EDUC 1001 - Schools and Policy

Course Details

Course Code	EDUC 1001
Course	Schools and Policy
Coordinating Unit	School of Education
Term	Semester 1
Level	Undergraduate
Location/s	North Terrace Campus
Units	3
Contact	Up to 3 hours per week
Assessment	Examination

Course Staff

Course Coordinator: Dr Anthony Potts

Location: Room 8.45
Level 8
School of Education,
Faculty of the Professions
10 Pulteney Street, Adelaide, 5005
Email: anthony.potts@adelaide.edu.au
Phone: 831 30849.
I am in my office most days from 6 am. Simply drop in, phone or email. Replies to
Emails are answered as soon as possible.

Course Timetable

The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.

One lecture, one tutorial and one on-line activity per week each of 50-minutes duration. Please ensure you are there on time especially as a courtesy to your colleagues. Please turn your phones off prior to the commencement of class.
The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from the Course Planner

Course Learning Outcomes

The course will allow us to:

a. Identify and critically analyse key aspects of the social, political, economic and legal policy contexts of education and thereby increase teaching effectiveness.

b. Employ a range of theoretical models to analyse educational policy contexts and thereby provide more effective teaching.

c. Compare and contrast the influence on educational participation and outcomes of social class, gender, ethnicity, rurality, local, global, economic and political structures and thereby provide more effective teaching.

d. Evaluate the impact of key social, economic and political reforms on education and schooling and thereby more adequately respond to changing teaching and learning environments.

e. Utilise the research on learning and teaching contexts in: understanding students and teaching students; creating and maintaining safe and challenging learning environments; using a range of teaching strategies and resources; reflecting on, evaluating and improving professional knowledge; being active members of the teaching profession.

f. Develop team work, high order analytic and problem solving skills, advanced written and oral communication

University Graduate Attributes

This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

University Graduate Attribute	Course Learning Outcome(s)
Knowledge and understanding of the content and techniques of a chosen discipline at advanced levels that are internationally recognised.	a
The ability to locate, analyse, evaluate and synthesise information from a wide variety of sources in a planned and timely manner.	b
An ability to apply effective, creative and innovative solutions, both independently and cooperatively, to current and future problems.	c,f
Skills of a high order in interpersonal understanding, teamwork and communication.	e, f
A proficiency in the appropriate use of contemporary technologies.	c
A commitment to continuous learning and the capacity to maintain intellectual curiosity throughout life.	e
A commitment to the highest standards of professional endeavour and the ability to take a leadership role in the community.	e
An awareness of ethical, social and cultural issues within a global context and their importance in the exercise of professional skills and responsibilities.	a,d,e

Required Resources

Students must have access to the following two texts as soon as possible and preferably from the first tutorial. You could buy or arrange to buy them with a friend/s but if you do then please agree in writing how you will share them.

Copies of each have been ordered on the basis that students can buy one and share the other.

Tutorials are based on these two texts. One text is co-edited by a former student of this school.

Students will need to bring the two texts to tutorials each week.

1. J. Allen (ed.) Sociology of Education, Social Science Press, Katoomba. Latest edition (probably green in colour) from the bookstore. Other editions will probably suffice (but you will have to spend time finding the material in the text as page numbers will differ).

2. R. Connell, A. Welch, M. Vickers, et al., Education, Change and Society, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, third edition, 2013, . However the 2010 and 2007 edition will be acceptable but will not contain the most recent information and students will have to search for the required readings if they use either of these editions. This text is also available as an e-version. For this version check Oxford University Press web page.

Very limited hard copies of these texts are available in The Education Library, Level 8, 10 Pulteney Street and in the Bonython Library. They can only be used in the library and cannot be taken away.

If you cannot access the recommended texts then read a proper academic article on the week’s tutorial theme and bring that to the tutorial. Do not simply do no reading and attend the tutorial unread and unprepared.

Recommended Resources

You will find either of the following very useful for the whole of your degree and hence could profitably purchase one of them now. However, this is optional.

