Teaching in School:Early and First Level Placement (U04435)

? Credit Points : 20 ? SCQF Level : 10 ? Acronym : EDU-1-U04435

The early years placement provides a context for students to extend and apply their learning about the curriculum, policies, principles and contexts of early years education. Students are prepared for this placement through their experience of the Early Years Pedagogy course and by engaging in Practicum classes that consider different planning models adopted by teachers in Early Years Settings. The experiential pre-school and the infant placement together provide a coherent experience of and engagement in early childhood education.

Students are expected, through practice, to develop their understanding of relationships between curriculum, assessment and pedagogy. They achieve this understanding by operationalising the teaching and learning cycle of planning, teaching, assessing and evaluating their work. The course therefore develops the skills of reflective practice. During early teaching practice experiences, these skills are developed in relation to short term planning, as a precursor to future planning for longer periods of class responsibility.

Where possible students are placed in the same neighbourhood/ local community for the pre-school experiential learning placement and the early years primary placement, to allow them to build an understanding of the local context. Students are expected to develop teaching competence which gradually builds from episodes of planning, managing, organising and evaluating activities with small groups and the whole class to doing this for a full day.

? Keywords : primary education placement early and first level

Entry Requirements

? This course is not available to visting students.

Subject Areas

Home subject area

Education, (The Moray House School of Education, Schedule C)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : 1st year

? Delivery Period : Not being delivered

? Contact Teaching Time : 35 hour(s) per week for 7 weeks

All of the following classes

Type	Day	Start	End	Area
Lecture	Monday	09:00	09:50	Central

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding
- Discuss observations of early literacy and numeracy strategies in action, demonstrating understanding of approaches and issues in the teaching of reading and mathematics
- Evaluate opportunities for interdisciplinary learning in placement settings
- Explain the rationale underlying the design and resourcing of early years education settings

Practice Applied Knowledge and Understanding
- Gather fieldwork data about early childhood, learning and education using a variety of methods observation, note taking, photography, document analysis, interviews
- Plan purposeful learning activities for children for children in all curriculum areas at early and/or first levels of a Curriculum for Excellence using data gathered from a variety of sources (sequences in maths, language and ES or Ex Arts)
- Teach small groups and whole class for one full day.
- Asssess children's learning in all curriculum areas at - Evaluate teaching in all curriculum areas at early and/ or first levels of a Curriculum for Excellence
- Practise in a context which includes a degree of unpredictability

Generic Cognitive Skills
- Critically review and consolidate knowledge, skills and practices through the process of assessment of children's learning and evaluations of teaching

Communication, ICT and Numeracy Skills
- Communicate with professional level peers, colleagues, parents and specialists

Autonomy, accountability and working with others
- Work effectively under guidance in a collaborative relationship with qualified practitioners and other student teachers.
- Take significant responsibility for pupil learning and the organisation and management of the class.

Assessment Information

The learning outcomes are achieved through study in all the Practicum strands that feed into the Early Years Placement Course and through experiential learning on placement.
Summative assessment for the course is graded pass or fail.
Students are independently assessed on teaching performance on placement by university tutors and schools. The tutor visit forthis placement takes place in the infant class of the Primary school. The pass/ fail grade is arrived at on the basis of equal partnership between the university and school assessments, using a placement profile based on the SITE framework. This assesses competence appropriate against the learning outcomes for the course, in the context of an Early Primary classroom, in the following areas of Professional development:
• Professional Knowledge and Understanding
• Professional Skills and Abilities
• Professional values and Personal Commitment