Pre-requisites

ED5010 Developmental Learning and Pedagogies
ED5020 Foundations for Educational Decision Making

Co-requisites

None.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, the student will be able to:

• Demonstrate knowledge of and critically reviews a range of proactive practices that respond to individual differences, across the full range of abilities, interest, and learning profile (linguistic, cultural, religious and socio-economic backgrounds), to support inclusive student participation and engagement in the classroom

• Demonstrates knowledge and the ability to understand the significance of positive relationships, structure, goal setting and reinforcement in Classroom Management.

• Use strategies, including a range of verbal and non-verbal communication strategies and ICT, to support student engagement, safety (physical, emotional and academic) and learner well-being within school and/or system, curriculum and legislative requirements, including Whole-school behaviour frameworks.

• Plan and reflect on practical approaches for the management of students’ behaviour and apply judgement when responding to student behaviours (challenging and positive) that is informed by Christian perspectives and current research.

• Critically review factors essential to establishing and managing effective learning environments that promote inclusive student participation and engagement, applying knowledge of The Victorian Teaching Profession Code of Conduct and a Christian perspective to learning communities

• Demonstrates a strong understanding and critically analyses the role of rules and routines, practices and liturgies, in establishing a structured, safe, and positive classroom environment.

Unit Description

This unit focuses on establishing learning environments that are structured, safe and positive. Christian classrooms are required to be places where students feel safe to be curious learners. These environments need to represent Christian values and expectations of behaviour whilst encouraging learning and growth. To this end, students will investigate and understand research regarding how classroom management includes proactive practices, evidence-based teaching strategies, and high-quality instruction. They will also explore Whole School Management plans to understand how the classroom fits within a wider program.

The significance of knowing and understanding your students and developing positive relationships is foundational to creating effective, supportive and inclusive learning environments. Strategies to build and maintain relationships that maximise learning will be explored and developed. Classroom management includes rules and routines that recognise the individual nature of students whilst building a community of learning.

As a part of this unit, students will examine evidence-based teaching strategies that respond to the learning strengths and needs of diverse learners to support inclusive student participation and engagement, and create a safe, vibrant, challenging learning environment.

The unit will also focus on understanding student behaviours, including theories and practices that promote desirable behaviours, as well as examining the influences on and triggers for challenging behaviours, and practical approaches to manage and respond to them. It will address the need to set high-expectations and achievable personalised goals.

The unit covers the principles and strategies for a multi-tiered framework where teaching occurs in response to the learning needs of students with diverse abilities, including a range of communication strategies and relevant ICT. As a part of this process, students will develop a classroom management plan appropriate to the expected developmental stages and diverse needs of a group of students.

As Christ is a model for our behaviour, so it is the teacher’s responsibility to model the required behaviours of learning. This includes discussing how teachers should respond to undesirable behaviours, model positive behaviours, and seek to create environments that are best suited to learning.

Topics

1. Defining Classroom Management - key elements of Classroom Management and the significance of relationship between teacher and student.
2. Incorporating Biblical principles into Classroom Management.
3. Creating and managing safe and effective learning environments that support student well-being (eg. reducing cognitive load) and maximise learning through explicitly taught classroom routines and practices. This also considers the learning needs of students from diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds.
4. Proactive practices - modelling (including how to explicitly point to modelling to prompt positive behaviour), direct instruction, questioning and feedback, balancing cognitive load, non-verbal and verbal responses that are consistent and proportional.
5. Designing safe and effective physical spaces
6. Understanding student diversities and the need for inclusive practices to support student engagement and participation across all tier levels
7. The importance of high-expectations and setting personalised goals for achievement and engagement. (including the role that reinforcement plays in realising goals.)
8. Making connections between whole school behaviour programs, system, and legislative requirements that underpin practice.
   a) How to engage effectively with whole school behaviour frameworks for positive behaviour.
9. Classroom values, rights, responsibilities and rules, including evidenced-based examples (eg. ‘do-nows’, lesson reflections, protocols for discussions, small groups, transitions etc.) that can be used in various situations.
10. Classroom management with ICT integration
11. Understanding our students and engaging with parents/carers to build a learning community.

Learning Experiences

These experiences are specific to meeting Core Content requirements. Other learning and experiences will occur during the semester and will address all other topics and outcomes for this unit.

Topic 1: cc 3.3.2
Relationships
Secondary:
https://www.edresearch.edu.au/sites/default/files/2023-03/aero-sense-of-belonging-and-connectedness-secondary.pdf
Primary:
https://www.edresearch.edu.au/guides-resources/practice-guides/encouraging-belonging-and-connectedness-primary

Choose the document (above) that relates to your area of learning (Primary or Secondary). Using this document identify recommendations that you would/could use in your classroom. Research and find one piece of research that addresses the need for positive relationships between teacher and student. Summarise this research and bring it to class to share.

