EDUC9231 Professional Experience 1 (Early Childhood)

Available to students enrolled in both EDUC9130 and EDUC9231 in the same calendar year.

This Professional Teaching Practice occurs in the first year of the Masters of Teaching (Early Childhood). Five preliminary day visits (in the topic EDUC9130 Professional Experience: An Introduction (Early Childhood)) are followed by 6 consecutive week-block (total 35 days), spent in a metropolitan or country early childhood setting.

Emphasis is placed on the planning, implementation and evaluation of teaching programs. Close links are established between curriculum studies at Flinders and centre/school curricula through the designing, evaluating, implementing, analysing and theorising about their placement site's curriculum inquiry focus.

At the conclusion of this teaching experience, judgements are made about the pre-service teacher's readiness to continue to the final placement topic EDUC9304 Professional Experience: Final Assessment.

This professional learning experience provides students with an opportunity to:

• Make a meaningful contribution to children's learning and the setting's curriculum goals and priorities
• Deepen their understandings of how children learn and develop through a process of praxis, in which they research, inquire, test and use the theoretical knowledge that they have acquired and are acquiring
• Use a variety of observation techniques to gain insight into the types of experiences, activities and ideas that engage young children
• Plan, implement and evaluate a curriculum that involves and engages children in deep and meaningful learning
• Engage in praxis, or theoretically informed teaching
• Document children's involvement and engagement in the curriculum and assess their learning over an extended period of time
• Recognise the importance of families in children's lives and learning
• Work as a constructive, collaborative and cooperative team member
• Document and organise evidence of their developing professional knowledge, professional practice and professional relationships

1. Plan and execute a substantial curriculum inquiry that effectively contributes to young children's learning over time
2. Competently observe children's learning and development
3. Plan, implement and evaluate experiences/activities that are responsive to the observed needs and interests of young children
4. Take an increasing degree of responsibility for planning, implementing and evaluating a curriculum that engages individual children and groups of children in deep and meaningful learning
5. Be aware of the factors that lead to high levels of involvement and engagement in curriculum experience/activities
6. Make teaching decisions and adopt teaching approaches that are theoretically informed
7. Document and assess children's learning in ways that capture its complexity and competence
8. Investigate ways of communicating effectively with families about children's learning and development
9. Reflect on the impact and effectiveness of your approach to teaching on children's learning
10. Collaborate respectfully, honestly and openly with children, families and other educators in order to achieve shared goals for children's learning