L. Emmerson, Writing Guidelines for Education Students, 2nd edition, Cengage, Melbourne.

D. Wyse, The Good Writing Guide For Education Students, Sage, London.

Try and read a range of newspapers each day. Education Review appears monthly and provides commentary on current educational issues. The Professional Educator is particularly useful for issues covered in this subject. Both are in the library and can also be read on line. Watch SBS’s PBS News Hour and other current affairs programs such as the ABC 7.30.

School principals, teachers and parents will expect you to be familiar with current issues especially as they apply to education. Reading the daily newspapers, watching quality current affairs programs and reading other relevant journals will enable you to be informed in this area.

Online Learning

The course material, course information, cover sheets, grading templates and all other course material plus associated lecture power points are all on MyUni from well before the commencement of the course.

Live lectures will be uploaded as soon as possible after the lecture has been delivered and hopefully that same day. Previous live lectures are left on MyUni until 2014 lectures are uploaded. Sometimes technology fails so this strategy will enable at least one live version to be on MyUni.

I will send you emails on a daily basis with latest policy material etc. You must read your emails each day as this is the one hour on line commitment. Please send me material you find which you want to share with others in the class and I will email to all or put on MyUni Notice Board. There is a Discussion Board on MyUni where you can share views with class mates but please follow proper protocols and show respect and consideration for others in your use of this. Please no flaming or abuse.

Learning & Teaching Modes

The course has the following components each of which students need to successfully complete.

1. Lectures

2. Tutorials

3. Student Essay

4. End of course examination in official exam period

5. On-line component.

6. Small Group Discovery Experience

Workload

The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

One lecture per week, two small group discovery sessions (for the semester) one tutorial per week and one on-line hour per week. You will be placed in your tutorial group by the School of Education Professional Staff. Please treat them kindly as they work diligently on your behalf. You may not move your tutorial time without their permission due to OHS requirements and room and class size issues. You need to come to the class you have been assigned to and not change willy nilly.

Learning Activities Summary

No

Date

Lecture Topics

1

The profession of teaching

2

Teachers and the law

3

Effective teachers and effective schools

4

Schooling, the economy, work and curriculum.

5

School choice

6

Teachers, schools and communities

7

Families and schooling

8

Gender and schooling

9

Rural education

10

Making a difference

11

School policy documents

12

Course review

Tutorials

Insert your own dates as these will differ

TOPIC

1

Course Requirements and Other Administrative Matters.

At this stage it is planned to visit central Adelaidean educational landmarks. Please wear a hat, protect yourself with sunscreen and bring water.

Please note you do not have to read all the chapters here. If you read at least one chapter or various sections of different chapters for each week that will suffice. First of all browse over the recommended chapters and then pick one or more that are most relevant. You are of course encouraged to read more if possible.

2

The World of Teachers and Teaching

Allen is available in a green covered edition and an older blue covered edition. These colours here refer to the two editions. Connell, et al. is available in 2007, 2010 or 2013 editions. The latest is the preferred one but you could get by with the others.

Chapter 4 and 20 (3, 4, 5 and 19 Blue) in Allen: Chapter 11 in Connell, et al. 2007, or Chapter 12 in Connell, et al. 2010, or Chapter 12 in Connell, et al. 2013.

Tutorial activity.

From your reading list 6 issues that are important to you as a teacher.

(Also look at The South Australian Teaching Profession Code of Ethics and other Codes of Conduct on Week 1 on MyUni).

Discuss these as a group.

Make a board summary of these.

3

Teachers and the Law

Carefully read the Law Handout Pack PDF on MyUni Week 2 Resources/Schools and the Law/Reading Resources (10.77mb)

Tutorial Activity

Take 3 legal issues that are important to you as a teacher.

Discuss these as a group.

Make a board summary of these.