Other Readings:
AERO (2023) Classroom Management explainer: Positive teacher-student relationships.

Marlowe, M. (2011) The Relationship-Driven Classroom: The Stories of Torey Hayden. Reclaiming Children and Youth 20 (1) p10 – 15

Topic 3: cc 3.1.3
Key Readings:
AERO (2023) Classroom management explainer – Establishing and maintaining rules https://www.edresearch.edu.au/sites/default/files/2023-12/establishing-and-maintaining-rules-aa.pdf

This reading covers information about why rules and routines need to be explicitly taught as well as strategies to teach and maintain rules. These rules should be aligned to the values of the school to promote consistency across the school. This is a part of the classroom management suite of readings in AERO.

AERO (2023) Teaching routines: Their role in classroom management. https://www.edresearch.edu.au/sites/default/files/2023-12/teaching-routines-aa.pdf

This reading highlights the significance of routines and suggests ways to explicitly teach routines to support learning by providing a safe environment within the classroom.

cc3.4.1 Consistency in the Classroom
Key Readings:
AERO (2023) Effectively managing classrooms to create safe and supportive learning environments. Managing disengaged and disruptive behaviours Pp17 – 21

Simonsen, B. et.al (2008) Evidenced-based Practices in Classroom Management: Considerations for Research to Practice.

In response to the readings, identify 3 effective ways to respond to student behaviours in such a way that expectations are reinforced and safety is maintained. Write these down in the Topic discussion and justify why you have chosen these.

Topic 4 cc 3.2.2
Key Readings:
AERO (2023) How students learn best: An overview of the learning process and the most effective teaching practices (pp24-35) AERO – How students learn best

AERO (2023) Effectively managing classrooms to create safe and supportive environments. . Australian Education Research Organisation

Discussion Questions:
1) Using the research, discuss the relationship between effective pedagogical practices and increased positive behaviour.

2) Choose 2 specific practices that are particularly effective in preventing undesired behaviour:
- describe them
- justify your choice
- explain a situation where they would be effective.

Topic 6: cc 2.6.1 and 2.6.3
Underpinning theory of MTSS and its effectiveness.
https://www.edresearch.edu.au/sites/default/files/2024-10/introduction-multi-tiered-system-supports-aa.pdf

de Bruin, K. (2021). Response to Intervention (RTI) and MultiTiered Systems of Support (MTSS): An Introduction. Learning Difficulties Australia Bulletin; v.53 n.3 p.15-18; December 2021, 53(3), 15–18. https://ezproxy.eastern.edu.au:5344/doi/10.3316/aeipt.230225

Students read the above documents and in groups of 3 create a presentation that outlines:
1) MTSS core components
2) The Tiered Support Structure
3) The significance of Data to MTSS
4) How a team approach is best for the implementation of MTSS
5) How MTSS promotes equity and Inclusivity
6) The challenges to implementing MTSS.

Topic 7: cc 3.2.1
Clear and High Expectations in the Classroom
Read the following research:
https://www.edresearch.edu.au/sites/default/files/2023-12/high-expectations-for-student-behaviour-aa.pdf

https://education.nsw.gov.au/about-us/education-data-and-research/cese/publications/literature-reviews/classroom-management

Discuss:
1) Why are clear expectations important for student behavior and academic achievement?
2) How do high expectations influence academic achievement according to research? Provide examples from empirical studies.
3) How do students’ perceptions of teachers’ expectations influence their sense of responsibility towards their own learning and behaviour?

Topic 8a cc3.5.1
PSTs are given an example whole school approach for positive behaviour.
1) They identify 3 strategies that they can use in the classroom in line with the given whole school approach.
2) They justify their choices and how they relate to the whole school approach.
3) There is a class discussion regarding the whole school approach and effective strategies.

Topic 9: cc 3.1.1
Microlesson - Rules and Routines
1) In groups, PSTs brainstorm and develop 3 specific rules/routines (eg. attention getting routines, transition routines like counting down, participation routines) that target quick responses and time efficiency.

2) Each group member takes turns (5mins) as the teacher, delivering a simulated lesson segment that includes a transition time (beginning a new session and/or transitioning to group work). The other group members will act as students using role cards that text the routine’s effectiveness.

3) Class discussion:
- What encouraged quick responses?
- How did the routines reduce wasted time?
- What were some of the challenges and adjustments that needed to be made to ensure that positive learning habits were forming?

Assessment and Indicative Load

Assessment types include Minor Essay, Other, and Major Essay. Indicative study load is 140 hours.

---

Unit offerings

Please note

The Unit Offerings listed above are a guide only and the timetable for any year is the final authority. The College may vary offerings based on demand, regulatory requirements, continual improvement processes or other conditions.

This unit may be available in different modes of delivery i.e. online and face-to-face as listed above. The unit content will not differ between these modes of delivery. There will possibly be a difference in the schedule and/or the prescribed assessment tasks, however both will cover and assess the same content.