Course Outline
EDU213 Teaching English: Curriculum and Pedagogy
Course Coordinator:Kairen Call (kcall@usc.edu.au) School:School of Education and Tertiary Access
2026Trimester 2
UniSC Sunshine CoastUniSC Moreton BayUniSC Fraser CoastUniSC Adelaide |
Blended learning | Most of your course is on campus but you may be able to do some components of this course online. |
Online |
Online | You can do this course without coming onto campus, unless your program has specified a mandatory onsite requirement. |
Please go to unisc.edu.au for up to date information on the
teaching sessions and campuses where this course is usually offered.
What is this course about?
Description
In this course you develop foundational knowledge and understanding of the developmental nature of English learning for early childhood and primary students. You will investigate the Australian Curriculum: English and are introduced to learning progressions. You will use this knowledge to select and evaluate a range of children's literature (early, middle and upper primary) and teach and assess progressions in oracy, language and literacy (at letter, word and text levels). You will use national and state curriculum frameworks, draw upon science of reading research, and apply these to students' developmental learning needs.
How will this course be delivered?
| Activity | Hours | Beginning Week | Frequency |
| Blended learning | |||
| Learning materials – You are required to engage and interact with asynchronous materials and activities accessed through Canvas modules, course readings, and required texts. | 2hrs | Week 1 | 9 times |
| Tutorial/Workshop 1 – Tutorials are face-to-face and materials and activities can be accessed through Canvas. | 2hrs | Week 1 | 10 times |
| Online | |||
| Learning materials – You are required to engage and interact with asynchronous materials and activities accessed through Canvas modules, course readings, and required texts. | 2hrs | Week 1 | 9 times |
| Tutorial/Workshop 1 – Tutorials are online via Zoom and materials and activities can be accessed through Canvas. | 2hrs | Week 1 | 10 times |
Course Topics
Australian Curriculum: English and the Early Years Learning Framework
Queensland Kindergarten Learning Guidelines
Reading and writing research, including neuroscience research
Language Acquisition Theories
Oracy and language use - rhyme, rhythm, tone, pitch
Phonics, phonemic awareness, phonological awareness, morphology, spelling, punctuation, comprehension, fluency in reading and writing
Teaching strategies - including, explicit teaching of reading and writing and when to move from scaffolded to independent practice
Lesson planning
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Perspectives
What level is this course?
200 Level (Developing)
What is the unit value of this course?
12 units
How does this course contribute to my learning?
| Course Learning Outcomes On successful completion of this course, you should be able to... | Graduate Qualities Mapping Completing these tasks successfully will contribute to you becoming... | Professional Standard Mapping * Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership | |
| 1 | Demonstrate foundational knowledge of the Australian Curriculum: English, and or the Early Years Learning Framework and the Queensland Kindergarten Guidelines. |
Knowledgeable Information literacy |
1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 3.3, 3.4, 3.6 |
| 2 | Select and analyse language features found in children's literature (including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander literary texts) across a range of genres and year levels using appropriate teaching strategies |
Knowledgeable Engaged Communication |
1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 2.1, 2.2, 2.4, 2.5, 3.3, 3.4 |
| 3 | Design and justify an English literacy teaching plan including content descriptors, learning sequences, informal assessment, and teaching strategies. |
Creative and critical thinker Empowered Communication |
2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 3, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.6, 4.2, 5.1, 5.2 |
| 4 | Communicate in written and oral forms using appropriate, coherent, and cohesive English language at text, word, and letter levels. |
Knowledgeable Communication Information literacy |
3.5, 7 |
* Competencies by Professional Body
| CODE | COMPETENCY |
| Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership | |
| 1.1 | Physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of students: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of students and how these may affect learning. |
| 1.2 | Understand how students learn: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of research into how students learn and the implications for teaching. |
| 1.3 | Students with diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds: Demonstrate knowledge of teaching strategies that are responsive to the learning strengths and needs of students from diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds. |
| 1.4 | Strategies for teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students: Demonstrate broad knowledge and understanding of the impact of culture, cultural identity and linguistic background on the education of students from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds. |
| 1.5 | Differentiate teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of strategies for differentiating teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities. |
| 2.1 | Content and teaching strategies of the teaching area: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the concepts, substance and structure of the content and teaching strategies of the teaching area |
| 2.2 | Content selection and organisation: Organise content into an effective learning and teaching sequence. |
| 2.3 | Curriculum, assessment and reporting: Use curriculum, assessment and reporting knowledge to design learning sequences and lesson plans. |
| 2.4 | Understand and respect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to promote reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians: Demonstrate broad knowledge of, understanding of and respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and languages. |
| 2.5 | Literacy and numeracy strategies: Know and understand literacy and numeracy teaching strategies and their application in teaching areas. |
| 2.6 | Information and Communication Technology (ICT): Implement teaching strategies for using ICT to expand curriculum learning opportunities for students. |
| 3 | PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE: Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning |
| 3.1 | Establish challenging learning goals: Set learning goals that provide achievable challenges for students of varying abilities and characteristics. |