4

Life Inside and Outside of School

Chapter 14 and 15 (13 and 14 Blue) in Allen: Chapter 2 & 3, in Connell, et al, 2007, or Chapter 2 & 3 Connell, et al. 2010 or Chapter 6 Connell, et al. 2013

Tutorial Activity

List 3 main aspects of popular and youth culture.

How do they fit in with Values for Australian Schooling? (For this see Week 3 on MyUni).

5

Education, Work and the Curriculum

Chapter 5 and 16 of Allen (5 and 15 Blue): Chapter 1, 10, and 12 in Connell, et al, 2007 or Chapter 9, 11, 13 Connell, et al, 2010 or Chapter 3 Connell, et al. 2013

Tutorial Activity

List the main characteristics of work in the world in which we live.

What is work in the future likely to involve?

What won’t it involve?

Take the recruitment section for a large city newspaper on the day most careers are advertised and list 6 broad generic skills that the world of work now demands?

Or better still go to Seek job search or Career One on-line. Search under various career categories and list 6 broad generic skills that the advertised jobs demand. It is more useful for this exercise if you do not search under teaching careers.

What school curriculum areas teach these skills?

How has the school curriculum changed to reflect the world of work?

6

School Choice

Chapter 11& 17 (16 Blue) of Allen: Chapter 6 & 9 in Connell, et al, 2007, or Chapter 5 & 10 Connell, et al, 2010 or Chapter 10 Connell, 2013.

Tutorial Activity

Google the Gonski Report and find out why this was/is important.

List the different types of private schools and reasons for attendance at each type.

7

Parents and Education

Chapter 11 in Allen (Green and Blue editions) Chapter 9 in Connell, et al, 2007, or Chapter 10 in Connell, et al, 2010, or Chapter 2 and 7 in Connell, et al. 2013.

Tutorial Activity

Read the Home School Communication Manual. Go to MyUni Week 6 Reading Material/ Reading Resources (3.366MB). From this list as many ways as possible that we can involve parents and community in our schools.

8

Family Background

Chapter 6 (Green and Blue editions) in Allen: Chapter 5, 6 & 7 in Connell, et al., 2007, or Chapters 5, 6 & 7 in Connell, et al, 2010, or Chapter 1, 2, 7 in Connell, et al., 2013.

Tutorial Activity

List the ways that families influence education.

Go to a school web page and see how schools accommodate various families.

9

Gender and Education

Chapter 8 in Allen (Both Blue and Green editions) Chapter 8 in Connell, et al, 2007, or Chapter 8 in Connell, et al, 2010, or Chapter 8 in Connell, 2013.

Tutorial Activity

What are the main aspects of the current debates?

What does the history of the University of Adelaide tell us about these debates?

What do staff directory photo boards in each School building at Adelaide University tell us?

Go to the University of Adelaide web page and find out the gender composition of staff and students in various Faculties and Schools. What do these statistics tell us?

10

Rural Education

Chapter 4 (&5) in Connell, et al, 2007, or Chapter 4 (&7) in Connell, et al, 2010, or Chapter 4 in Connell, et al., 2013.

Tutorial Activity

Read one rural case study provided on MyUni Week 9 [and please read a different one from your friends]. For this go to the 6 individual Readings/ Downloads. Note the name of the book from where the case study came. More than an education.

What does your case study tells us about teaching in rural areas?

How have the school and teachers there made a difference?

11

Making a Difference

Chapter 11, 17 and 18 of Allen (11, 16 and 17 Blue edition) and Connell, et al., 2007, Chapters 1, 6 & 12 or Chapters 5, 9, 13 in Connell, et al., 2010, or Chapters 5, 6, 7, 10 in Connell, et al., 2013.

See also the material posted on MyUni for this week.

Tutorial Activity

Does education make a difference for all South Australians?

For which groups and what kind of a difference?

