A nexus is defined as a means of connection, a tie, link or series of connecting ideas. This concept describes the central focus of this assessment task which requires you to demonstrate a nexus between the five interrelated aspects of practice outlined below:

● the expert content knowledge in your area of specialisation that you bring into the course,

● the skills and strategies you have learnt within the course to apply expert content and pedagogical content knowledge to support student learning,

● the application of knowledge to effective classroom practice,

● an approach to learning design that includes motivation and engagement strategies to create a positive environment with a focus on learning for students across the full range of abilities,

● evaluation of the impact of your knowledge and teaching practice on student learning through a rationale that justifies the learning design.

Part 1: Planning for effective learning

Supported by a series of topics within the coursework for this unit on enhancing teaching practice through expert pedagogical knowledge and practice, this task requires you to demonstrate your expert content and pedagogical content knowledge within your curriculum learning area of specialisation (English for students in the Primary and Early Childhood course) or major teaching area (students in the Secondary course).

Specifically, you will plan a learning sequence of 3-4 lessons that include teaching strategies, resources and assessment strategies (formative and/or summative). The planning must demonstrate:

(a) Knowledge of the key concepts, substance and structure of the subject matter for a specific curriculum topic in your area of specialisation (content knowledge)

(b) Knowledge and understanding of instructional strategies and pedagogical content knowledge for making the content accessible to students and promoting engagement, motivation and self-regulation;

(c) Ability to apply pedagogical content knowledge to design and sequence lessons and differentiate learning activities and teaching and management strategies to cater for students with different abilities and characteristics;

(d) Ability to plan assessment strategies and interpret data to monitor student learning leading to a culminating (summative) task and modify teaching practice throughout the learning sequence

Part 2: Rationale for learning design

You are to provide a rationale to justify your planning. The rationale should be no more than 1000 words in length and must incorporate critical reflection on the ways in which your planning illustrates and responds to the following statement by Shulman (1986):

“Pedagogical content knowledge is a type of knowledge that is unique to teachers, and is based on the manner in which teachers relate their pedagogical knowledge (what they know about teaching) to their subject matter knowledge (what they know about what they teach).”

In your rationale, you need to explain your personal philosophy for teaching and creating positive and well-managed learning environments, and your personal approach to understanding the application of knowledge to a teachable context – that is:

● How did you approach the application of your content knowledge to become teachable knowledge for students with different abilities and characteristics in the learning sequence?

● What decisions did you make about the organisation of content and the design of teaching and learning activities based on acquired professional knowledge about the causes of, and antecedents of off-task behaviour?

Your rationale (and response to the statement provided) should clearly identify how you have engaged in professional learning to enhance your pedagogical content knowledge including any professional development workshops attended, or resources provided by or accessed through professional organisations or networks.

In a concluding statement to your rationale, you are to explain how the transfer of teachers’ content knowledge to teachable knowledge makes an impact on student learning – that is,

● How have you used your expert knowledge to plan for improved student learning and understanding of key concepts in the learning sequence?

Assessment will be marked against the following criteria:

● Rationale for an approach to planning, teaching and classroom management inclusive of a personal philosophy for teaching and sources of professional learning for teachers that enhance or improve pedagogical content knowledge

● Evaluation of the impact of teachers’ professional knowledge on student learning

● Knowledge and understanding of the concepts, substance and structure of the content and teaching strategies of the teaching area

● Selection and organisation of content into a logical sequence for teaching and learning that aligns with curriculum intent and assessment

● Selection of resources, teaching strategies and differentiation practices that make content and key concepts accessible to students with different abilities and characteristics that impact on learning

● Knowledge of approaches to behaviour management that create positive learning environments and prevent challenging or off-task behaviours

● Design of assessment strategies that monitor and evaluate student learning, understanding and demonstration of knowledge and skills

Learning Outcomes Assessed

LO1 Plan and teach learning sequences using curriculum, content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge to make learning accessible to students across the full range of abilities

LO2 Plan for, collect and interpret student data using assessment strategies and recording formats that provide a focus for giving feedback and monitoring and reporting on students’ progress and achievement

LO3 Identify differentiation strategies and teaching approaches that cater for the learning needs and characteristics of diverse groups of students including students with disability and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds

LO4 Apply preventative, supportive and corrective management strategies to create and maintain a safe, supportive learning environment

LO6 Evaluate the impact of planned and enacted teaching on the learning and participation of students across the full range of abilities

Australian Professional Standards for Teachers addressed in this task

1.1, 1.5, 2.1, 2.2, 3.2, 3.3. 3.4, 4.3, 5.1, 6.2, 6.4

You will complete a 20 day placement structured as a four-week continuous block in a school setting under the mentorship of a supervising teacher and complete set tasks for this placement as outlined in the Information and Guidelines for the Supervision and Assessment of Pre-Service Teachers booklet. You will also complete 1 contextual day prior to the commencement of the block placement as an orientation to the school site and class/classes you will be teaching.

The placement will be organised by the relevant WIL Placement Officer within the Professional Experience Office.

During the placement, you will participate in a wide range of planning and teaching activities including the application of content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge in your area of specialisation. Your planning will include experience in implementing the full teaching and learning cycle leading to assessment of student learning in a summative or culminating task.

You will maintain an up-to-date working portfolio to record all planning, teaching, assessment, evaluation and reflection tasks undertaken throughout the placement.

Daily critical reflection will be framed by a series of self-devised questions that use direct links to the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (Graduate Career Stage) to evaluate your practice, synthesise feedback and identify professional learning needs.

Assessment for the placement will be completed by supervising teachers using an electronic summative report that uses the same standards and criteria as the sample report included in the Information and Guidelines for the Supervision and Assessment of Pre-Service Teachers booklet.

