ESS509 Principles of Inclusive Education (8)

The purpose of this subject is to develop teacher education students' understanding of inclusion and inclusive teaching practice, and the knowledge and skills to enable them to effectively differentiate their instruction in the classroom. This includes understanding the intent of the relevant legislation and evidence-based foundations of inclusive practice, and approaches and strategies that maximise the potential for students of a range of abilities to achieve success. Important to this is the adoption of non-discriminatory approaches, and the creation of classroom environments that support, value, and encourage participation (DEEWR, 2005).

Teacher education students will build their capacity to address the wide range of student abilities including giftedness and students with learning difficulties using approaches and strategies for differentiation that focus on both the needs and capabilities of the learner. They will develop strategies to engage and collaborate with other professionals, support services, students, parents and/or caregivers in planning for inclusion and participation to create safe and positive classroom cultures. A critical part of addressing the wide range of student abilities is the development and documentation of appropriate goals, outcomes, and teacher actions. The subject includes a focus on explicit teaching and other effective teaching strategies for the teaching of literacy and numeracy and learning area content to cater for the needs of a range of student abilities. The potential of how ICTs can be used to support participation and engagement is also explored.

Availability

Session 1 (30)
Online
Bathurst Campus
Session 2 (60)
Online
Bathurst Campus
Session 3 (90)
Online
Bathurst Campus

Continuing students should consult the SAL for current offering details: ESS509. Where differences exist between the Handbook and the SAL, the SAL should be taken as containing the correct subject offering details.

Subject Information

Grading System

HD/FL

Duration

One session

School

School of Education

Enrolment Restrictions

This subject is only available to students enrolled in the Master of Teaching (Primary) or the Master of Teaching (Secondary). 

This subject is not available to students who have completed ESS419, ESS441, EED421, ESS305, ESS201 or ESS440.
 

Assumed Knowledge

First curriculum method and/or professional experience subject

Subject Relationships

ESS419 Paired Subject
ESS440 Shares similar content
ESS441 Shares similar content
ESS305 Shares similar content
EED421 Shares similar content
ESS201 Shares similar content

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this subject, students should:
  • be able to discuss the implications for teaching and learning arising from legislative requirements and policies that support the inclusion and participation of students with disabilities in educational settings;
  • be able to explain in detail strategies and processes for collaborating with students, parents/caregivers and other professionals in planning for inclusion and participation;
  • be able to develop and document individualised SMART learning outcomes for students with varying abilities and characteristics (learning difficulties and giftedness), and detail actions and learning conditions that identify and respond to the students' learning goals and progress based on an ILP planning meeting;
  • be able to develop a lesson for their teaching area using the essential characteristics of explicit teaching and other effective teaching strategies to address the specific literacy and numeracy needs for a wide spectrum of learner abilities;
  • be able to discuss the research-based evidence of a tiered approach to differentiation as a reasonable adjustment, and evaluate its applicability;
  • be able to differentiate lesson outcomes and designs using three categories of differentiation (process, product and content); and
  • be able to apply ICT and other strategies in their planning to support inclusive student participation and engagement.

Syllabus

This subject will cover the following topics:
  • Inclusive education: legislation and policy, access and participation
  • Principles of inclusion: creating inclusive classrooms
  • Disability and giftedness: inclusive needs-based strategies and processes for achieving success
  • Differentiation: evidence-based approaches to making reasonable adjustments to process (teaching & learning), product (assessment) and content (topics, concepts etc.)
  • Planning for inclusion and participation: evaluating programs and learners needs, strategies and process for collaborating with students, parents/caregivers, support services and other professionals
  • Outcomes of ILP planning meetings: developing and documenting learner outcomes using the SMART acronym, teacher actions, and conditions for learning
  • Pedagogies appropriate for a range of learner abilities: explicit teaching and other effective approaches and strategies for achieving learner success
  • Lesson development: sequencing instruction with a focus on literacy and numeracy needs
  • ICT and other strategies to support inclusive student participation and engagement

Indicative Assessment

The following table summarises the assessment tasks for the online offering of ESS509 in Session 3 2021. Please note this is a guide only. Assessment tasks are regularly updated and can also differ to suit the mode of study (online or on campus).

Item Number
Title
Value %
1
Planning for inclusion
50
2
Enacting inclusion
50

The information contained in the CSU Handbook was accurate at the date of publication: June 2022. The University reserves the right to vary the information at any time without notice.

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