My Place for Teachers Session 2 Deborah Cohen Education Manager
Curriculum & co-curriculum curriculum relationship Resources are aligned with the Australian Curriculums for English, History, Science, Mathematics Arts, Geography, LOTE Health & PE, Technology/ICTs, Civics & Citizenship Cross curriculum priorities: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures Asia and Australia s engagement with Asia Sustainability. General capabilities: literacy numeracy information and communication technology (ICT) competence critical and creative thinking ethical behaviour personal and social competence intercultural understanding. Phases of learning: Years: F-2, 3-6, 7-10, 11-12 All ACTF resources support effective and current pedagogical theory/ research reflective of contemporary educational research. For example: Inquiry approaches including the E5 framework, Bloom s Taxonomy, De Bono s Six Hats, among others.
We live in a digital multi-media age for which new skills and strategies are required. There is now a dynamic integrative relationship between new literacies and traditional literacies which changes the whole continuum. We have to grasp that because of the use of new literacies generates innovation, literacies from now on will be constantly changing. Professor Len Unsworth, UNE, Negotiating New Literacies in Literacy Learning and Teaching, 2008 These are the challenges: Children are fascinated by new literacies Children have increased access to them Children will always know more than teachers about them There is a disjunction between home and school use So. We need to reconceptualise literacy in schools to account for multi-modality
Media/Screen literacy Media/screen literacy aims to assist students to deal critically with the media and their role in their lives. The media/screen literate student should be able to make conscious, critical assessments of media, to maintain a critical distance on popular culture, and to resist manipulation. More specifically, it is education that aims to increase students understanding and enjoyment of how the media work, how they produce meaning, how they are organised, and how they are construct reality. Media literacy also aims to provide students with the ability to create media products. Duncan, 1998, pg 7
Differences between reading of print-based and multimodal texts. Reading print based texts Words: The words tell including the discourse, register, vocabulary, linguistic patterns, grammar, chapters, paragraph and sentence structure. Use of senses: visual some tactile. Interpersonal meaning: developed through verbal voice - through use of dialogue, 1st, 2nd, 3rd person narrator Verbal style: including tone, intonation, humour, irony, sarcasm, word play, developed in the use of words. Typographical arrangement, formatting, layout, font, punctuation Verbal imagery: including description, images, symbolism, metaphor, simile, alliteration [poetic devices with words, sound patterns]. Reading pathway: mostly linear and sequential. Reader mostly follows. Reading multimodal texts Visual images: The images show including layout, size, shape, colour, line, angle, position, perspective., screen, frames, icons, links, hyperlinks Use of senses: visual, tactile, hearing, kinaesthetic Interpersonal meaning: developed through visual voice : positioning, angle, perspective offers and demands. Visual style: choice of medium, graphics, animation, frames, menu board, hypertext links. Visual imagery: use of colour, motifs, icons, repetition. Reading pathway: use of vectors nonsequential, non-linear. Reader has more choice and opportunity to interact. Maureen Walsh, Reading visual and multimodal texts: how is reading different? (2004),
Connecting with the Australian Curriculum ENGLISH: 3 strands Together the three strands focus on developing students knowledge, understanding and skills in listening, reading, viewing, speaking and writing. The three strands are: Language: knowing about the English language They learn how language enables people to interact effectively, to build and maintain relationships and to express and exchange knowledge, skills, attitudes, feelings and opinions. Australian Rules Literature: understanding, appreciating, responding to, analysing and creating literature. Students learn to interpret, appreciate, evaluate and create literary texts such as narrative, poetry, prose, plays, film and multimodal texts, in spoken, print and digital/online contexts. Literacy: expanding the repertoire of English usage. In the 21st century, the definition of literacy has expanded to refer to a flexible, sustainable command of a set of capabilities in the use and production of traditional texts and new communications technologies, usingspoken language, print and multimedia. In English, students learn to read, write, listen, speak accurately, flexibly and critically, and to view and create increasingly complex texts for a variety of contexts. Texts provide the means for communication. They can be written, spoken or multimodal, and in print or digital/online forms. Multimodal texts combine language with other means of communication such as visual images, soundtrack or spoken word, as in film or computer presentation media. Texts provide important opportunities for learning about aspects of human experience and about aesthetic value. Many of the tasks that students undertake in and out of school involve understanding and producing imaginative, informative and persuasive texts, media texts, everyday texts and workplace texts. http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/english/curriculum/f-10
ENGLISH Year 8 Level Description The English curriculum is built around the three interrelated strands of Language, Literature and Literacy. Teaching and learning programs should balance and integrate all three strands. Together the strands focus on developing students knowledge, understanding and skills in listening, reading, viewing, speaking, writing and creating. Learning in English builds on concepts, skills and processes... Year 8 Content Descriptions http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/english/curriculum/f-10
Connecting with the Australian Curriculum HISTORY: 2 strands Historical knowledge and understanding requires mastery of the procedures, tools and methods of thinking that constitute the discipline of history. The knowledge of history is reflected in the concepts that are used to explore what happened in the past. These include revolution, imperialism, religion, everyday life and the concept of world war.. Historical skills: To acquire a knowledge and understanding of history, skills associated with the identification, comprehension and interpretation of sources, use of chronology, and research and communication need to be developed. The curriculum should allow for the development of skills through a process of historical inquiry. A key aspect of inquiry in history is the study of primary and secondary sources of evidence. Organisation of the curriculum around these four questions will enable students to consider local, state or territory, national and global contexts. Years 7: Inquiry questions: How do we know about the ancient past? Why and where did the earliest societies develop? What emerged as the defining characteristics of ancient societies? What have been the legacies of ancient societies? Yr 8 Inquiry questions How did societies change from the end of the ancient period to the beginning of the modern age? What key beliefs and values emerged and how did they influence societies? What were the causes and effects of contact between societies in this period? Which significant people, groups and ideas from this period have influenced the world today? A variety of teaching and learning approaches and activities can be used, including teacher exposition, student debates, site visits, museum studies, use of historical narrative and hands-on activities such as the use and interpretation of authentic and virtual artefacts. An end result of historical inquiry should be a well-supported response to the question posed. Historical inquiry historical inquiry is the process of investigation undertaken in order to understand the past. Steps in the inquiry process include posing questions, locating and analysing sources and using evidence from sources to develop an informed explanation about the past. http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/history/curriculum/f-10
