TE6669 - Curriculum Studies 3 (3-7 years)

The teaching and learning approaches for this module provide you with a mix of lectures and workshops reflecting the Notional Student Workload (NSW) contained in the descriptor for this module. You will find this approach similar to that of Curriculum Studies 1 and 2, with further raised expectations surrounding independent application and assessment.

Your lectures will critically examine key sources of policy, evaluation and theoretical literature and will encourage you to connect with your own independent reading, which will be key to your success here. You will experience a diverse range of input from University-based tutors and Partnership teachers, who have relevant practical experience and theoretical knowledge in teaching and learning the core subjects across the Early Years Foundation Stage, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. Subsequently, you can be assured that lecture content is relevant, up-to-date and takes account of recent practice and policy changes surrounding planning, teaching and assessment approaches in schools.

Your workshops are a practical, challenging element of this module and will demand your full participation. Workshops are not an optional extra for this module and we have found that students who have done well previously have prepared, attended and participated in the workshop work and independent supporting tasks. We are mindful that you will have a range of preferences for small group work, but we do expect you all to thoroughly prepare for and participate in these sessions. Practical workshop sessions will also be led by a mixture of University-based tutors and Partnership teachers who will ensure that the key elements of each subject are explored in further depth to allow you to consider how to apply ideas to your own planning during your Educational placements.

You will be expected to make active use of the eLP (Blackboard), using it as a starting point for your own reading. All lecture and workshop presentations will make reference back to the Teachers’ Standards (2012) to allow you to join up your learning across the programme and begin to compile evidence towards the completion of your Teachers’ Standards file. The module team are committed to ensuring material is placed on the eLP in a timely manner (wherever possible) so you are able to use this to complement your face-to-face learning and reading.

As with all other modules on your programme, successful academic achievement requires a system of robust support and guidance to help you focus on your learning needs. In addition to the pastoral support you will receive, the tutors involved in delivering this module will provide guidance and academic counselling to ensure that you are able to confidently engage with the academic rigour of this module. This dialogue will be face-to-face in lectures, workshops or individual tutorials and is an essential aspect of the programme’s assessment for learning strategy. Extensive support is also accessible online as part of the University’s commitment to technology enhanced learning. This employs the use of the e-learning portal (Blackboard including Pebble+) and social networking and collaborative tools.

A central feature of the academic support available to you is the service provided by the University Library. This 24/7 service caters for all your learning needs, has extensive access to electronic texts and tutorials that will directly support the development of academic skills aimed at improving your critical thinking and analytical writing.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. The reading list for this module can be found at: http://readinglists.northumbria.ac.uk
(Reading List service online guide for academic staff this containing contact details for the Reading List team – http://library.northumbria.ac.uk/readinglists)

Knowledge & Understanding:
1. Systematically discuss how formative assessment/assessment for learning strategies can be used to develop children’s learning and progress;
2. Investigate and practice the application of formative assessment/assessment for learning strategies throughout your educational placement-based experience;

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
3. Analyse how formative assessment/assessment for learning strategies can support children’s learning within the core subjects of the curriculum
4. Evaluate formative assessment/assessment for learning strategies, within the context of your own relevant educational placement-based experiences, to consider the next steps in your own learning through the effective use of Standard English.

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):
5. Critically consider formative assessment/assessment for learning strategies with reference to recent and relevant literature in the core subjects justify your arguments.

Summative Assessment:
The 2500 word written assignment will form 100% of your summative assessment for this module.

The assignment is designed to enable you to critically think about the similarities and differences in the core curriculum and how this can be applied to children’s learning needs. You will focus your assignment on your chosen age phase (3-7) to support and develop your learning and understanding. You will be asked to discuss across the core subjects / areas of learning in a balanced manner and not to concentrate on just one of the areas to the detriment of the others.

Proposed (Draft) Assignment Title:
Critically reflect upon your knowledge, understanding, experience and/or application of how formative assessment/assessment for learning strategies are used to inform children’s learning and progress within the core subjects / areas of learning .

Summative grades, alongside formative written feedback regarding your assignment will be provided via ESAF.

(KU 1; iPSA 3, 4; PVA 5)

Educational Research and Enquiry 2
Educational Placements 2
Professional Studies 2
Curriculum Studies 2
Enhanced Curriculum Studies 2

Educational Research and Enquiry 3
Educational Placements 3
Professional Studies 3
Enhanced Curriculum Studies 3

In this module you will focus primarily upon the application of assessment in practice (summative and formative); to inform the cyclical planning, teaching, assessment process that drives children’s learning and progress in the core subjects across the Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1. You will consider how the learning cycle is joined up through the careful integration of planning, teaching and assessment approaches. This will enable you to develop and consolidate your understanding of children’s learning across the 3-7 age range and in each core subject or Area of Learning .

Your emerging understanding and application of assessment for learning will be a key focus; as you develop further the necessary skills and expertise to ensure that you are prepared to teach for a sustained period during your assessed placement in the Educational Placements 3 module in Semester 2. The cumulative acquisition of the appropriate range and depth of subject knowledge and skills across both the core subjects and your chosen age phase at your disposal from this module strand (Curriculum Studies), will inform your success both; during your final assessed placement and in your first post as an Early Career Teacher (ECT).

In addition to this you will be able to consider further your own abilities to provide innovative learning opportunities through your planning, teaching and assessment for each subject, alongside your emerging philosophy for children’s learning and how this impacts on your ability to provide an enriching learning environment in each subject for all the children you will teach.