The unit will build on the unit ES610 Primary English and focus on developing expert content knowledge in English language, literature and literacy, as well as pedagogical content knowledge and the integration of these for developing highly effective teaching strategies relevant to teaching English. You will engage deeply with the learning theories which underpin the Victorian Curriculum F-10 and the Australian Curriculum for English, and language continuums used to plan and assess the teaching of English across the curriculum. You will also appreciate and develop ways to integrate the state and national curriculum’s general capabilities and cross-curriculum priorities. The unit will examine a number of factors impacting the development of literacy in schools through the English discipline and across curriculum areas, including the development and efficacy of school-wide scope and sequence, literacy programs, issues in the field of Children’s Literature, and how teachers and students use technology to improve literacy proficiencies. Through analysis of contemporary learning theories and pedagogies, you will develop the necessary skills to design inclusive classroom programs where all learners, including gifted students and especially those labelled ‘at-risk,’ can acquire literacy skills and practices needed for success in learning and for participating effectively in society. You will learn about how dyslexia and the autistic spectrum can impact the literacy learning needs of students. The unit will explore how these understandings along with engagement with educational theory can be used in the development of strategies for effective classroom teaching to improve literacy proficiencies through the English discipline as well as across all curriculum areas. The unit will also cover assessment and data-analysis for identifying and planning for the learning needs of students, including those with additional needs and gifted students, and current developments for advancing their learning in English. This will include exploring the integration of ICT for enhancing and extending learning in English as well as the use of digital technologies for a range of purposes such as word processing and publishing. The professional experience component of this unit entails attending a placement school (primary or secondary respective of the course being completed) for a block of 10 consecutive days in the same school attended for ED733. Under the supervision of an experienced teacher you will apply and develop your teaching practices, teaching whole classes for whole lessons up to a half-day load as negotiated with your supervising teacher based on your progress and performance. You will continue to focus on learning through regularly observing and reflecting on experienced teachers’ practices. You will attend a preparation class prior to the professional experience placement and a debrief class after its completion. During the placement, your supervising teacher will provide you with advice, support and feedback to support your progress and improve your practices, and will assess your teaching against the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers at the graduate level. You are required to incorporate digital technologies into your teaching, learning, preparation and assessment practices displaying improving personal proficiency. As you progress through the Professional Experience, you are expected to demonstrate increasing competence and professional growth and become well immersed in school life. Topics: * Learning theories and how these have shaped the Victorian Curriculum F-10 and the Australian Curriculum (English – Language, Literature and Literacy strands) and the teaching of literacy. * General capabilities and cross-curriculum priorities as relevant to content and teaching in English * Research on highly effective teaching strategies in the English discipline including The Teaching and Learning Cycle and HITS-High Impact Teaching Strategies (John Hattie & Robert Marzano’s evidence-based strategies), and incorporating these into literacy teaching practices * Analysis of school-wide literacy programs and initiatives: analysis of the models of reading adopted within popular school programs including ‘bottom-up’ and ‘top-down’ approaches, Freebody and Luke’s: The Four Resources model for reading and viewing: text decoder, participant, user and analyst, Clay’s Cueing Systems: semantic, grammatical, graphophonic and visual/pictorial systems, the integration of reading and writing and genre-based approaches * Data Analysis – exploring and analysing student data to identify proficiencies and learning needs in order to plan for teaching and learning: standardized testing (NAPLAN, PROBE, SA Spelling Test, Miscue Analysis, Running Record), formal and informal diagnostic, formative and summative approaches to assessing student needs, (questioning, self-assessment, portfolios, rubrics, concept mapping and portfolio samples) * Contemporary Communication and Multimodal Literacy: conveying meaning through a combination of two or more modes (written, spoken, visual, audio, spatial and gestural meaning) * Differentiated learning and scaffolding approaches for teaching literacy: supporting students with additional needs (gifted students, dyslexia, autistic spectrum, visual-spatial students, EAL/D) incorporating a Christian world view on inclusive practices. * Children’s literature: issues, resource selection, using picture books as part of pedagogy to enhance literacy learning (visual literacy, multimodal, to integrate ICTs, introducing a variety of genres, for problem solving and to present EAL/D and Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander people perspectives) * Critical Literacy and a Christian world view perspective.