Undergraduate Course: Educational Studies 1b: Teaching, learning and the Curriculum for Excellence (EDUA08100)
Course Outline
| School | Moray House School of Education |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 8 (Year 1 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course takes Scotland's Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) as an overarching theme. It includes a critical exploration of some of the ideas underpinning the construction of CfE and associated ideas about teaching by considering their historical, theoretical and practical development. The course aims to equip students with a critical and informed understanding of the role as teachers in realising the curriculum, and the factors that can influence this. A strong theme is an appreciation of the relationship between theory and practice in teaching and learning.
Four half-days will be spent in schools to enable students to contextualise their learning, and carry out the research task. |
| Course description |
The course begins with an introduction to the current context of teaching within Scotland, including reforms associated with CfE. The course is divided into three equal units, at the end of which students will be able to develop their own critique of teaching and learning as constructed by CfE and consider the implications for their own teaching practices. A strong focus running through the whole course is consideration of the role of the teacher. What does it mean to be a teacher? What influences our practice? How can we shape our own role as a teacher? These questions permeate the three units, providing a unifying focus throughout the course. The course is underpinned by a commitment to research-informed teaching practices, emphasising the importance of critical engagement with academic literature and policy texts, and also providing students with opportunities to develop research skills (eg interviews as a research method).
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2014/15, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 230 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 20,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20,
Formative Assessment Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Placement Study Abroad Hours 12,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
142 )
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| Additional Information (Learning and Teaching) |
Placement will consist of 4 half days in a primary school.
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Assessment for this course consists of two activities, equally weighted.
Assessed activity 1
Students are required to (1) conduct two interviews (structured conversations) with practising teachers, discussing their philosophies and approaches to teaching, (2) analyse the data with reference to theories of learning in the literature, and (3) write a short report on their findings. The interviews will provide an opportunity for student-led professional dialogue: students will be shown how to construct prompts for a semi-structured interview derived from prior classroom observations. An alternative format will be available should it not be possible to interview teachers in a placement school.
Assessed activity 2
Essay based on critical analysis of some of the underlying principles of CfE (e.g. the articulation of 'Approaches to Learning' currently available via the Education Scotland website on CfE). This is to be informed by relevant literature and scholarship, including critiques of CfE and its underlying theories of learning and teaching.
Each assessed activity is equally weighted towards the final mark. To successfully complete this course students must be awarded a minimum of 30% in each individual task and an aggregate mark of at least 40%. |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course and at a level appropriate to a first year undergraduate, students will be able to:
* Explain and contrast different theories of learning
* Identify some of the theories of learning that influence teaching in practice, including their own approaches to teaching
* Examine and evaluate claims about learning, teaching and assessment in both the academic literature and the popular media
* Relate theories of learning to the construction and realisation of the curriculum
* Examine the diverse roles of students and teachers in realising the curriculum in the context of different approaches to learning
* Evaluate the Approaches to Learning section within the Curriculum for Excellence in terms of the theoretical foundations and assumptions of each principle, and their practical implications
* Critically evaluate research evidence in relation to curriculum development
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Reading List
Adey, P. & Dillon, J. (Eds.) (2012) Bad Education: debunking myths in education. Buckingham, Open University Press.
Bailey, R. (Ed.) (2010) The Philosophy of Education: an introduction. London, Continuum
Green, K. (2008) Understanding Physical Education. London, Sage.
Jarvis, P., Holford, J. & Griffin, C. (2003), The Theory and Practice of Learning, London, Kogan Page
Lankshear, C. & Knobel, M. (2011) New Literacies: everyday practices and social learning. Buckingham, Open University Press.
Moore, A. (Ed.) (2006) Schooling, Society and Curriculum. London, Routledge.
Moyles, J. (Ed.) (2011) Beginning Teaching, Beginning Learning in Primary Education, 4th edition. Maidenhead, Open University Press.
Wood, D. (1998) How Children Think and Learn: the social contexts of cognitive development, 2nd edition, Oxford, Blackwell
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Mrs Susan Mclarty
Tel: (0131 6)51 6044
Email: susan.mclarty@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mrs Lyndsey Black
Tel:
Email: lblack2@exseed.ed.ac.uk |
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