Addressing Educational Disadvantage

This subject is not offered in 2013.

120 hours. Attendance at all classes (tutorial/seminars/practical classes/lectures/labs/online classes) is obligatory. Failure to attend 80% of classes will normally result in failure in the subject.

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

The subject will form part of the Postgraduate Diploma in Teaching (Teach for Australia) and will focus on issues of pedagogy, curriculum, school culture and change and how they relate to increasing student achievement in challenging school settings. This subject will build on more general work done in the first year of the course to focus specifically on addressing low student achievement and engagement at the level of the individual school student, but also at the school level. The subject will be taught through a combination of face-to-face intensive mode (seminars, workshops and lectures) and online mode (podcasts and discussions) during semester. Associates will be encouraged to link their classroom practice and broader work in their school to key theory and research into effective teaching of at-risk students and effective school improvement. Ongoing online interaction will promote a strong sense of peer sharing, supporting the students in continuously reflecting on their own developing professional philosophy and skills.

On completion of this subject associates will be able to:

• Demonstrate enhanced competency in the skills necessary to raise student achievement, particularly for high-risk students and those with low achievement in literacy and numeracy;
• Understand the processes of working towards change with others in the school community in challenging settings;
• Use evidence to identify school-level need for change and potentially effective means of addressing school-level issues;
• Identify areas for ongoing personal learning.

• 2500-word report on an issue within the Associate’s school community. The first part of the report should use a range of existing evidence (student achievement data, student engagement data, qualitative data etc.) to identify one key challenge facing the school or a segment of the school population (for example, one year level or a particular sub-group of students). The second part of the report consists of a literature review on the key findings in the academic literature regarding this issue, identifying potential causes and potential means of addressing the issue. The literature review should critically evaluate the research, and point to potential interventions that may address the issue in their particular school context. Due Mid-semester (50%)
• 2500-word report on a school-level project that addresses the concern identified in the first assessment. The Associate will plan and implement an intervention that moves beyond their own classroom and involves a range of stakeholders. The report will outline the intervention, critically evaluate it in the light of the research literature and school-level evidence and provide school-level recommendations and systemic level recommendations (where relevant) for future directions. Due End of semester (50%)

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.