Google figures for South Australia like the ones we discussed in this lecture but for areas in South Australia. Professor Glover has done work on social deprivation in Adelaide and South Australia so you may wish to see what his work tells us. If you google social atlases for Adelaide this may help. If you want a fascinating look at Great Britain google Danny Dorling at Sheffield University. He has developed a social atlas for Great Britain and if you type in a post code it will display a whole range of social indicators for you. Fascinating!

12

Bringing it all together at the school level: school policy documents

Obtain a School Staff Manual/First Year Teacher Survival Guide or similar document/s. You can search for these on line or obtain one from the school you will be doing your school placement at or another school. BUT PLEASE USE COURTESY AND SENSITIVITY IF YOU ASK A SCHOOL FOR ONE.

The School Policies I will use are on MyUni but you need to locate your own.

Tutorial Activity

What areas are covered in the School Staff Manual? What are the most important issues for you as a beginning teacher? What issues appear to be of concern to staff at this school?
How does the school deal with legal issues such as duty of care, legal responsibilities of teachers, legal responsibilities of the school and issues such as mandatory reporting? Is there a legal code of practice document? How are teachers kept informed of their legal responsibilities?
What is the school climate or the institutional bias of the school? How has this been built up? How is this fostered and maintained, for example, via school buildings, staff, curriculum, sporting and cultural events, ceremonies and rituals? What is special about this school?
How does the school prepare students for the world of work? How does it monitor changes in employment and how are these changes then reflected in the curriculum that the school provides? What school/work place links and programs does the school offer?
How does the school involve its community in the various parts of its activities? Is it community involvement or community participation? What parts of the school community are involved? Does the school have any programs to try and foster greater involvement by a greater sector of the school community? Why does the school involve the community?
What family structures are represented at the school? How has the school responded to the change in family structures? How have changes in family structures challenged the way the school operates? What issues have changes in family structures posed for teachers in their teaching, in other parts of their role?
Does the school have any special programs for either males or females? Do teachers find that they modify their teaching practices for male as opposed to female classes? ‘What about the boys is the current ‘catchphrase? Is it at this school? If so what responses have the school made?
Does the school have information on why students attend it as opposed to other schools? What does this information tell them? Does the school actively market itself and to which niche market? What strategies does it use? How does the school see itself compared to other schools, which might be viewed as competitors? Does the school have a corporate plan, which involves a marketing component?

Specific Course Requirements

General requirements
It is a student’s duty to acquaint himself/herself with course requirements. Ignorance of course requirements due to a student’s non-attendance at lectures or tutorials is not an acceptable reason for non-fulfilment of any requirements.

Students attending lectures and tutorials should note that behaviour which interferes with the conduct of the lecture or tutorial may result in a student being asked to leave the class and may result in suspension from the unit. In particular mobile phones must be turned off and placed in students’ bags during lectures and tutorials. Students are not to have mobile phones out during tutorials (and that includes under the desk texting supposedly unseen by the All Seeing Eye) and sitting in tutorials with mobile phones messaging others will result in you being asked to leave the tutorial.

Lectures
Attendance at lectures is strongly recommended and on the basis of the research evidence is highly profitable. (See Woodfield, et al., 1-22, in Studies in Higher Education, 31, 1, 2006 and Rodgers and Rodgers, 27-41, in Education Research and Perspectives, 30, 1, 2003).

Lectures:
Indicate the overall scope of the subject

Emphasise essential points

Provide a starting point for private study

Give explanations of certain difficult points

Give examples relevant to the particular course area

Provide a preliminary map of difficult reading material

Suggest sources of further information and reference

Stimulate student thinking and provide guidelines for thoughts assisting to develop a critical interest in the subject (RMIT Counselling Service, 1969)

