ASSIGNMENT ESSAY ON THE FOUNDATION OF TEACHING & LEARNING

"He who can, does; he who cannot, teaches."
-George Bernard Shaw, 1903, Man and Superman

This assignment asks you to critically discuss this famous quote.

In doing so, you will evaluate the interrelationship between key teaching and learning concepts - specifically professionalism, curriculum, pedagogy and assessment - and discuss how effective design incorporates aspects of curriculum, assessment, and pedagogy (Outcomes 1, 5, & 6).

You are also asked to engage with educational research as a source for best-practice in the profession (Outcome 8).

ASSIGNMENT DETAILS

In this first assignment, you will write an essay on the foundation concepts covered in DTL in the context of a challenge to the professionalism of teachers.

You will demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the foundation concepts, integrate these concepts with one another, and apply them to the practice of addressing specific learning needs (students in 1714 MTeach program) or designing PBL experiences (students in 1848 MTeach STEM program).

COMPREHENSION OF FOUNDATION CONCEPTS (1500 WORDS)

Critically discuss the quote from George Bernard Shaw. In your response, you should appraise the importance of each of the following foundation concepts to the daily work of Australian teachers:

- Teacher professionalism, incl. Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST)
- Curriculum, incl. Australian national curriculum

DESIGNING TEACHING & LEARNING

- Pedagogy, incl. NSW Quality Teaching model
- Assessment, incl. National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN)

INTEGRATING THE FOUNDATION CONCEPTS (500 WORDS)

Cement your argument by providing a brief example of the interrelationship between curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment in:

- Addressing the learning needs of gifted and talented students (students in 1714 MTeach)

- The design of effective PBL experiences (students in 1848 MTeach STEM).

Note this part of the assignment differs based on your MTeach program. In writing up your example, you should identify the learning needs of GAT students (1714 students) OR effective PBL practices (1848 students); discuss why these are important; and explain the teacher's role in designing curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment to address these learning needs or create these effective practices.

Ensure your essay has a clear introduction, which previews your thesis or line of argument, has clearly developed paragraphs which build your arguments, and a strong conclusion which ties your arguments together. As you are entering an evidence-based profession, you should support your arguments in both parts of the essay with relevant scholarly sources. You can use course readings as evidence but you should also conduct your own research in academic journals. A minimum of five sources is required. Be sure to cite your sources and include a reference list, formatting both according to APA 6thStyle.

- MS Word format file of your essay

LENGTH: 2000 WORDS