Suggested guidelines for EPE210 Professional Experience: Learner Development EC (15 days) Professional experience in schools helps to develop the professional knowledge, skills and attitudes needed for beginning teachers. The professional experience promotes learning about professional contexts, about educational settings and practices, about schools and other learning settings and most importantly about teaching and learning strategies that foster pre-service teachers (PSTs) growth and development. The following schedule is a guide to provide ideas and elaborate on the unit content and in-school learning tasks for 15 days in a school setting (5 year old learners) for EPE210. The schedule can be varied or added to according to the needs/situations of the school, the context and pre-service teacher. TIMELINE PRE-SERVICE TEACHER MENTOR TEACHER Before the Professional Experience Contact your mentor teacher to clarify details regarding placement and initial expectations of placement. Prepare yourself for the commitment of a school day: 20 minutes before the students start at least one hour after school finishes, depending upon the school activities Organise a timetable of days of attendance for the pre-service teacher Familiarise yourself with the requirements of the professional experience and with the assessment forms Week 1 (Days 1 – 5) Begin reflective journal and discuss entries with mentor teacher Introduce yourself to the children and other staff Pre-service teachers should be involved this week with: Marking attendance, yard duties Undertaking individual observations and individual summaries of children or general observations (refer to the "student resources" tab in InSchool). These will become part of your reflective journal and your PoE*. Introduce PST to the director/principal and other staff where appropriate Discuss the reflective journal with the PST. Give feedback on how you will respond to planning and teaching Give the pre-service teacher opportunities to complete and discuss observations Provide access and time to discuss your observations and program as well as how you plan your program and undertake observations
Focus on observations of the class(es), the teacher(s), the program(s) and the resources, assisting as a co- teacher/aide in: assisting and coordinating transitions Attend staff/room meetings Prepare lessons and seek feedback Undertake further ongoing planning and daily teaching for groups/individuals teaching a minimum of three full days. Begin discussions, planning and organisation with a focus on meeting APST 3 and 5 for planning and teaching, and assessment and reporting of student learning. Plan and teach a sequence/unit of learning with a focus on teaching methodologies with embedded assessment EC specialisation PSTs may elect to day book format (refer to resources heading on the InSchool site). Allow the PST opportunities to manage lesson transitions and working with small groups Check draft lesson plans and provide feedback Pre-service teacher and mentor teacher discuss: the language of the profession emergent teacher identity, personal philosophies, developing and shaping philosophies/beliefs, development of positive attitudes and perceptions – culture and environment of room, routines and layout teacher and child interaction techniques fostering relationships with children, teaching strategies duty of care the EYLF and/or Australian curriculum policy/planning documents practices in catering for diverse learning needs Week 2 and 3 PST’s involvement continues plus the following: Planning and teaching (with collaboration, input and feedback from teacher)for full days building up to a minimum of 5 sequential lessons Continue reflective journal entries Ensure that your teacher has planning at least one day before they are to be taught; sequences one week ahead At the end of Day7 - Complete Interim Report and send to: Give the PST (and if necessary, CDU) feedback as to progress. (See “Reporting Degrees of Concern” procedures if necessary) Give the PST opportunities to complete and discuss planning and reflection Assist PST reflection through oral and written feedback on day book plans and teaching Allow the PST opportunities to teach
Manage lesson transitions, assessment of tasks, setting up for teaching and learning Research different ways of gathering evidence of student learning Discuss the reflective journal with PST Final Day of Placement Meet with your teacher and complete placement assessment forms, and discuss progress. Take a copy of these forms for your records to keep as part of your teaching portfolio. Show evidence where these competencies are being addressed Send original copies of completed Assessment forms and Time sheet to: Work as a co-professional supporting students in small groups and individually Continue reflective journal entries. These will become part of your reflective journal and your PoE* Use the reflective journal as a tool to facilitate discussion with the pre- service teacher Discuss progress made by PST . Mentor teacher to complete rubric and assessment in the final report and return to Professional Experience Office on or before: Semester 1 – 15 June; Semester 2 - 1 November. After the placement Ensure all 10 days have been completed. Maintain a copy of completed Assessment Forms. Ensure that forms have been emailed to *Portfolio of Evidence (POE)– completed online portfolio presented to host school at the conclusion of the course. The PoE provides the explicit demonstration of evidence that addresses the Australian Professional Standards for Teacher (APSTs). Pre-service teachers are encouraged to collect evidence towards this portfolio from the commencement of the first Professional Experience.