Tutorials and Small Group Discovery
Attendance and whole hearted vibrant participation is compulsory. If you cannot attend due to sickness or other valid reason (this does not include taking holidays or other non valid reasons) then you must follow this procedure. By May 20, 2014 you need to hand to me personally copies of doctor’s certificates for each missed session plus 1 page of preparation for each missed session. Put a cover sheet with your name, number and tutorials missed in summary form. Failure to do this will result in you being considered absent.
Special Consideration
Students who wish to seek special consideration because of illness or special circumstances should apply to the lecturer in charge with relevant documentary evidence. This is usually a doctor’s certificate. For both special consideration and extensions you need to complete well beforehand the Application Form – Assessment Task Extension or Replacement Examination due to Medical and Compassionate Circumstances and/or Application Form – Extenuating Circumstances Application Form. These along with relevant information and instructions are on the university web site.
Extensions and deadlines
If due to illness or other valid reasons, a student is unable to meet a deadline, he/she must contact the lecturer before the deadline in order to seek an extension (which may or may not be granted). Students are required to produce original documents to support their application for an extension.

Any assignment handed in late, without authorised extension, will be penalised at a rate of 10% of the assigned mark per 24-hour period late, to a maximum of 7 periods.

Assignments handed in more than seven periods late, without authorised extension, will not be marked and an automatic fail grade for that piece of assessment will be recorded.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is “the reproducing of someone else's intellectual work and representing it as one's own without proper acknowledgment”. Examples of plagiarism include: direct copying or paraphrasing of someone else’s words without acknowledging the source; using facts, information and ideas directly derived from an unacknowledged source; and producing assignments which are the work of other people.

Students have a responsibility to:
· Access and use available information provided by the University to avoid plagiarism;

· Declare sources in their work submitted for assessment, from which they obtain material or ideas:

· Retain drafts, notes and copies of all assignments submitted for assessment;

· Ensure that you do not make your work available to other students in any form for the purposes of plagiarism;

· Discuss any questions you may have about plagiarism with your kindly and supportive lecturer.

Specific Requirements
Students should write their assignments independently. Students are expected to produce their own work. This might involve students choosing, analyzing, summarizing and interpreting the (often competing) ideas of others, and developing argument and drawing conclusions. Students can: discuss assignments with other students and their tutors; communicate with one another in constructive ways about the learning process; and assist each other, e.g. by discussing the approaches that might be taken to assignment topics, or helping with the availability of reading materials.

Students must acknowledge an original author/creator for the ideas and concepts used in their work by providing a reference or citation. A reference is the written detail of the original source for ideas, which may be referenced within, and at the end of the assignment in the form of a reference list.

You may use quotations: exact words of an original author in written work. The quotation (exact words) should be placed in quotation marks and be accompanied by a reference. If paraphrasing (rewrite completely another author's words or ideas with the intention of presenting the author's ideas), it is vital that the passage is fully rewritten, including the sentence structure. Any short phrases or key words that are used should be handled as quotes. The source must always be referenced

Essay and referencing requirements

Mr Les Hankin’s Essay and Referencing Template.
Reproduced with kind permission is Mr Les Hankin’s Essay and Referencing Template™. You may profit from reacquainting yourselves with it prior to and during your essay and assignment work.

_______________________________________________________________________

These points have emerged from marking essays.

Please note: You will be expected to have taken account of these points when you write your essay.

1. Plan the shape and structure of the assignment and indicate this in the introduction: “In this assignment …” Then stick to your plan and use subheadings to keep you there.

2. It is perfectly acceptable to include your opinions but only after you have considered all the evidence you can muster from respectable and authoritative sources. Keep all your opinions to the conclusion at the end.

3. Think of the marker. Use headers and footers for your name and page number.

4. Recommended layout: Arial 12 pt, with 2 lines spacing. This is the academic standard. You don’t ever need to use italics or underlining or bold. Keep bold for headings only.

5. Subheadings are very useful for organising your ideas.

6. If you must use quotations, they must flow from the text, not disrupt it.

7. Address the question! Also, you must use the full word allowance or close to it. (Check in pull-down menu: File/ Properties).

8. Never ever have one-sentence paragraphs. Paragraphs are for building ideas. Use paragraphs. They are a great invention. They organise the prose and ease the eye.

