EDEC11030 - Teaching Health and Sustainability in the Early Years

Unit Synopsis

In this unit, you will adopt an holistic view of learning and wellbeing and apply knowledge of the general capabilities of Personal and Social Competence and Sustainability that underpin the Australian curriculum to examine the rationale, aims and content of the Personal, Social and Community Health strand of the Australian curriculum: Health and Physical Education. You will evaluate the strength of the Health strand in facilitating the connectedness of children, families and community with each other and with the environment for sustainable futures. You will explore these concepts personally by identifying strategies that support their own wellbeing as members of a profession and reflect on their own experiences as they position children as active informed citizens of the future. You will observe children’s experiences in a range of learning, natural and social environments to identify the contributions children make to sustainable futures as they build and exercise personal and social competence. You will engage with research that documents both the impact of nature and natural play on health and wellbeing and the effects on healthy lifestyles of a disconnection from nature. You will apply knowledge gained from a policy analysis into public expressions of commitment to healthy, sustainable ways of living to their engagement with the curriculum strand. The implications of these factors for children and futures are analysed and students propose strategies and pedagogical approaches for implementing the Health strand of the curriculum in ways that optimise the transition of young children to formal school environments and that create learning environments as places of belonging for children and families and as sites for cultivating dispositions and knowledge necessary for sustainability where children are active agents in shaping healthy futures.

Details

Unit Availabilities from Term 2 - 2026

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).