Full details of specific tasks for this placement are outlined in the Professional Praxis 3 Information and Guidelines for the Supervision and Assessment of Pre-Service Teachers booklet.

As per the Professional Praxis 3 Information and Guidelines for the Supervision and Assessment of Pre-Service Teachers booklet

Your portfolio contains two (2) parts as outlined below in Part A and Part B. You must complete both parts of this assessment task.

Part A: Evidence and commentary on classroom practice in an area of specialisation (English – Primary and Early Childhood; Major Teaching Area – Secondary)

Select evidence from your Professional Praxis 3 placement that illustrates your application of expert content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge to effective classroom teaching. The evidence must include the following:

(a) an overview of a learning sequence (unit of work or series of lessons) taught in your area of specialisation. The overview must identify curriculum content descriptions and achievement standards that were the focus for student learning and the learning goals, teaching strategies, resources, and assessment strategies that were used to organise and teach the content throughout the series of lessons;

(b) a copy of the summative or culminating task that students completed to demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and skills;

(c) samples of student work including responses to formative and summative assessment;

(d) a copy of your classroom management plan outlining strategies to promote positive behaviour for learning and prevent and respond to off-task or challenging behaviour in a timely manner.

All evidence should be annotated to link the artefacts to the commentary and selected focus areas of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers and must clearly show how specific features of the selected evidence illustrate the Standards and the way teaching, learning, preventative management and assessment were enacted during your placement.

You will embed the selected evidence in a commentary of 1000 words that explains and evaluates the impact of your practice on student learning throughout the full teaching-learning assessment cycle. The questions below are provided as a guide for constructing your commentary.

● What was the focus for student learning in the lesson sequence?

● How did you construct standards and criteria for making judgements on the quality of students’ work and how did you make these criteria visible to students?

● How did you structure the learning, differentiate learning activities and use teaching strategies to support students across the full range of ability levels in the class group?

● What strategies and learning activities did you embed in your learning sequence to engage and motivate students to learn the focus content and reduce the potential for off-task or disruptive behaviour? What profiling data or knowledge about student characteristics and stages of development prompted you to include these strategies and how successful were they in preventing or managing challenging behaviours during your lessons?

● How did you use formative assessment (checks for understanding) to monitor student learning and modify teaching practice throughout the learning sequence?

● With reference to student work samples, how did your planning and teaching decisions impact on student learning? What feedback did or would you give to students on their learning?

● With reference to moderation of student assessment with your supervising teacher, were your judgements on the quality of student work comparable to your supervising teacher’s judgement? Where judgements differed, what was the basis for this difference and how does this help you with future assessment and moderation practices?

● What practices would you continue to use with this class or what improvements would you make to your planning, teaching and assessment practices to improve student learning?

Part B: Critical Reflection - implications for diverse student needs and characteristics

You are to construct a written statement in the form of a personal critical reflection of no more than 1000 words. The reflection must analyse the nexus between your content knowledge (subject matter knowledge you have brought into the course), pedagogical content knowledge (what you have learnt through your discipline-specific curriculum and pedagogy units) and classroom practice (your demonstration of that teachable knowledge in the classroom whilst completing the in-school placement for Professional Praxis 3) to identify implications for your future practice.

Specifically, your statement must demonstrate deep critical reflection on, and analysis of, your professional knowledge, practice and engagement in relation to the following aspects:

(a) The ways in which your content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge support your understanding of the learning progression in your area of curriculum specialisation and your subsequent ability to differentiate instruction, organise learning sequences, design activities and tasks to engage and motivate students, and explain core concepts to students across the full range of abilities;

(b) An analysis and justification of the ways in which your professional knowledge related to subject matter, curriculum and pedagogy potentially impacts on the inclusive participation and learning of future students who represent all of the following groups:

a. Students with disability

b. Students from diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds

c. Students with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural and linguistic backgrounds

d. Students with literacy and numeracy capabilities that are well below or well above the expected year level

e. Students with behavioural needs or an inability to self-regulate their learning behaviour

This reflection should draw on examples of practice you have observed or experienced and sources of professional learning for teachers in your area of specialisation including evidence-based pedagogical frameworks or research to illustrate and support your ideas.

Assessment will be marked against the following criteria:

● Selection of evidence that demonstrates focus areas of the Standards for planning, teaching and assessment in an area of specialisation

● Personal critical reflection on enacted teaching practice and the success of selected teaching, management and engagement strategies

● Evaluation of the impact of content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge on student learning

● Knowledge and understanding of teaching approaches that are responsive to the literacy, numeracy, learning and behavioural needs of diverse student groups, including students with disability and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students

● Identification of sources for professional learning including professional networks and community representatives that improve teaching practice and student learning

Learning Outcomes Assessed

LO1 Plan and teach learning sequences using curriculum, content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge to make learning accessible to students across the full range of abilities

LO2 Plan for, collect and interpret student data using assessment strategies and recording formats that provide a focus for giving feedback and monitoring and reporting on students’ progress and achievement

LO3 Identify differentiation strategies and teaching approaches that cater for the learning needs and characteristics of diverse groups of students including students with disability and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds

LO4 Apply preventative, supportive and corrective management strategies to create and maintain a safe, supportive learning environment

LO6 Evaluate the impact of planned and enacted teaching on the learning and participation of students across the full range of abilities

LO7 Use the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers to monitor professional learning, identify appropriate sources of further learning, and improve professional practice in response to feedback, self-evaluation and reflection.

Australian Professional Standards for Teachers Practised/Assessed in this task

1.1, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.5, 2.6, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.6, 4.3, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 6.1, 6.2, 6.4