9. Stick to the Harvard referencing system and never use numbered footnotes.

10. You need to demonstrate that your work is informed by current academic thinking. Websites don’t convey this, but rather the opposite.

11. URLs on their own are not acceptable. Never cite any website that doesn’t have .ac or .gov in them. There is no way of proving the veracity of what they say.

12. Spelling! Where/ were; there/ their! It’s = it is! Apostrophes are important!

13. Grammar: if in any doubt, use a full stop and start a new sentence. A sentence must have a verb.

14. Have someone proofread your submission, aloud, to check its grammar works.

15. Accuracy in names is important.

16. Use the spelling / grammar check on Word (Press F7 key at the top.)

17. Avoid words like ‘amazing’. You need to be academic and objective.

Referencing is a very important aspect of your work and is not tutors being fussy. It demonstrates your academic reading and commitment:

18. When citing sources (Oxfam 2004) make sure this is carried through and included in the reference list at the end. A reference list is essential and must follow on immediately in the same file. Do not separate them or leave a gap in your essay.

19. A set of references that is only drawn from the Net is not acceptable. It comes over as laziness. Be adventurous: use the Library.

20. Look at how references are laid out in the set books to get it right, but the following table explains all eventualities.

	In the main body	In the Reference List/Bibliography
One author	Penn (2005) - if paraphrasing. Penn (2005:99) – if a direct quote.	Penn, H. (2005) Understanding Early Childhood. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Two authors Also note the position of (2^nd edn) This is the 2^nd edition of this book.	Blenkin and Kelly (1996) – if paraphrasing. Blenkin and Kelly (1996:15) – if a direct quote.	Blenkin, G.M. & Kelly, A.V. (1996) Early Childhood Education (2^nd edn). London: Paul Chapman.
More than two authors	Gopnik et al. (1999) or Gopnik et al. (1999:21) - if direct quote.	Gopnik, A., Meltzoff, A. and Kuhl, P. (1999) How Young Babies Think. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
A chapter from an edited book	Mukherji (2005) or Mukherji (2005:145) – if direct quote.	Mukherji, P. (2005) ‘The importance of health’, in Dryden, L., Forbes, R., Mukherji, P. & Pound, L. (2005) Essential Early Years. London: Hodder Arnold.
A quote about another author within the text – a secondary citation.	David (cited in Bruce, 2005) or David (cited in Bruce, 2005:17) - if direct quote	Bruce, T. (2005) Early Childhood Education. (3^rd edn). London: Hodder Arnold. (i.e. David will not appear in the Reference List/Bibliography because you have not read David’s original work; you have read about it in Bruce’s book)
Newspaper article	Furedi (2004) or Furedi (2004:15) – if direct quote	Furedi, F. (2004) ‘Plagiarism stems from the loss of scholarly ideals’, Times Higher Education Supplement. 6 August, p.16
Online newspaper article	Furedi (2004) or Furedi (2004:15) – if direct quote	Furedi, F. (2004) ‘Plagiarism stems from the loss of scholarly ideals’, Times Higher Education Supplement. p.16. http://thes.co.uk. (accessed 12 February 2005)
Journal article	Dryden et al. (2003)	Dryden, L., Hyder, T. & Jethwa, S. (2003) ‘Assessing individual oral presentations’, in Investigations in University Teaching and Learning, vol. 1, no. 1, pp.79-83.
Electronic Journal	Kwon (2002)	Kwon, Y.I. (2002) ‘Changing Curriculum for Early Childhood Education in England’, in Early Childhood Research & Practice, vol. 4, no. 2. http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/ (accessed 30 June 2006)
Website with author	Stainthorp (2003)	Stainthorp, R. (2003) ‘Use it or lose it’. http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/Pubs/stainthorp.html (accessed 6 October 2004)
Website without author but linked to a recognisable organisation	Froebel Foundation (2005)	Froebel Foundation (2005) ‘Three Education Principles’ Education Principles. http://www.froebel.com/ (accessed 29 July 2005).
This chart is adapted from: Dryden, L., Forbes, R., Mukherji, P. & Pound, L. (2005) Essential Early Years. London: Hodder Arnold.

