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Pre-Service Early Years/Primary Postgraduate Diploma in Education: EDUSC1: Educational and Professional Studies in Secondary Teaching

Course Description

 

This course offers an in-depth, reflective introduction to the profession of teaching within the secondary school cycles in the UAE. During the course, interns will be supported in reflecting on observed practices and pedagogical content knowledge of experienced teachers in schools that informs their observed practices, the craft knowledge of students in class, educational theories, insights from educational research and on their own developing thinking, beliefs, values, and attitudes about teaching and learning to teach.

Interns will be supported in drawing on these different sources of knowledge to inform their own developing theories of effective teaching, their developing sense, and identities of themselves as teachers and learners, and their developing repertoires of teaching practice.  To support the interns  to develop as critically engaged professional teachers, this course will introduce them to different theories of learning, theories of learner development, the characteristics of effective school lessons and lesson planning, the research-informed principles and practices of effective formative and summative student assessment, extended professionalism in teaching, effective strategies for inclusion and catering to learner diversity, and curriculum frameworks including the Teacher Standards for the UAE. By the end of the course, the pre-service teachers are expected to be able to articulate personal theories of effective teaching in the UAE context and begin to demonstrate how to apply these to their own practices.

Books

Course Resources

 

Week 1

 

Introduction to course

Developing and reflecting on personal theories of effective teaching in relation to specific aspects of teaching

Developing a personal theory of self as a learner (I)

Required reading

Recommended Reading

 

Week 2

 

Thinking and reflecting on how we and others learn

Learning processes

Learner development

Required reading

  • Pollard, A., Black-Hawkins, K., Hodges, G. C., Dudley, P., Higgins, S., James, M., Swafield, S., Swann, M., Winterbottom, M., Linklater, H., Wolpert, M. A. (2018). Reflective Teaching in Schools (5th ed.). Bloomsbury Publishing. Chapter 2, pp. 34-59. 

Recommended reading

 

Week 3

 

Preparation for effective teaching in secondary schools: Lesson planning

What is a lesson?

Required reading

Recommended Reading

  • Pollard, A., Black-Hawkins, K., Hodges, G. C., Dudley, P., Higgins, S., James, M., Swafield, S., Swann, M., Winterbottom, M., Linklater, H., Wolpert, M. A. (2018). Reflective Teaching in Schools (5th ed.). Bloomsbury Publishing. Lesson planning. Chapter 10, pp. 279-287

 

Week 4

 

Designing and reflecting on effective learning experiences (I)

Linking learning objectives (LOs), success criteria (SC), learning activities

Required reading

Recommended reading

 

Week 5

 

Designing and reflecting on effective learning experiences (II)

Required reading

  • Pollard, A., Black-Hawkins, K., Hodges, G. C., Dudley, P., Higgins, S., James, M., Swafield, S., Swann, M., Winterbottom, M., Linklater, H., Wolpert, M. A. (2018). Reflective Teaching in Schools (5th ed.). Bloomsbury Publishing.

                Learning activities and tasks. Chapter 10, pp.  282-286.

 

Week 6

Summative assessment of learning to support effective teaching.

Reflecting on the teacher’s role in ensuring progression and differentiation

Reflecting on school summative assessment practices

Required reading

  • Pollard, A., Black-Hawkins, K., Hodges, G. C., Dudley, P., Higgins, S., James, M., Swafield, S., Swann, M., Winterbottom, M., Linklater, H., Wolpert, M. A. (2018). Reflective Teaching in Schools (5th ed.). Bloomsbury Publishing. Planning and Progression. Chapter 10, pp. 274-279. 

Recommended Reading

 

Week 7 & 8

 

Supporting effective learning through formative assessment

Formative use of summative assessments

Reflecting on school formative assessment practices

Required Reading

Recommended Reading

 

 

Week 9

 

Reflecting on teacher perspectives, beliefs, values, and professional skills

Who are teachers accountable to?

Required Reading

Pollard, A., Black-Hawkins, K., Hodges, G. C., Dudley, P., Higgins, S., James, M., Swafield, S., Swann, M., Winterbottom, M., Linklater, H., Wolpert, M. A. (2018). Reflective Teaching in Schools (5th ed.). Bloomsbury Publishing.   Relationships. Chapter 6, pp. 160-171 

Recommended reading

 

Week 10

 

Supporting student diversity and individual differences in secondary schools

Required Reading

  • Pollard, A., Black-Hawkins, K., Hodges, G. C., Dudley, P., Higgins, S., James, M., Swafield, S., Swann, M., Winterbottom, M., Linklater, H., Wolpert, M. A. (2018). Reflective Teaching in Schools (5th ed.). Bloomsbury Publishing.

                Inclusion. Chapter 15, pp. 470-498