “practice”) within broader Catholic communities. You will design teaching and learning experiences that develop general capabilities underpinning the Australian curriculum framework and have a positive impact on students’ understanding of key curriculum concepts in an area of specialisation from your course of study. You will create resources that illustrate exemplary practice in classroom and remote learning contexts and share these resources in a community of practice that replicates the collaborative processes that underpin continuous improvement in the teaching profession. As a pre-service teacher in the Catholic strand of your course, you will collect evidence of your understanding of, and engagement with, the people, places, resources and language of Religious Education in contemporary Catholic school settings. In preparation for employment interviews in the Catholic Education system, you will develop a portfolio that incorporates a personal professional philosophy expressing your understanding of your role in Catholic schools as places of learning and your responsibilities for engagement with faith communities that value and practice social justice principles as a way of expressing and living out Christian beliefs.

Details

Career Level: Undergraduate
Unit Level: Level 3
Credit Points: 6
Student Contribution Band: 7
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load: 0.125

Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Students enrol in this unit concurrently with EDFE14021 so that a context is created for the completion of the practical assessment.

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 - 2022

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. Practical Assessment
Weighting: 50%
2. Portfolio
Weighting: 50%

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 Student evaluation

Feedback

Peer feedback created additional pressure in the first assessment task

Recommendation

Reinforce a focus on seeking and responding to feedback that does not require group work

Unit Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
  1. Interpret and evaluate local documents and different approaches to teaching religion in contemporary Catholic schools
  2. Analyse the relationships, roles and responsibilities of various stakeholders in defining the nature and purpose of religious education in Catholic schools
  3. Reflect on practice to validate a personal professional philosophy as a future teacher in the Catholic schooling system
  4. Analyse curriculum to plan lessons and learning sequences that reflect the content, substance and structure of a learning area or discipline
  5. Design teaching and learning resources using knowledge of learning theory, content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge for a specialised curriculum learning area
  6. Apply communication skills that support understanding of curriculum concepts for students with a diverse range of characteristics and abilities
  7. Participate in evaluation and feedback processes to improve teaching practice and student learning outcomes.

This unit meets the requirements of the updated Program Standards for Accreditation of initial teacher education courses in Australia.  The practical assessment task and the eportfolio task provide opportunities for students to collect evidence of the achievement of all focus areas of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (Graduate Level).  In addition, this units meets the curriculum requirements for accreditation to teach in Catholic schools and to teach Religious Education in the Catholic system in all Australian Dioceses.

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 5 6 7
1 - Practical Assessment - 50%
2 - Portfolio - 50%

Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes

Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
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 - Practical Assessment - 50%
2 - Portfolio - 50%
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
Kerry Aprile Unit Coordinator
k.aprile@cqu.edu.au
Gillian Busch Unit Coordinator
g.busch@cqu.edu.au
Schedule
Week 1 Begin Date: 11 Jul 2022

Module/Topic

Primary/Early Childhood Specialisation Focus

  • Expert content knowledge
  • Expert pedagogical content knowledge
  • Applying knowledge in remote learning contexts


Catholic Education Strand Content Overview

Topic 1: What makes us Catholic?

  • Catholic Identity
  • Catholic schools and a Catholic way of seeing the world

Topic 2: Church documents on Catholic education 

Topic 3: Engagement with Catholic school communities

  • Catholic School Identity 
  • What is Catholic school identity
  • Life on the frontier
  • Catholic pedagogy - witness, specialist and moderator

Topic 4: Enhancing Catholic school identity

  • Post critical belief scale
  • The Melbourne scale
  • The Victoria scale
  • Recontextualisation

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Please note that all topics for this unit are covered in the intensive schedule completed prior to the commencement of the Professional Practice 4 placement.  The timetable schedules separate zoom tutorials for both the Specialisation focus and the Catholic Education content

Week 2 Begin Date: 18 Jul 2022

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 3 Begin Date: 25 Jul 2022

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 4 Begin Date: 01 Aug 2022

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 5 Begin Date: 08 Aug 2022

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Practical assessment - specialisation Due: Week 5 Tuesday (9 Aug 2022) 11:45 pm AEST
Vacation Week Begin Date: 15 Aug 2022

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 6 Begin Date: 22 Aug 2022

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 7 Begin Date: 29 Aug 2022

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 8 Begin Date: 05 Sep 2022

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 9 Begin Date: 12 Sep 2022

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 10 Begin Date: 19 Sep 2022

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 11 Begin Date: 26 Sep 2022

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Collection of evidence and critical reflection Due: Week 11 Monday (26 Sept 2022) 11:45 pm AEST
Week 12 Begin Date: 03 Oct 2022

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Review/Exam Week Begin Date: 10 Oct 2022

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Exam Week Begin Date: 17 Oct 2022

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Term Specific Information

Tutorials for this term are conducted intensively in the first five weeks of term and prior to the commencement of the placement for the co-requisite unit of Professional Practice 4.

