EDEC11027 - Early Childhood Pedagogies

General Information

Unit Synopsis

In this unit, you will extend your thinking about viable sources of curriculum, and through reflection on the work of educators of Reggio Emilia, you will explore the notion of ‘teacher as researcher’, see yourselves as researchers and see children as active participants in the design, construction and enactment of the ‘curriculum’. You will examine the teacher’s role in pedagogical decisions with particular emphasis on mindfulness, reflective practice and intentional teaching, and as (co)creators of aesthetic learning environments that support connectedness, belonging, investigation, discovery, play and wellbeing. Pedagogies of relationships, place, play, possibility and provocation are examined in in-depth ways. You will examine guiding principles and research underpinning curriculum approaches as well as your own developing assumptions and philosophy of education to articulate what you believe should underpin curriculum inquiry in early childhood. You will inspect how early childhood pedagogy reflects the importance of childhood and contributes to the holistic wellbeing, learning and development of children. As part of this process, you consider what being, belonging and becoming can look like in practice for children and for the early childhood educator. You will scrutinise real-world challenges and dilemmas. You will demonstrate your ability to identify and think through complex issues, diverse interpretations and expectations of the teaching and learning process and respond to these in ways that deepen your intellectual, ethical and emotional engagement work. You will complete a 15 day placement in an early childhood service with children birth to 35 months.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 1
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 1
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Pre-requisite EDFE11038 Professional Practice 1 - Introduction to Teaching.

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).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 3 - 2024

Term 3 - 2024 Profile
Mixed Mode
Term 3 - 2025 Profile
Mixed Mode

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).

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.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Portfolio 50%
2. Written Assessment 50%
3. Professional Practice Placement 0%

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

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

Term 3 - 2023 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 58.33% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 21.82% response rate.

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.

Source: Student feedback
Feedback
Recording of lectures
Recommendation
Lectures will continue to recorded
Action Taken
Lectures will continue to be recorded
Source: Student feedback
Feedback
Support for assignment tasks
Recommendation
Further resources will be developed in relation to assessment tasks.
Action Taken
Students have been provided with support.
Source: Email and Verbal feedback
Feedback
Timing of units delivered across the term should be changed
Recommendation
Ensure that students are aware of the delivery schedule.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Email and Verbal feedback
Feedback
Knowledge of the practical placement associated with this unit a
Recommendation
Prior to the commencement of this unit, students will be emailed to alert them to the placement requirement.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Articulate a theorised approach to early childhood pedagogy that recognises the importance of play and builds on relationships with children and connectedness to their worlds
  2. Evaluate the influence of educators' personal assumptions and biases on understanding and interpreting the contexts and consequences of communities and children's socio-economic backgrounds
  3. Conduct an inquiry into pedagogies of place and play to identify the influence and significance of contexts on teachers' curriculum decision making
  4. Defend the role of the early childhood professional in making ethical decisions that respect children
  5. Critically reflect on prevailing notions of curriculum, curriculum frameworks and schooling to identify opportunities for exercising professional judgement in curriculum decision making and pedagogical practices that value children and childhood in and beyond early years settings.
  6. Complete a placement with young children birth to 35 months
  7. Plan and implement learning experiences that promote the engagement and participation of all learners and are responsive to their characteristics, stage of development and social, cultural and linguistic backgrounds and also link to your observations of the child/children.

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

1.2 Understand how students learn

2.1 Content and teaching strategies of the teaching area

2.2 Content selection and organization

3.6 Evaluate and improve teaching programs

3.7 Engage parents/carers in the educative process

4.1 Support student participation

6.2 Engage in professional learning and improve practice

7.1 Meet professional ethics and responsibilities

7.2 Comply with legislative, administrative and organisational requirements

Guidelines for the registration of an early childhood qualification with the Australian Children Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) specify what the curriculum of an early childhood course must include. This unit contributes unit content related to early childhood pedagogies and education and curriculum studies.

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1 - Portfolio • •
2 - Written Assessment • • • • •
3 - Professional Practice Placement • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
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 • • • • •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 - Portfolio • • • • • • •
2 - Written Assessment • • • • • •
3 - Professional Practice Placement • • • • •