Connecting with the Australian Curriculum GEOGRAPHY: 2 strands Geographical concepts are used to organise information and provide frameworks for understanding. They are the higher level unifying ideas that can be applied across several fields of the subject. The key organising geographical concepts will be defined in the glossary and include: Geographical knowledge and understanding Geographical knowledge refers to the facts, generalisations, principles, theories, models and explanatory frameworks developed in geography to explain the spatial distribution of and the relationships between the characteristics of places. Geographical understanding is the ability to see the relationships between items of knowledge; to construct explanatory frameworks and models to illustrate these relationships, and to weave them into an integrated whole. It is also the ability to use geographical knowledge to solve new problems by thinking and acting flexibly with what one knows. change distance diversity interaction interdependence landscape location pattern perception place process proximity relationship risk scale space spatial distribution sustainability system Geographical inquiry and skills Geographical inquiry refers to the methodologies that geographers use to find new knowledge, or knowledge that is new to them, and the ways that they attempt to understand and explain what they have observed. Geographical inquiry starts with curiosity with students wanting to understand and explain something that has caught their imagination. It begins with a why question which seeks to explain what they have observed or discovered or become interested in. Years 7 10 The curriculum focus on developing geographical understanding through sequential studies of the main characteristics of place, space and environments continues from Foundation to Year 6 into Years 7-10. However, a more formal approach to learning is introduced in the secondary year. Each year, from Years 7-10, still has two sets of core ideas about specific characteristics through which students will cumulatively learn about the basic patterns, processes and principles that explain the geography of their world. One set focuses on the environmental characteristics of places, but also explores related human themes and the other focuses on their human characteristics, but also explores environmental themes. Each year will still have suggested topics that could be used to teach the core ideas, and other topics that can be used to extend and apply these ideas. However, teachers will be free to choose their own case studies. http://www.acara.edu.au/verve/_resources/shape_of_the_australian_curriculum_geography.pdf
http://www.acara.edu.au/verve/_resources/shape_of_the_australian_curriculum_geography.pdf
Connecting with the Australian Curriculum The Arts: Visual Arts & Media Arts Making and responding will provide overarching organisers for the Arts curriculum and will provide a consistent structure for the primary years and for generalist teachers. Within these broad organisers, each subject in the Arts will have specific terminology, concepts and processes that serve as subject organisers. In this curriculum, making will be described in art form-specific ways within each Arts subject. Responding will be described in more general terms, which will be applied across the five Arts subjects. Students will learn to use art formspecific concepts, skills and processes in their making and responding. Students will develop aesthetic knowledge through their Arts learning. MEDIA ARTS Years 7 8 Students will produce stories and create representations to inform, entertain, persuade and educate audiences, and will become increasingly aware of how different codes and conventions may be manipulated to create meaning for different audiences and contexts. They will understand the specific roles and production processes used to create media products. They will select between different types of software to edit, refine images, mix sounds and distribute media products. Students will respond to media products by analysing, evaluating, reflecting, and remixing media, using different perspectives. They will consider how this relates to the construction of identity. They will learn that media present versions of reality through processes of selection and construction related to cultural beliefs and values, and they will reflect on their own preferences as audience members and how these influences the types of media they aim to create. VISUAL ARTS Years 7 8 Students will create, make and present more complex ideas, and develop knowledge of different technologies, genres and subject matters in historical and contemporary art, craft and design practices. They will identify and understand cultural codes and symbols. They will explain their decisions, analyse choices of approach in practice, and review outcomes. They will plan and manage presentations and respond by expressing opinions about their own and others works. Students will learn about significant contemporary and historical art movements and styles, and learn to analyse, compare and evaluate using appropriate art and design terminology. They will understand how art and design practice is influenced by cultural and historical concerns, attitudes, values and beliefs, and will be able to use their skills to demonstrate this knowledge. They will learn about and engage actively with the arts industry through the work of artists and designers, historians and critics. http://www.acara.edu.au/verve/_resources/shape_of_the_australian_curriculum_the_arts_-_compressed.pdf
Diagram 1 Exploring practice in the Arts Meanings: What meanings are intended by the artist(s) and understood by the audience(s)? Forms: How have the elements, media and instruments been organised and arranged? Societies: How does it relate to its social context and that of its audience? Cultures: What is its cultural context and what does it signify? Histories: What is its place in terms of historical forces and influences? Philosophies and ideologies: What are the philosophical, ideological and political perspectives? Critical theories: What important theories does it include? Institutions: How have institutional factors enabled or constrained its creation? Psychology: What processes of the mind and emotions are involved? Evaluations: How successful is it in terms of its audiences, contexts and the artist s intentions? http://www.acara.edu.au/verve/_resources/shape_of_the_australian_curriculum_the_arts_-_compressed.pdf
Themes evident in the book & TV production Community & Family Identity Multiculturalism (Immigration) Class & social order Indigenous perspectives (and Reconciliation) Customs, traditions and beliefs Australians at War Politics Historical events Technology Transport Currency Technology & homewares Electronic and visual media Lifestyle & Trends Food and Celebrations Games and pastimes Environment and urbanisation Business and Employment Education Literature and music Pets