Assessment Tasks

1 Practical Assessment

Assessment Title
Practical assessment - specialisation

Task Description

Practical Assessment - Specialisation

To complete this task, you will create a presentation in the form of a Professional Development session for an audience of beginning teachers. The presentation will model highly effective teaching practice that draws on the content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge that you have developed in your area of specialisation.

The task contains four parts as outlined below. You must complete all parts of the task and submit a copy of the presentation and all required documentation as outlined in each part below for final assessment.


Part 1: Preparation of resources for the Professional Development Session

To prepare for your presentation, you will create resources in the form of one (1) audio file and one (1) video file that illustrate highly effective classroom practice in your area of specialisation and that could be used by teachers in classroom contexts or parents/carers who are supporting students in remote learning contexts.

Steps for creating each of these resources are outlined below:

(a) Create a lesson plan and associated resources to demonstrate how you would teach an aspect of the curriculum in your specialisation at a year level of your choice. Use your lesson plan to write a script and develop an audio file that illustrates how the lesson would be implemented with learners to support their engagement in the planned activities and their achievement of the intended learning goal.

(b) Select a concept from your area of specialisation that is challenging for students to learn. The concept must be located within a learning sequence that develops knowledge, understanding and skills of a curriculum learning area or general capabilities embedded in curriculum content that students at the selected year level must learn to complete a meaningful summative task. Create a brief overview of the learning sequence that explains where and how the teaching of the concept relates to curriculum intent, proposed teaching and learning, and assessment. Create a resource in the form of a video that could be used to support effective teaching of that concept. The video should be no more than 6 minutes in length and should be designed for the use of teachers in classroom or online learning environments to support students’ understanding and application of the concept for meaningful purposes. This means you need to consider how to make the learning accessible to students from a wide range of abilities and backgrounds.

What to submit for Part 1: Copies of all planning documents, scripts (where relevant) and files or links to the audio and visual resources


Part 2: The presentation component of the Professional development Session

Create a presentation that explains how teachers can use the resources you have created in Part 1. The presentation may be created in a range of forms (e.g. PowerPoint with notes pages or voiceover, webinar, PreziVideo, iMovie, etc) but must include the following features:

· Explanation of why the learning is important for students in the chosen year level

· Identification of common misconceptions or challenges that present barriers to learning for some students

· Key features of the teaching strategies you have modelled that promote the ways of working in your specialisation and/or have a positive impact on student learning

· Terminology that is important to use to support student understanding and achievement of learning intentions

· Examples of questions that can be used to check for understanding

· Examples of expected student responses to activities included in the audio lesson

· Suggestions for follow-up activities that provide meaningful opportunities for students to apply/practise the knowledge and skills that are the focus of the intended learning

What to submit for Part 2: A copy of the Professional Development presentation. This may be in the form of a word document with a link to a recorded presentation, a video file, or in hard copy form (e.g. PowerPoint with notes pages).


Part 3: Evaluation of the presentation

For this part of the task, you will work as part of a collegial team for the purposes of evaluation and feedback. You will work in groups of 3 and will be responsible for sharing your own presentation and resources as well as providing feedback on the presentations and resources created by your peers.

Specifically, you will create an evaluation sheet seeking feedback on specific aspects of your resources and presentation; for example, the design of the resources, delivery of the content, selection of teaching strategies, fitness for purpose in meeting the needs of an intended audience of teachers, students and parents, etc.


Part 4: Appraisal of the feedback and final reflection

For this part of the task, you will write a brief reflection of no more than 500 words addressing the feedback that you received in Part 3. Your reflection should defend and justify teaching strategies that you believe will have a positive impact on student learning and identify any adjustments or changes you would make to either the presentation or the resources in response to feedback.

What to submit for Part 4: Copies of at least two (2) completed evaluation/feedback sheets and the written reflection.