| 3.2 | Plan, structure and sequence learning programs: Plan lesson sequences using knowledge of student learning, content and effective teaching strategies. |
| 3.3 | Use teaching strategies: Include a range of teaching strategies. |
| 3.4 | Select and use resources: Demonstrate knowledge of a range of resources, including ICT, that engage students in their learning. |
| 3.5 | Use effective classroom communication: Demonstrate a range of verbal and non-verbal communication strategies to support student engagement |
| 3.6 | Evaluate and improve teaching programs: Demonstrate broad knowledge of strategies that can be used to evaluate teaching programs to improve student learning. |
| 4.2 | Manage classroom activities: Demonstrate the capacity to organise classroom activities and provide clear directions |
| 5.1 | Assess student learning: Demonstrate understanding of assessment strategies, including informal and formal, diagnostic, formative and summative approaches to assess student learning. |
| 5.2 | Provide feedback to students on their learning: Demonstrate an understanding of the purpose of providing timely and appropriate feedback to students about their learning |
| 7 | PROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENT: Engage professionally with colleagues, parents/carers and the community |
Am I eligible to enrol in this course?
Refer to the UniSC Glossary of terms for definitions of “pre-requisites, co-requisites and anti-requisites”.
Pre-requisites
(EDU118 and EDU119 and enrolled in Program UB009) or enrolled in Program ED010 or ED011 or ED102 or ED303 or ED304 or ED306
Co-requisites
Not applicable
Anti-requisites
EDU113
Specific assumed prior knowledge and skills (where applicable)
Not applicable
Microcredential Information
Not applicable
How am I going to be assessed?
Grading Scale
Standard Grading (GRD)
| High Distinction (HD), Distinction (DN), Credit (CR), Pass (PS), Fail (FL). |
Details of early feedback on progress
During weeks 1 & 2 students' personal language skills will be assessed and feedback will be provided by tutors.
Assessment tasks
| Delivery mode | Task No. | Assessment Product | Individual or Group | Weighting % | What is the duration / length? | When should I submit? | Where should I submit it? |
| All | 1 | Written Piece | Group | 25% | One hour and 30 minutes. |
Week 4 | In Class |
| All | 2 | Oral and Written Piece | Individual | 35% | 10-12 minutes. |
Week 8 | Online Assignment Submission with plagiarism check |
| All | 3 | Written Piece | Individual | 40% | 2000 words |
Week 10 | Online Assignment Submission with plagiarism check |
| All - Assessment Task 1:Children's Literature Resource | ||||||||||||||||
| Goal: | The goal of this task is to apply language acquisition theory, general theories of teaching and learning, the features of early reading and relevant curricula (Australian Curriculum V9, the EYLF and the QKLG) to text selection, and to justify these decisions. |
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| Product: | Written Piece | |||||||||||||||
| Authorship Statement: | ||||||||||||||||
| Format: | This in-class assessment will take place in the Week Four Tutorial, and you will be provided with prompts to step you through the assessment. YOU WILL NEED: four high-quality picture books to represent a range of genres and styles, e.g., narrative, persuasive, and informative. One text must be representative of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stories and meaning. You will need to be able to align each text to one or more specific year levels in Primary schooling (Early Childhood students will align one text with kindergarten). You should also be ready to align the text content with relevant curricula, e.g., EYLF/QKLG/Australian Curriculum: English. You will also need to be prepared to identify the features of early reading that can be taught using each text (oracy, morphology, phonemic awareness, phonics, phonological awareness, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension). You will also need to be able to align your decisions to language acquisition theory and broader theories of teaching and learning applied in this course. |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | Communication, Problem solving, Organisation, Information literacy |
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| All - Assessment Task 2:English-Specific Teaching Strategies Presentation and Demonstration | |||||||||||||||||||
| Goal: | The goal of this task is to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the Australian Curriculum: English by applying the intent of selected content descriptors and aligning them with English-specific teaching strategies to teach the key features of early reading—oracy, phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and/or comprehension. |
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| Product: | Oral and Written Piece | ||||||||||||||||||
| Authorship Statement: | |||||||||||||||||||
| Format: | This task requires you to create an English-Specific Teaching Strategies (ESTS) digital presentation and demonstration. You will showcase your ability to select and conduct ESTS at the word, sentence and text level, and you will justify your teaching and learning decisions, including text selection. Refer to the Task 2 Instructions for Students on Canvas for a step-by-step guide to developing this task. |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | Communication, Organisation, Applying technologies, Information literacy |
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| All - Assessment Task 3:Literacy Lesson Plan | ||||||||||||||||
| Goal: | The goal of this task is to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of literacy lesson planning. |
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| Product: | Written Piece | |||||||||||||||
| Authorship Statement: | ||||||||||||||||
| Format: | This assessment is in three parts. Part One: Critical analysis of the worked sample. Part Two: Development of the next lesson in the sequence. Part Three: A written justification for planning decisions. The worked sample is available on Canvas, and the template provided on Canvas must be used for this submission. See the 'Task 3 Guide for Students' available on Canvas for in-depth details of the task format. |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | Communication, Problem solving, Organisation, Information literacy |
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Directed study hours
A 12-unit course will have total of 150 learning hours which will include directed study hours (including online if required), self-directed learning and completion of assessable tasks. Student workload is calculated at 12.5 learning hours per one unit.
