Child Health and Wellbeing

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2016:

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 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

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%)

This subject has a minimum hurdle requirement of 80% attendance at all scheduled lectures, tutorials, seminars and workshops.

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.