Professional Practice of Teaching

Weighting Percentage: 60%

Addresses learning outcome(s):

• Critically evaluate sources of professional learning;
• Demonstrate advanced knowledge of strategies for communication and collaboration with other professionals, parents/carers and support personnel; and
• Demonstrate advanced knowledge of the relationship between professional learning and improved student learning.

Task description:

Writing and reflecting on case studies is a useful way to enhance our professional practice and identity. Through exploration of the authentic experiences of self and others, we consider the critical elements of personal professional practice for teaching.

Choose an episode that occurred within a classroom context, either from your professional placements or your time at school, that highlights a professional practice issue of interest. Create the narrative of what happened in this incident (500-700 words).

Analyze the incident in terms of policies, effective teaching practice, professional learning etc, making judgments about effective practice and student well being and / or student learning. Include some recommendations. Eg. How could the policy be changed? How could the school / teacher better interpret and enact the policy? What kind of professional learning would be of benefit here? (up to 1500 words)

Offer a self-reflexive analysis. How has consideration and analysis of this incident enabled you to enhance your knowledge and ideas about professional practice, either through reinforcement or marking the grounds for change. (up to 1000 words)

Scholarly references and connections to the course material are required to underpin the commentary.

Marking Criteria:

Students will be assessed on their demonstrated ability to:

• Discuss and relate issues to professional learning such as ethical practice, professional teaching standards, teacher conduct (10%)
• Critically analyze professional issues and relate to policy and personal practice. These include engaging/working with parents/carers, supporting student needs and participation, seeking and applying feedback on teaching, seeking and improving teacher’s professional knowledge and practice (25%)
• Understand the nature of reflexive processes to improve student well being and / or learning a, professional communication and professional development (35%)
• Apply strategies for communication and collaboration to enhance student well being and / or learning (20%)
• Write with clarity and purpose and adhere to standard academic conventions* (10%)