Small Group Discovery Experience

We will meet in week two and week 12 of the course to specifically address this but the activity set will permeate the whole course.

Our focus for the small group discover experience is:

How is educational policy reported and reflected in the the media? What does this mean for our work as teachers?

In our first session I will explain how to go about this exercise. We will link this to how is educational policy reflected in individual school policy documents. Again I will show you how to undertake this.

The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
Assessment must maintain academic standards.

Assessment Summary

Requirements

The overall mark required to pass is 50%. Students need to attempt and pass each of the three components that is tutorials, essay and examination.

Weekly Tutorial Preparation and Participation worth 10 %. For each unprepared and or missed or unsatisfactory tutorial deduct 2 marks. Please see the instructions above on what to do for missed tutorials.

Essay of 2000 words (maximum – no 10 % either way) worth 30% due on March 31 by 4 pm. Hand in hard copy (no email attachments) to the Assignment Box, Nexus10, 10 Pulteney Street, Ground Floor near the lift entrance and uploaded by 11.59pm that day to MyUni.

End of Semester Examination 60%. Examinations are controlled by Central Administration and so the date and time of this is set by this office. Accordingly the date and time of these are outside my control. The Examination Period is normally June and July inclusive. You need to be available to sit examinations during this time in Adelaide. Please do not schedule other activities in this period as we are unable to schedule examinations at other times and in other places.

Assessment Related Requirements

Tutorials.
See the Weekly Tutorial Readings and Exercises

Each week there are tutorials in which we [that means you and me] will discuss the topic and the literature listed for that week, watch a video or some other activity associated with the topic. All students are required to read the relevant parts of their texts for this and take part in the discussion. It is not meant to be another lecture. The success of the tutorials depends on everyone reading some relevant material and discussing that with the group. We aim to review the research literature on the topic and not recycle educational folklore.

Students must bring to the tutorial their texts and 1 page of thoughtful notes from the relevant chapters. Simply presenting at the tutorial session having not done the reading or without notes or prescribed texts and either sitting passively or doing other things is not acceptable and will not count as fulfilling course requirements.

Assessment of Tutorials

This will include assessment of a student’s apparent preparation for tutorials and the reading of the relevant chapters in the two key texts (and the preparation of a summary), willingness to contribute to discussion, the usefulness of the contribution, the assistance given to others in the group, the quality of the ideas, etc. Again simply turning up and failing to do the reading or to willingly and constructively contribute to the discussion and failure to engage in the other class activities will not count.

Essay – [Please read and follow all the guidelines and please attach to your essay the cover sheet and marking template available on MyUni].

Topic
Teachers, schools and the law
Carefully define duty of care, non-delegable duty of care and negligence as they apply to teachers and schools? Take 3-6 key issues (see examples of these in the explanation below) and analyse the legal issues that teachers and schools need to be aware of in either their professional and/or personal lives.

Make an immediate start on your paper. Ensure that for whatever topic you select that there is ample material. Realizing a day before the essay is due that you have not enough material is not acceptable.

The key issue in writing the essay is a critical examination of the relevant literature and its application to teaching and learning. A good essay will be an analytical discussion of what you read (that is an evaluation of the material as opposed to a simple summary of it) and what it means for teachers and/ or teaching and/ or learning.

The essay must follow normal academic and scholarly conventions and will be 2000 words (maximum- no 10 % either way) in length. Please note that this includes quotations. The essay must show evidence of research from at least 6 different and separate sources. Go to MyUni Week 2. Go to Resources. Go to Schools and the Law – Reading Resource (10.77mb). This PDF has at least 10 different articles. For example the first one is D. Steward and A. Knott (2002), Schools and the law: current and emerging issues, Professional Educator, 1, 1, October, 22- 24. The other articles deal with issues such as child abuse, mandatory reporting, sexual abuse, bullying, school exclusions, managing crisis, virtual bullying, email and the internet, intellectual property and privacy and surveillance in schools. You could use these articles and in theory nothing else and do a fine essay. These sources must be referred to in the essay itself and not simply appear in the bibliography or reference list. This does not mean that you necessarily have to have verbatim quotes from the six sources. Paraphrase and acknowledgement is fine.