What resources do I need to undertake this course?
Please note: Course information, including specific information of recommended readings, learning activities, resources, weekly readings, etc. are available on the course Canvas site– Please log in as soon as possible.
Prescribed text(s) or course reader
You need regular access to the resource(s) below. Many texts are available as ebooks through the Library at no additional cost.
| Required? | Author | Year | Title | Edition | Publisher |
| Recommended | Thompkins, Campbell, Green and Smith | 2018 | Literacy for the 21st Century | 3 | Pearson |
| Recommended | Clay, Marie | 2005 | An Observation Survey | 2 | Heinemann |
Specific requirements
A range of literary texts to use for lesson preparation Lap top
How are risks managed in this course?
What administrative information is relevant to this course?
Assessment: Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is the ethical standard of university participation. It ensures that students graduate as a result of proving they are competent in their discipline. This is integral in maintaining the value of academic qualifications. Each industry has expectations and standards of the skills and knowledge within that discipline and these are reflected in assessment.
Academic integrity means that you do not engage in any activity that is considered to be academic fraud; including plagiarism, collusion or outsourcing any part of any assessment item to any other person. You are expected to be honest and ethical by completing all work yourself and indicating in your work which ideas and information were developed by you and which were taken from others. You cannot provide your assessment work to others. You are also expected to provide evidence of wide and critical reading, usually by using appropriate academic references.
In order to minimise incidents of academic fraud, this course may require that some of its assessment tasks, when submitted to Canvas, are electronically checked through Turnitin. This software allows for text comparisons to be made between your submitted assessment item and all other work to which Turnitin has access.
Assessment: Additional Requirements
Eligibility for Supplementary Assessment
Your eligibility for supplementary assessment in a course is dependent of the following conditions applying:
(a) The final mark is in the percentage range 47% to 49.4%; and
(b) The course is graded using the Standard Grading scale
Assessment: Submission penalties
Late submissions may be penalised up to and including the following maximum percentage of the assessment task’s identified value, with weekdays and weekends included in the calculation of days late:
(a) One day: deduct 5%;
(b) Two days: deduct 10%;
(c) Three days: deduct 20%;
(d) Four days: deduct 40%;
(e) Five days: deduct 60%;
(f) Six days: deduct 80%;
(g) Seven days: A result of zero is awarded for the assessment task.
The following penalties will apply for a late submission for an online examination:
Less than 15 minutes: No penalty
From 15 minutes to 30 minutes: 20% penalty
More than 30 minutes: 100% penalty
Links to relevant University policy and procedures
For more information on Academic Learning & Teaching categories including:
- Assessment: Courses and Coursework Programs
- Review of Assessment and Final Grades
- Supplementary Assessment
- Central Examinations
- Deferred Examinations
- Student Conduct
- Students with a Disability
For more information, visit https://www.usc.edu.au/explore/policies-and-procedures#academic-learning-and-teaching
Student Charter
UniSC is committed to excellence in teaching, research and engagement in an environment that is inclusive, inspiring, safe and respectful. The Student Charter sets out what students can expect from the University, and what in turn is expected of students, to achieve these outcomes.
General Enquiries
For course-specific questions, contact your teaching staff or Course Coordinator.
For other enquiries or to access support, please contact Student Central: