In this unit, students will examine the ways in which the Australian Curriculum is designed three-dimensionally to provide scope for educators to integrate its Key Learning Areas conceptually with its General Capabilities and Cross-Curriculum Priorities. Guided by research into learning and brain physiology, students will appreciate that a purposefully-integrated curriculum draws subject/discipline areas and subject/discipline experts together in order to shift the focus of learning from content coverage to in-depth understanding, increased engagement and personal, interpersonal and academic growth, through a combination of explicit teaching, experiential learning and rich, collaboratively-designed, meaningful tasks. On this basis, pre-service teachers will utilise a holistic understanding of the learning process as the foundation for their teaching of 21st century curriculum, thinking and skills, that in combination, lead to increased student confidence, awareness and the development of future citizens, able to actively contribute to their communities and to foster meaningful interpersonal relationships.

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
1. Understand and explain practices that facilitate teaching holistically, including explicit teaching, prioritising relational ideas, and creating optimal conditions for learning, in order to develop students' 21st century skills and dispositions;
2. Design a comprehensive instructional program that draws on evidence-based holistic teaching principles and practices in the service of school-age students, incorporating learning goals and planning documents addressing multiple elements and dimensions of the Australian Primary Curriculum;
3. Explore opportunities for rich, experiential, authentic learning, and explain how this deepens understanding and develops 21st century skills and dispositions; and
4. Examine how teaching holistically provides an inclusive approach for optimising learning, incorporating Indigenous Australian ways of knowing, being and doing.

Graduate attributes

1. UC graduates are professional - communicate effectively
1. UC graduates are professional - display initiative and drive, and use their organisation skills to plan and manage their workload
1. UC graduates are professional - take pride in their professional and personal integrity
1. UC graduates are professional - use creativity, critical thinking, analysis and research skills to solve theoretical and real-world problems
1. UC graduates are professional - work collaboratively as part of a team, negotiate, and resolve conflict
2. UC graduates are global citizens - adopt an informed and balanced approach across professional and international boundaries
2. UC graduates are global citizens - make creative use of technology in their learning and professional lives
2. UC graduates are global citizens - think globally about issues in their profession
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - adapt to complexity, ambiguity and change by being flexible and keen to engage with new ideas
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - be self-aware
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - reflect on their own practice, updating and adapting their knowledge and skills for continual professional and academic development

Prerequisites

11766 Engaging with Curriculum Frameworks

Corequisites

None.

Incompatible units

None.

Equivalent units

None.

Assumed knowledge

None.