We have evolved as people, communities and cultures generating what we now call Englishes. Englishes has been born due to the addition of words and meanings from different cultures and countries adapting the language to be relevant to their everyday lives. Multi-literacies has developed over time as new technology has entered our day to day lives. The mediums once available to us were very minimal, which can make it hard to keep up with all the new media formats to which we can use to communicate. Whether it is social media, video, film, reading books, poetry and animation just to mention a few. Teachers must ensure they amplify as lifelong learners, in order to keep their knowledge and understanding relevant to the always evolving Englishes …show more content…
Teachers must ensure they provide for students learning needs in ways that relates to students interests and cultural backgrounds. If this is not instilled in our teachers and curriculum, not all children will succeed in the classroom and achieve the educational outcomes set out for them. The Australian Curriculum (2018) has recognised the need for catering to students needs by embedding the Cross Curricular Priorities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures, Asia and Australia’s Engagement with Asia embedded in the curriculum standards. Furthermore, the importance of inclusion and meeting individual needs is paramount to quality teaching and learning. Every child learns and understands differently, as well as coming from different social and cultural environments and thus, presenting different challenges to overcome. Therefore, teachers must be inclusive of all students, by gaining a great understanding of their individual learning needs and students’ cultural differences and backgrounds to foster happy, confident …show more content…
(Wigglesworth, Simpson & Loakes 2011). In Aboriginal communities, several languages can be spoken and different versions of English. This is challenging for children coming from these remote communities that have less access to books, computers and other educational tools (De Bortoli & Cresswell 2004). Furthermore, teachers need to be mindful that the language spoken at home or within the child’s community might assist in learning in the classroom. It is possible that the language and context of learning at school is foreign to a child with a different cultural background (Green 2006, p.6). This further iterates the need for teachers to ensure their method of teaching is inclusive for all children and to cater for the different cultural
The first Australian Professional Teaching Standard is ‘Know students and how they learn’(AITSL, 2011). Understanding how students learn is a significant component of effective teaching (1.2 AITSL, 2011). Furthermore, effective teachers require an understanding of students physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics (1.1 AITSL, 2011). In addition, APST Standards require teachers to demonstrate both content and pedagogical knowledge through lesson plans (2.1 AITSL, 2011) with the curriculum content being structured and sequenced to facilitate effective learning (2.2 AITSL, 2011). However, it is also critical to have a repertoire of teaching strategies which are responsive to a diverse range of student backgrounds, including linguistic, cultural, religious, and socioeconomic (1.3 AITSL, 2011). An effective learning, in accordance with The Australian Curriculum and Assessment Reporting Authority, provides learners with general capabilities (knowledge, skills, behaviours and characteristics) and include understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island students learning needs and incorporate differentiated teaching methods to meet the needs of specific
The Australian Curriculum is fluid, ever-changing and highly politicised. There is constant debate surrounding what should, and should not be taught in Australian schools. The Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS) Curriculum in particular, has undergone dramatic changes over the last few years. This essay will critically analyse two provocations relating to the HASS 7-10 curriculum, and some of the surrounding issues that HASS teachers contend with on a day to day basis. The first provocation, the purpose of Civics and Citizenship teaching is to teach about democracy, not for democracy, will be examined in relation to opinions regarding left-wing bias in the Civics and Citizenship curriculum, and the idea that the course teaches too much ‘for’
Consequently, this means all types virtual backpacks, cultural capital, socioeconomic status and other factors need to be valued. Part of value adding is getting the community involved. A multicultural café event was set up at a small school in Sydney that has a high socioeconomic status and a small amount of students with a language background other than English (LBOTE), this was woven into the curriculum over two terms (Ferfolja, 2015). What they found was that the students participated enthusiastically, however very few parents of the LBOTE students attended and some of the cafés were not accurate. As education changes in line with social justice when curriculum, pedagogy and assessment is altered there can be unfavorable effects too. Australia had schemes to promote the education outcomes of girls and consequently these changes in curriculum and the assessment process have been viewed as too successful by some and policy has consequently shifted to boys educational outcomes (Marks, 2009). Curriculum changes can be a long process, however necessary as some children find the curriculum problematic. The Australian curriculum can be seen as linguistically foreign, culturally insensitive or inappropriate for Indigenous (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people) children who are in school (Kenyon, Sercombe, Black, & Lhuede, 2001). As indigenous children are a part of the least privileged and significantly disadvantaged group in Australia (C. Mills & Gale, 2010), social justice is failing educating those students. The Australia curriculum, which has been accessible since 2010, declares that it is committed to a curriculum that promotes excellence and equity in education in addition to teachers using the curriculum to assist in physical, social and aesthetic needs of all students amongst other factors (Australian Curriculum,
Literacy is a fundamental life skill; all children should have. As Australia is an increasingly multicultural country, migration has directly affected teachers whose classrooms nowadays have an array of linguistically diverse students. As a result, the definition of literacy is no longer considered the ability to read and write. Theory suggests that language acquisition is enhanced by social interaction with peers and more knowledgeable others, combined with explicit instruction and a supportive learning surrounding. Therefore, teachers are required to consider the linguistic backgrounds of students, whilst valuing this diversity to build proficiency in Standard Australian English, using culturally relevant content within a knowledgeable and stimulating learning environment.
