The Australian Curriculum Analysis

Critical issues facing educators today include; educational inequity, socio-economic status of students, cultural diversity, stereotyping, dominate cultural paradigms, and social disadvantage. Because of these issues, educators will be best prepared for classroom life if they find ways to adapt and modify the learning environment in order, to provide for inclusive regardless of the learners needs. All children in Australia are presented with the opportunity to attend schools which are designed to be inclusive for any and all abilities. Due to the diverse nature of the school age population in Australia classrooms are made up of an assortment of needs in relation to social, cognitive, and physical areas of learning.

This has deepened my understanding of the big 5 concepts of literacy (phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension) through understanding what criteria can be used to determinate what is effective developmental for a reader and what needs improvement. The Informal Reading Inventory is one example of this because it allows me to assess word recognition, oral and silent reading, comprehension, and literacy capacity. All of which is valuable information which I can then use as a reading teacher to determine further instructional moves. While I have yet to have a place to fully put these assessment techniques into my full practice as a first year teacher. Learning about how to properly assess these components has better equipped me to think about my students' literacy abilities and further strategize my instructional planning to meet the diversity of their literacy

Curriculum is designed to develop successful learners. Confident and creative individuals and active and informed citizens (MCEECDYA, 2008, p.13). In 2008, the Australian Government promised to deliver a fair and equitable curriculum for the national’s educational system, taking the task away from the State and Local Governments. The purpose of this was to create an even level of education throughout the country whether in Hobart of Cape York, and to ensure our nations position into the 21st century. This essay will demonstrate the Nation’s curriculum, its structure and development ready for its initial implementation in 2011.

CCSS and teachers together need to be viewed as “sponsors of literacy” (99). Scherff discovered that her teaching strategies already fit into the CCSS, which inspired her to develop a chart including critical and higher-order questions and discussion starters along with the CCSS nine anchor reading standards questioning approaches for each level. Two doctoral candidates were asked to collaborate and describe how the CCSS fits into their role as teachers. The first candidate, Allison Wynhoff Olsen describes her initial fear of the standards and how to implement them in her classroom. Her mentor showed her how to bundle and combine aspects that met CCSS. It is important to work with the standards because “educators have agency to help all students work toward powerful literacy education” (104). Olsen introduces Simon’s article “Starting with What Is’: Exploring Response and Responsibility to Student writing through Collaborative Inquiry” to show a new way of reviewing student papers collaboratively with other teachers instead of “individually from a deficit perspective” (105). This kind of approach encourages students to more freedom to express themselves and create a “broader social change” (105). Teachers must incorporate the CCSS in their classroom; however, they must also take into consideration the needs of each student and adjust their teaching strategies to reach the common goal of promoting literacy. The second candidate, Emily Nemeth describes two students demonstrating different learning styles and how teachers needs to keep in mind the needs of each unique student when designing classroom plans following the CCSS. She stresses the importance of supporting preservice teachers with “theoretical and pedagogical framings” to accompany the CCSS they must abide by in the classroom (109). The CCSS fails to take

The Australian Curriculum basically makes sure that it is setting out the essential knowledge, understanding, skills and universal competences that are very essential for all Australian students. The Australian Curriculum makes sure that it defines the learning power of students as groundwork for their future learning, development and vigorous contribution in the Australian society. It makes obvious what every young Australians need to learn as they advance through their schooling. It is the basis for high worth teaching to come across the requirements of everyone of Australian students. Curriculum is intended to progress fruitful learners. Secure and resourceful persons and functioning and informed people (MCEECDYA, 2008, p.13). In 2008, the Australian Government swore to distribute a reasonable and just curriculum for the national's educational system, pulling the job away from the Local and State Governments. The drive of this was to generate a smooth phase of education all the way through the nation, and to also safeguard their countries locus into the 21st century. This essay will reveal the Nation's curriculum, its organization and development that had already been implemented for its initial opening in 2011.

The Australian Curriculum incorporates observations as one of the fundamental skills that students are required to learn (Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA], n.d., ACAVAM106). Observations, such as the observational drawing of leaves completed in topic two provide students with an opportunity to develop their visual literacy skills and inquire about the world around them (Dinham, 2014, p. 39). During the different stages of drawing development, students draw upon prior learning, which they have gained through observations, to express their thoughts and make meaning. In the same way, the artist Henri Rousseau, who’s jungle paintings have been described as “…primitive and naïve” drew upon his developing catalogue of prior learning to

The demographics of Australia are constantly changing and the rise in families from many different countries settling in Australia is continually increasing. This is evident in the growing number of students requiring English as an Additional Language (EAL/D) support throughout Australian schools. EAL/D students often struggle with adapting to the Australian school setting due to a number of factors including their lack of understanding in the English language and their own individual experiences such as culture, beliefs, values and experiences (Hertzberg, 2012, pp. 15-21). This essay will discuss different means of assisting students with EAL/D in order to establish the necessary English language skills to learn and understand what is being taught as well as key learning area vocabulary, content and language, based on the Australian Curriculum (Australian Curriculum and Assessment Reporting Authority [ACARA], 2014, p. 6).