Assessment Due Date

Week 5 Tuesday (9 Aug 2022) 11:45 pm AEST


Return Date to Students

The task will be returned following moderation.


Weighting
50%

Assessment Criteria

Alignment between planning, teaching and learning and curriculum intent

Controlled demonstration of content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge in the selected learning area

Explanation and justification of planning and teaching decisions

Critical reflection on aspects of teaching practice that have a positive impact on student learning


Referencing Style

Submission
Online

Learning Outcomes Assessed
  • Analyse curriculum to plan lessons and learning sequences that reflect the content, substance and structure of a learning area or discipline
  • Design teaching and learning resources using knowledge of learning theory, content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge for a specialised curriculum learning area
  • Apply communication skills that support understanding of curriculum concepts for students with a diverse range of characteristics and abilities
  • Participate in evaluation and feedback processes to improve teaching practice and student learning outcomes.


Graduate Attributes
  • Communication
  • Problem Solving
  • Critical Thinking
  • Team Work
  • Information Technology Competence
  • Cross Cultural Competence
  • Ethical practice
  • Social Innovation

2 Portfolio

Assessment Title
Collection of evidence and critical reflection

Task Description

This task contains two parts: Part A and Part B as described below. You must complete both parts of the task.

Part A: Throughout the period of your final professional experience placement of PP4, collect evidence that illustrates your understanding of the defining features of Catholic schools.

The evidence you select should demonstrate your knowledge of Church and local documents related to teaching Religion as well as highlight the ways in which the nature and purpose of Religious Education as outlined in the Teaching and Learning Framework (Rockhampton Diocese) are enacted and made visible at your placement school.

Suitable evidence could include images, photographs of icons, extracts from the school mission statement as well as records of staff meetings, professional development sessions, observation notes from school liturgies and other school / community practices and experiences, or interviews and discussions with key staff involved in the design and delivery of religious education (e.g. the APRE).

Write a brief annotation of no more than 25 words for each piece of evidence you have selected that explains how it contributes to your understanding of the roles and responsibilities of teachers in Catholic schools.

Your selected artefacts should be organised and presented as a single file (e.g. document in word or pdf format, PowerPoint, or any other suitable electronic format)

Part B

Maurice Ryan (1997, p. 2) in “Foundations of Religious Education in Catholic Schools” poses the question: “Is the (Catholic) school meant to be a place of nurture for people in the Christian faith, or is it meant to teach an understanding of Christianity in particular and religion in general?”

Write a critical reflection that explains and evaluates your understanding of the role and responsibilities of teachers in the Catholic Education system. Your reflection should be written to include your emerging personal professional philosophy as a future teacher within this system.

The reflection should answer / respond to the question framed by Ryan and make specific reference to the evidence you have included in Part A and the guidance provided for teachers in the Teaching and Learning Framework and Church documents that shape the identity and purpose of contemporary Catholic schools.

Length: Word limits do not apply to the collection of evidence given the multimodal format. Annotations should be no more than 25 words for each piece of evidence included.

The reflection should be 1000 words in length.


Assessment Due Date

Week 11 Monday (26 Sept 2022) 11:45 pm AEST


Return Date to Students

Feedback on this task will be returned following moderation


Weighting
50%

Assessment Criteria

Understanding of teachers’ professional roles in achieving the purposes of Catholic education (APST 6.4, 7.1)

Knowledge of human, physical and information resources and networks that support teachers’ professional learning and contribute to improved teaching practice and engagement with Catholic school communities (APST 6.2, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4)

Critical reflection on the ethical, institutional, collegial and community responsibilities of teachers in the Catholic schooling system (APST 6.3, 7.1, 7.2, 7.4)


Referencing Style

Submission
Online

Learning Outcomes Assessed
  • Interpret and evaluate local documents and different approaches to teaching religion in contemporary Catholic schools
  • Analyse the relationships, roles and responsibilities of various stakeholders in defining the nature and purpose of religious education in Catholic schools
  • Reflect on practice to validate a personal professional philosophy as a future teacher in the Catholic schooling system
  • Participate in evaluation and feedback processes to improve teaching practice and student learning outcomes.


Graduate Attributes
  • Communication
  • Problem Solving
  • Critical Thinking
  • Information Literacy
  • Team Work
  • Information Technology Competence
  • Cross Cultural Competence
  • 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?