The Australian curriculum has been designed for children in their schooling years from foundation to year twelve. Currently the curriculum has covered four learning areas (English, Mathematics, Science and History) from kindergarten to year ten. “The Australian Curriculum describes knowledge, skills and understanding organised by learning areas.” (ACARA, 2010 d). Each learning area contains a: rationale – describing the nature of learning, aims – the intended result of learning from the curriculum, year level description, strands – interrelated broad organisers for the content in each learning area, content descriptions – describe what teachers are expected to teach, content elaborations – content description sup...
The development of a national curriculum for Australia is not a new endeavour (Marsh, 2010). The ideal is that national curriculum across Australia would mean that students are provided with a quality education that helps to shape the lives of the nations citizens and continue developing the productivity and quality of life within Australia. The Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA] have the task of developing and implementing a nationwide curriculum. ACARA (n.d.-c) claims have addressed needs of young Australians while considering that changing ways in learning and challenges will continue to shape students education in the future. A look at what the Australian Curriculum is, its purpose, structure and scope, learning theories and teaching processes and whether the curriculum has the capacity to meet the needs of 21st century learners will show that the initial construction of a national curriculum appears to be successful. However, the effectiveness of the Australian Curriculum will only be able to be evaluated in the future after implementation across the country.
New Zealand has now become a multi-cultural country. We have families coming from different places around the world, who have come here with their cultural experiences, languages, values and beliefs . The most important strategy in order to support families and children from diverse backgrounds is by working alongside with the families and their children because through this teacher’s will be able to respect and have a better understanding about different cultural backgrounds. Our centre is multi-cultural, as a teacher I want to be there with the children and support their language. Having a good communication and collaborative relationships with the families are...
The Australian Curriculum has been a 'long time coming', but its great that it is almost here now. The Australian Curriculum has been designed with some relation to Tyler and Skillbeck's models. It is suspected that theorists such as Piaget were also considered during the development. The Australian Curriculum relates to Piaget's stages of progression, with curriculum being designed for specific levels of maturation and development. With students of this generation, it was incredibly important that an updated, curriculum was to be designed so that it could facilitate the needs of the 21st century learners. This new generation of learners seem to be almost born with basic computer skills, so the ICT program has been completely redeveloped. The curriculum has also expanded to make way for Asian studies which will help students as they move into their careers. The Australian Curriculum has been developed to cover a broad range of topics, concerns and values that will be discussed throughout this paper.
It is an educator’s job to embrace and acknowledge the rich diversity all the children collectively bring to the classroom, while understanding that the children do not need to be treated the same because they are not the same as each other, but be respected and accepted for their differences. Inclusion is an essential; plank in the broad platform of social justice and raising achievement is a goal which all educators much hold for their pupils, It is important that early year professionals are aware of all different ways in which society constructs (Neaum 2010) this involves taking account children’s social cultural and linguistic diversity and including learning style, family circumstances, location in curriculum decision making process so all children are recognised and valued (Nutbrown and Clough 2006)
Buckskin, P 2015, ‘Engaging Indigenous students: The important relationship between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and their teachers’, in K Price, 2nd edn, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education: An introduction for the teaching profession, Cambridge University Press, Port Melbourne,
Peterson, J. Michael and Hittie, Marie Michael. Inclusive Teaching : Creating Effective Schools for All Learners. Pearson Publishing. (2003)
Culturally relevant pedagogy uses inclusive practices to meet the needs of all learners. These methods include teaching that integrates students’ backgrounds and experiences into the curriculum and learning experience. In doing so, teachers using culturally responsive pedagogy must: (1) hold high expectations and affirming views of all learners; (2) provide room for all students’ to make meaningful connection to learning content; and (3) create a safe and positive classroom climate fostering respect and care for students. As we review certain approaches of implementing best practices to meet the needs of RCELD students, we must also remember that it takes long-term commitment to inclusive practices in education in order to address the inequitable structures that contribute to issues such as the achievement gap.
Students have great amounts of knowledge available to them at fast speeds, and they consume, produce and communicate that information in ways which require specific skills. The Australian Curriculum seeks to ensure each student develops skills in communication, collaboration, research, critical and creative thinking, metacognition, motivation, self-efficacy, conscientiousness, perseverance and problem-solving (New South Wales Department of Education [NSWDoE], 2017, p. 3). The Australian Curriculum also incorporates the development of general capabilities, linked to learning areas and subjects, to complement student’s acquisition of the above skills. These general capabilities include literacy, numeracy, information and communication technology competence, critical and creative thinking, ethical behaviour, personal and social competence and intercultural understanding (Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA],
I’m a firm believer in maximizing the educational experience through effective classroom design to maintain conflict prevention, increasing time on task and being an added tool for content material; but now I also believe effective classroom design can be used effectively to build a inclusive arena for students to learn in. By consciously focusing on improving the inclusiveness of culture into my design of the classroom, student’s can develop a stronger link to the classroom and school community. This can allow students who may have felt culturally excluded from their environment to develop a stronger connection to their learning and improve their performance not only as academic learners but as members of their school
The introduction of policies and legislations in regards to inclusion within the classroom demands teachers to reassess their learning environments in order to cater to the diverse range of students within our classrooms. As a teacher it is our responsibility to set up our learning environment to maximise student learning and teaching providing varying strategies to cater to our students’ differences.