Be very wary of over quoting. In a paper this length you should aim for approximately no more than say 12 lines of quotations in total for the whole paper. This could be for example 2 lines of quotes for each of your six different sources. Only quote when to not do so would destroy the essence of what has been said. Be wary of simply stringing quotes together. There is a simple test for this - print off your draft and highlight your verbatim quotes – you will soon see if you have overdone them.

Assessment Detail

No information currently available.

Submission

Essay

1. Double space the lines. Use at least 12 point and a clear and legible font. This makes it easier for the maximum grade to be awarded by aged staff that wear multifocal spectacles but are otherwise kind and caring, full of compassion, slow to anger and rich in mercy.

2. Leave a margin of at least one inch on the left hand side of the paper.

3. Use a footer or header with your name, course and page number.

4. A title page should be placed at the front of the assignment. This should contain your name, the subject, the title of the assignment, the name of the lecturer concerned, and the date. All assignments must be accompanied by an Essay Cover Sheet, which includes a Statement of Authorship and the Marking Template. Both of these are on the Schools and Policy MyUni site.

5. Students who wish to submit assignments via the postal system must ensure the envelopes are post marked no later than the due date for submission and are sent by registered mail. Students are advised that the School of Education takes no responsibility for assignments sent by post.

6. Assignments will not be accepted for marking after other work in that subject has been returned unless a special consideration request has been approved.

7. The completed assignment should be stapled or fastened in the top left hand corner. Please do not use manila or other forms of folders and please do not under any circumstances place each separate page in a separate plastic envelope.

8. Keep a hard copy of your essay and other submitted work. Sometimes accidents do happen, mail fails to arrive or computers crash.

Note: Failure to follow these prescriptions will result in a lower mark on the essay.

Course Grading

Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
Grade	Mark	Description
FNS		Fail No Submission
F	1-49	Fail
P	50-64	Pass
C	65-74	Credit
D	75-84	Distinction
HD	85-100	High Distinction
CN		Continuing
NFE		No Formal Examination
RP		Result Pending

Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

Essay Grading
Please refer to the Schools and Policy Assignment Grading Template on MyUni prior to commencing your essay.
Your essay provides you with an opportunity to comprehend research material criticize it and create an argument of your own. Your paper will be assessed on the basis of the following as well as the criteria in the Assignment Grading Template. Please note all of these especially the previously noted issue of judicious use of quotations.
(a) the depth and scope of the research. Has the student used at least 6 different sources (excluding newspaper and popular press material)? Has the student simply restated the sources or made an attempt to evaluate these sources and create an argument of her/his own?
(b) the quality of the ideas and the soundness of argument. Is the essay a critical exposition as opposed to a listing and reproduction of the research?
(c) the organization of ideas within the paper. Is the essay logically organized and well structured?
(d) the style of writing including appropriateness of language, clarity of expression, sentence structure, etc.
(e) length, etc. Are there glaring errors of expression, spelling etc? Errors in this area will mean that an essay is very unlikely to obtain more than a P grade.
(f) the quality of presentation, including attention to grammar, punctuation, spelling, legibility and very importantly consistency and correctness in matters of referencing and bibliography. Unless these latter matters are near to perfect then it would be unlikely that an essay would be graded higher than a P grade.

Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme and due to the large numbers a distribution on the normal curve will be expected.

Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.

This section contains links to relevant assessment-related policies and guidelines - all university policies.

Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student’s disciplinary procedures.

Authorised by:	Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Academic)
Maintained by:	Course Outlines Administrator