Child Health and Wellbeing

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2015:

170 hours

Admission to the Master of Teaching (Early Childhood) or Master of Teaching (Early Years)

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes and Assessment Requirements of this entry.

The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

This subject considers the range of factors affecting the wellbeing of young children, and the role of early childhood teachers in supporting young children’s social participation and engagement across diverse educational contexts. Topics will include: building identity, wellbeing and social connectedness; links to family, friends and community; multidisciplinary professional teams; early intervention and inclusion support and regulatory requirements for environmental health and safety.

On completion of this subject, teacher candidates will have the knowledge, skills and understanding to enable them to:

• Design a range of strategies to promote children’s health and wellbeing;
• Foster children’s connectedness with all members of their communities;
• Work productively with a range of children, including those with additional needs and capacities;
• Work within regulatory frameworks governing health and safety in early childhood settings.
• Work productively across multidisciplinary settings to support children’s health and wellbeing.

There are two assessment tasks:

• Essay, 2000 words due early in the semester (50%)
• Essay, 2000 words due late in the semester (50%)

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

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

On completion of this subject, students will be able to:

• Value and respect the range of differences in abilities and capacities within human beings;
• Recognise the importance of social connectedness to health and well-being;
• Understand the importance of environmental health and safety regulations.