A study conducted in 2003 by Ofsted that involved England, Denmark and Finland, showed England’s national curriculum compared to the other two countries was:

In exploring the Australian Curriculum, it becomes apparent that this curriculum was developed to encompass a wide range of skills and abilities that will be needed to enable young Australians to become productive and successful members of society of the future. The influence of a range of different curriculum models and education theories has bought together a comprehensive overview of what the Australian education system will deliver and how this can be accomplished.

A National Curriculum has been of some importance within the Australian Governments for some time. Previous national planned curriculums have been developed and failed a number of times. The Australian Governments with the guidance of the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians have developed ‘The Australian Curriculum’; A planned national curriculum from Foundation to Year 12 covering a variety of learning areas or subjects catering for Diversity, Differences and the needs of the 21st Century. The introduction of the Australian Curriculum is designed to supply all young Australians across the States and Territories an education that is of equal and high standards. This Essay will discuss the structure of the

The use of formal and informal reading assessments provide important data that allow educators to identify at risk students (Tompkins, 2010). The data collected from the assessments address any factors that may prohibit the development of students’ reading and writing skills. In addition to the assessments, the more an educator can learn about students’ backgrounds and their past reading, language development, and writing experiences the more instructional strategies can be designed to specifically meet the needs of diverse learners in the classroom.

The Australian Higher Education quality assurance framework, introduced in 2000, had the core function to ensure that quality assurance policies added value to the higher education sector and positioned Australia as a major stakeholder in the global trend to towards “for profit” higher education. In 2005, the Australian Vice Chancellors’ Committee (AVCC), after reviewing quality assurance frameworks, committed itself through the ‘code of Practice and Guidelines for Australian Universities, to the principle that; “the provision of education services to international students, both on-shore and off-shore, brings with it the ethical commitment that quality education be provided and that value be given for the investment made by international students”

In the Australian schooling system, all educational lessons, activities and experiences need to be outlined by formal curriculum documents. Therefore keep in mind, it is crucial to implement lessons within the guidelines of what is seen as beneficial to students. Below is specifically selected philosophies of the Australian national curriculum, which are effective in heightening the contribution and engagement of students of low SES upbringings.

Literacy pedagogies have a developing and complex history in education, intertwined with social and cultural change and evolution. Each change has paved a new path for more significant approaches and strategies, which cater to diverse learners allowing them to create meaning and communicate more effectively. These literacy pedagogies brought out by the changes in education have both strengths and weaknesses. As such, educators need to explore and understand the four knowledge processes portrayed by Kalantzis, Cope, Chan and Dalley-Trim; didactic, authentic, functional, and critical literacy approach (2016), to be able to consider how they can influence teaching and learning so they are able to make informed decisions with regards to their students’ literacy learning. Teaching is becoming increasingly complex; this is particularly evident in the area of literacy. This paper will explore the four literacy pedagogies, their limitations and their strengths, and how they have impacted literacy learning within the Australian educational context.

Informal assessment allows students to demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways which can benefit all students. It can include group or individual projects, presentations, essays, experiments, or demonstrations. Each of these can allow for “knowledge that transfers from one situation to another [which] is based on students’ abilities to understand central principles, see connections and make distinctions, and be strategic in attacking problems and analyzing information” (Darling-Hammond, p. 285). A variety of assessment methods allow for this to happen and for students to use their personal strengths to demonstrate understanding of the information. “Research into students’ preferences for alternative assessments shows that the assessments that have been positively evaluated by students were more authentic and thus made learning more realistic and powerful” (as cited in Brown, Irving, Peterson, and Hirschfeld, 2009, p. 99). Students should be able to think creatively and take hold of their own education and learning because they must ideally be prepared for a rapidly changing society where they must be able to adapt and formulate their own solutions. Teachers are able to provide feedback to the children so they know what was done effectively and what needs to be modified. Rather than teachers pressuring students to show understanding through a single examination, they will have opportunities to confidently demonstrate knowledge with less