Being a Teacher (12034.1)

Required texts

Required Texts:

Required readings are listed in the unit outline and are available through CANVAS on reading list

Recommended Texts:

Sharp, H., Hudson, S., Weatherby-Fell, N., Charteris, J., Brown, B., Lodge, J., McKay-Brown, L., Sempowicz, T., Buchanan, R., Imig, S., Hudson, P., Vergano, M. & Walsh, M. (2021) Introduction to Education. Cambridge

J. Allen & S. White (Eds). (2018 or 2021) Learning to Teach in a New Era. Cambridge

Submission of assessment items

Extensions & Late submissions

Approval of extenuating circumstances will be dependent upon the production of supporting documentation and at the discretion of the unit convener.

All assessment items required to be submitted online must be submitted via the appropriate Canvas drop box. It is the student's responsibility to upload the correct and corresponding draft or assessment item to the right submission section. Assignments must be submitted in a format accessible to the assessor(s), as stated on the relevant canvas site. If the unit convener and/or tutor are unable to access a submission, a standard late penalty of 5% of the total marks possible for the task may be applied per day until the assignment is made accessible.

Special assessment requirements

This unit includes an observational placement component that is graded as satisfactory/unsatisfactory based on attendance, engagement and professionalism. Successful completion of placement is requirement to pass this unit as well as an aggregated mark of 50% or more in assessment tasks.

Being a Teacher - 12034 Attendance and Engagement and Professionalism Form. It is the responsibility of the preservice teacher to ensure this form is signed by all participants at the completion of the 10-day observation placement.  Preservice Teachers are to submit an original and a copy of the signed report to the UC Placement Office no later than a week after their completion date. 

The unit convener reserves the right to question students orally on any of their submitted work. 

Academic integrity

Students have a responsibility to uphold University standards on ethical scholarship. Good scholarship involves building on the work of others and use of others' work must be acknowledged with proper attribution made. Cheating, plagiarism, and falsification of data are dishonest practices that contravene academic values. Refer to the University's Student Charter for more information.

To enhance understanding of academic integrity, all students are expected to complete the Academic Integrity Module (AIM) at least once during their course of study. You can access this module within UCLearn (Canvas) through the 'Academic Integrity and Avoiding Plagiarism' link in the Study Help site.

Use of Text-Matching Software

The University of Canberra uses text-matching software to help students and staff reduce plagiarism and improve understanding of academic integrity. The software matches submitted text in student assignments against material from various sources: the internet, published books and journals, and previously submitted student texts.

Provision of valid documentation

Please note that the University takes student conduct very seriously. All documentation provided to University staff must be valid and the provision of fraudulent documentation carries with it potentially serious consequences, including suspension and/or exclusion from the University. Note that all allegations of student misconduct will be referred to the Associate Dean for Education (ADE) as a prescribed authority for investigation.

Learner engagement

Lectures Materials and Tutorials: 3 hrs x 30 = 30 hrs 

Online study: 3 hrs x 10 = 30 hrs 

Extra weekly readings & assessment preparation: 90 hrs (9 hrs per week) 

Inclusion and engagement

Successful engagement with all learning activities in this accredited Initial Teacher Education course is necessary to demonstrate that you have met the Graduate career stage of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (AITSL, 2011).

Participation requirements

Successful completion of the professional experience component is critical to success in the whole unit. Refer to assessment (5a) on the Canvas site for further details. Students must make themselves familiar with the processes and policies of professional experience.

As a unit of study offered in Flexible mode, attendance at scheduled sessions is not a mandatory requirement of this unit however, all students must successfully engage in mentoring tutorial workshops in weeks 3, 5, 7 and 11 to enable completion of assessment tasks and meet unit learning outcomes. Students who enrol in the ‘self-paced study' option (in lieu of tutorials) effectively have no tutorials to attend, and students who are enrolled in on-campus or remote tutorials may wish to re-allocate to ‘self-paced study' as the semester progresses. There is, however, a strong correlation between participation and success in higher education. With this in mind, we encourage and expect students to actively participate in all module activities to enhance their learning opportunities.

Required IT skills

It is expected that students undertaking this unit will have a basic level of information technology competence that includes electronic manipulation of documents, PowerPoint, Google docs, Padlet, blogs, photographs, videos, slideshows, e-books, websites and apps.

Work placement, internships or practicums

This unit involves work integrated learning (WIL): Placement. Students must adhere to University policy during WIL activities, including the Student Conduct Rules (2018), the WIL policy and WIL procedure, and the Assessment policy, and Assessment procedure. For teaching degrees, students need to ensure they have their WWVP and for NSW, their Working with Children, COVID vaccination status and evidence of PSTR uploaded to InPlace. All observational placements attached to 12034 will be untertaken in the Captial Region.

This unit involves professional practicum and therefore, additional student responsibilities are required in addition to those described in section 6. Workplace learning requires strict adherence to professional practice principles and ethics. School student and staff confidentiality must always be maintained (refer policies on ATES - Professional Experience Handbook, ACT ED Teachers' Code of Professional Practice (or equivalent) and Student Conduct Rules), including for assessment items such as reports or essays. This applies to staff and patrons of any outside agency where an internship or other WIL activity is taking place. 

For teaching degrees, there are a number of certifications and registrations that students must have uploaded onto InPlace or 12034 Canvas site (before commencing placement), including for this first observational placement including:

1. Working With Vulnerable People (WWVP) certification

2. Working with Children Check (WWCC)

3. Pre Service Teacher Registration (PSTR)

4. Acceptable use of ICT resources form

5. UC Placement Agreement form

6. Keeping Children and Young People Safe course completion certificate.

Students must also complete a number of Pre-Place Modules

To complete all these requirements students need to access the 'NO STRESS PLACEMENT PLANNER' available on the ATES Canvas site and the 12034 Canvas site, and work their way through each Step.

These requirements will be discussed in the first few weeks of semester and links provided. Please refer to the professional experience section on the All Teacher Education Students (ATES) site for full information on the Professional Experience requirements.

Additional information

Provision of information to the group:

Notifications through the Canvas Announcements Forum or the Canvas Discussion Forums are deemed to be made to the whole cohort.  It is the responsibility of the student to ensure that they check for announcements on the Unit's Canvas website (forum messages are also emailed to student email addresses only).  Students should ensure they check their student email regularly.  The Canvas discussion forums will be checked by staff regularly.

Theoretical foundations: 

This unit engages in evidence-based learning theories and engagement with reflective practices.

• Semester 1, 2024, Flexible, UC - Canberra, Bruce (221773)