Practice in Partnership 3

In this unit, pre-service teachers will engage in a professional placement experience that expands on their work with children and families in Long Day Care or Sessional Kindergarten settings. They will undertake 15 days of professional experience, gaining firsthand insight into either long day care or sessional kindergarten environments. Pre-service teachers will collaborate with staff, families, and the wider community to support children's learning and development. This unit has a strong focus on introducing students to the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST), providing opportunities to apply these standards in real-world practice. Pre-service teachers will take full responsibility while on placement, developing professional autonomy and confidence in their role as educators. Throughout this experience, they will begin to articulate and connect their philosophical and theoretical perspectives, generating meaningful illustrations of practice across the domains of teaching, professional knowledge, professional practice, and professional engagement.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:

1. Critically reflect on a personal educational philosophy that informs teaching and learning in early childhood settings.
2. Articulate knowledge of the broad principles of social justice, diversity and inclusion to inform curriculum design.
3. Present an illustration of practice that demonstrates professional knowledge, professional practice and professional engagement at the Graduate level of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers
4. Negotiate with a mentor teacher to design, plan and implement and critically reflect on an educational program that responds to the Aboriginal and Torres straight Islander standpoints in early childhood and to VEYLDF and or the EYLF learning outcomes.