EDO3341 Teaching in Rural and Remote Communities
|Semester 2, 2013 Online Toowoomba|
|Faculty or Section :||Faculty of Education|
|School or Department :||Education|
|Version produced :||21 July 2014|
Examiner: Amanda Heffernan
Moderator: Roderick Fogarty
A majority of teachers in Queensland will spend part of their careers working in small rural communities. Recent government sponsored reports on education focus attention on selecting teachers with specific qualifications and skills for specific teaching contexts. In order to improve their success in these contexts, students will focus upon those issues and concepts which relate to successful teaching practice in small rural communities. At the conclusion of this course, students will have developed an awareness and understanding of those concerns central to the provision of education in rural, remote and isolated areas of Australia and their effect on teachers newly appointed to rural communities.
This course will emphasise issues relating to the structure of education in rural and remote Australia, teaching practice and curriculum delivery methods appropriate to this context. Topics will include the integration of advanced teaching technologies and pedagogies with current information and communication technologies, concerns related to professional development and teacher support processes, school management issues, processes designed to support community relationships, and the political and systemic context of rural and remote education. Teaching methodology for this course will incorporate an experiential component which familiarises students with an array of educational agencies providing services to rural and remote communities. Understanding of the needs of specific rural and remote education agencies will be further developed through a process of modelling, simulation and role play. Participation in an analysis of both the larger policy context relevant to small rural schools and the administrative expectations appropriate for these settings will complete the preparation of the beginning teacher for a rural and remote placement. NOTE: Minimum enrolment numbers apply to this offering. Should enrolments not reach the minimum number required for on-campus study, students may be transferred to the ONLINE offering and advised of this change before semester commences.
On completion of this course students will be able to:
- articulate the nature and extent of support services available to educational settings in rural and remote areas (ePortfolio and Group Workshop)
- express their view of rurality and remoteness and recognise resultant implications for teachers in these locations (ePortfolio and Group Workshop)
- demonstrate their understanding of the intricacies of rural and remote school administration (ePoster Presentation and Group Workshop)
- evaluate the provision of education in rural and remote areas (ePortfolio and Group Workshop)
- demonstrate an awareness of the complexities of the role of the teacher in rural and remote communities (ePortfolio and Group Workshop)
- make evident their mastery of teaching skills appropriate to multi-age settings (ePoster Presentation and Group Workshop)
- synthesise appropriate applications of technological and delivery techniques into the achievement of educational objectives in rural and remote settings (ePoster Presentation and Group Workshop)
- exhibit skills associated with the interpretation, analysis and operationalisation of policy documents in rural and remote settings (ePoster Presentation and Group Workshop)
- demonstrate competence in written language and scholarly writing including correct spelling, grammar and bibliographic referencing (All assessments)
- exhibit communication and collegial network formation and maintenance in a simulated professional isolating situation (ePoster Presentation and Group Workshop)
- identify and utilise appropriate information and communication technologies to overcome challenges presented by distance (All assessments)
- engage in critical peer and self reflection regarding their changing perspectives of rural and remote education (All assessments)
|1.||Defining rurality and remoteness||5.00|
|2.||Characteristics of rural and isolated communities||15.00|
|3.||Structure of education in rural and remote settings||10.00|
|4.||The teacher in a rural or remote community||15.00|
|5.||Technology and curriculum delivery in rural and remote contexts, including schooling through distance education||15.00|
|6.||Support structures for teachers in rural and remote settings||10.00|
|7.||Policy influences in rural and remote education||10.00|
|8.||The teaching principal and one teacher schools||10.00|
|9.||Applying skills, strategies, philosophies to a rural or remote setting||10.00|
Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed
ALL textbooks and materials available to be purchased can be sourced from USQ's Online Bookshop (unless otherwise stated). (https://bookshop.usq.edu.au/bookweb/subject.cgi?year=2013&sem=02&subject1=EDO3341)
Please contact us for alternative purchase options from USQ Bookshop. (https://bookshop.usq.edu.au/contact/)
There is no prescribed text for this course.
Whether you are on, or off campus, the USQ Library is an excellent source of information http://www.usq.edu.au/library..
Student workload requirements
|Description||Marks out of||Wtg (%)||Due Date||Notes|
|GROUP WORKSHOP||30||30||05 Aug 2013||(see note 1)|
|PORTFOLIO & PRESENTATION||70||70||14 Oct 2013|
- Ongoing assessment weeks 5 to 14.
Important assessment information
ONC: It is the students' responsibility to attend and participate appropriately in all activities scheduled for them, and to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration. All students will be expected to participate in and engage with group presentations either on-line or on-campus. ONLINE There are no attendance requirements for this course. However, it is the students' responsibility to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration. All students will be expected to participate in and engage with group presentations on-line.
Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
To satisfactorily complete an individual assessment item a student must achieve at least 50% of the marks
Penalties for late submission of required work:
If students submit assignments after the due date without (prior) approval of the examiner then a penalty of 5% of the total marks gained by the student for the assignment may apply for each working day late up to ten working days at which time a mark of zero may be recorded. No assignments will be accepted after model answers have been posted.
Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:
To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must achieve at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course.
Method used to combine assessment results to attain final grade:
The final grades for students will be assigned on the basis of the aggregate of the weighted marks obtained for each of the summative assessment items in the course. Students need to participate in all the group assignments and submit all the assignments in order to pass this course.
There is no examination in this course.
Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
As there are no examinations in this course, there will be no deferred or supplementary examinations.
University Student Policies:
Students should read the USQ policies: Definitions, Assessment and Student Academic Misconduct to avoid actions which might contravene University policies and practices. These policies can be found at http://policy.usq.edu.au.
All assignments must be submitted electronically through the course web site. Assignment submissions will not be accepted in any other form or by any other means without prior approval.
The due date for an assignment is the date by which a student's submission must be received electronically at USQ.
In accordance with University Policy, the Examiner may grant an extension of the due date of an assignment in extenuating circumstances.
The Faculty will NOT accept submission of assignments by facsimile.
Students who, for medical, family/personal, or employment-related reasons, are unable to complete an assignment or to sit for an examination at the scheduled time may apply to defer an assessment in a course. Such a request must be accompanied by appropriate supporting documentation. One of the following temporary grades may be awarded IDS (Incomplete - Deferred Examination; IDM (Incomplete Deferred Make-up); IDB (Incomplete - Both Deferred Examination and Deferred Make-up).
Students may be required to provide a copy of assignments submitted for assessment purposes. Such copies should be dispatched to the USQ within 24 hours of receipt to do so.
APA style is the referencing system required in this course. Students should use APA style in their assignments to format details of the information sources they have cited in their work. The APA style to be used is defined by the USQ Library's referencing guide. http://www.usq.edu.au/library/referencing
Students will require access to e-mail and have Internet access to UConnect for this course.