Course Outline
EDU361 Teaching English: Language, Literature and Literacy
Course Coordinator:Joanne Casey (jcasey1@usc.edu.au) School:School of Education and Tertiary Access
2026Trimester 2
UniSC Sunshine CoastUniSC Moreton BayUniSC Fraser Coast |
Blended learning | Most of your course is on campus but you may be able to do some components of this course online. |
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
As this is the final English course, in the suite of four, you will extend your English teaching skills and practices to demonstrate the content knowledge required to teach English F-6 in contemporary classrooms. You will revisit the Australian Curriculum: English and explore innovative ways to teach English using multimodal texts. You will reflect on the application of critical and digital literacies in planning, teaching, and crafting texts within and across contexts for early, middle, and upper primary students.
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 and course readings. | 2hrs | Week 1 | 9 times |
| Tutorial/Workshop 1 – Tutorials are face-to-face. Weekly online materials and activities will be provided for your attention. | 2hrs | Week 1 | 10 times |
Course Topics
- Australian Curriculum: English – multimodal texts, digital and online media
- Theories that reflect decades of teaching English and Literacies that include historical and current debates (e.g., AI, Technology, Neuroscience)
- Teaching, including informal, diagnostic and formative assessment of reading and crafting multimodal texts (5 semiotic systems)
- Using digital and online media to convey meaning, address significant issues, and heighten engagement and impact.
- Organising and configuring the classroom for teaching multimodal and digital texts
What level is this course?
300 Level (Graduate)
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 | Apply knowledge and understanding of the interrelated structure of the Australian Curriculum: English. |
Knowledgeable Engaged |
2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6 |
| 2 | Critically reflect on teaching digital and/or multimodal literacies, with research that reflects current scholarship. |
Knowledgeable Creative and critical thinker Engaged Applying technologies |
2, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.6, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.6, 4.5 |
| 3 | Use personal knowledge and literary texts as starting points to create texts that are developed for particular purposes and audiences. |
Creative and critical thinker Communication Applying technologies |
1.2, 2.1, 2.2, 2.5, 3.4, 6.2, 6.3 |
| 4 | Analyse and evaluate a Unit of English for a specific phase of learning. |
Knowledgeable Creative and critical thinker Engaged |
1.5, 2.1, 2.6, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.6 |
| 5 | Communicate using appropriate, coherent, and cohesive English language at whole text, word, and sentence level. |
Communication Organisation |
3.6, 5.4 |
* Competencies by Professional Body
| CODE | COMPETENCY |
| Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership | |
| 1.2 | Understand how students learn: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of research into how students learn and the implications for teaching. |
| 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 | PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE: Know the content and how to teach it |
| 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. |
| 3.1 | 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. |
| 3.6 | Evaluate and improve teaching programs: Demonstrate broad knowledge of strategies that can be used to evaluate teaching programs to improve student learning. |
| 4.5 | Use ICT safely, responsibly and ethically: Demonstrate an understanding of the relevant issues and the strategies available to support the safe, responsible and ethical use of ICT in learning and teaching. |
| 5.4 | Interpret student data: Demonstrate the capacity to interpret student assessment data to evaluate student learning and modify teaching practice. |
| 6.2 | Engage in professional learning and improve practice: Understand the relevant and appropriate sources of professional learning for teachers |
| 6.3 | Engage with colleagues and improve practice: Seek and apply constructive feedback from supervisors and teachers to improve teaching practices. |
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
EDU213 and enrolled in Program ED303 or ED304 or UB009
Co-requisites
EDU340
Anti-requisites
Not applicable
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
Brief Q & A sessions where students work through scenarios based on content for the quiz.
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 | Quiz/zes | Individual | 30% | 60 minutes |
Week 4 | In Class |
| All | 2 | Essay | Individual | 35% | 1000-1500 words |
Week 7 | Online Assignment Submission with plagiarism check |
| All | 3 | Essay | Individual | 35% | 1500-2000 words |
Week 10 | Online Assignment Submission with plagiarism check |
| All - Assessment Task 1:Quiz - including scenarios | ||||||||||
| Goal: | The goal of this task is to demonstrate your understanding of the interrelated strands of the Australian Curriculum: English. This knowledge forms the basis for Task 2 and 3. |
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| Product: | Quiz/zes | |||||||||
| Authorship Statement: | ||||||||||
| Format: | The purpose of this task is to demonstrate your knowledge of the Australian Curriculum English, including current and historical theoretical debates. The assessment comprises multiple choice questions and will include scenarios to evaluate. |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | Communication |
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| All - Assessment Task 2:Critical Reflection | ||||||||||||||||
| Goal: | The goal of this task is to critically reflect on current debates that situate the teaching of English and Literacy (multimodal, digital and online media) within the broader issues that our students face today and into their futures. |
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| Product: | Essay | |||||||||||||||
| Authorship Statement: | ||||||||||||||||
| Format: | Format: This task has two parts. A. Generate and craft an exemplar for the teaching of a multimodal text. B. Critically reflect on the process (part A) and the current debates to inform future teacher practice. |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | ||||||||||||||||
| All - Assessment Task 3:Unit Plan Critical Analysis | ||||||||||||||||
| Goal: | The goal of this task is to critically evaluate a unit of work for the teaching of writing for a specific phase of learning and stage of student development (including neuroscience). |
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| Product: | Essay | |||||||||||||||
| Authorship Statement: | ||||||||||||||||
| Format: | There are four parts to this task. 1. Read and interpret a unit plan for a specific phase of learning. 2. Critically evaluate the alignment of components 3. Identify and justify where you would make pedagogical inclusions and adjustments. 4. Write a critical analysis of the unit. |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | ||||||||||||||||
Assessment to competency mapping
| Programme Delivery Mode | Assessment Type | Title | Competency | Teaching Methods |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 Australian Professional Standards for Teachers | ||||
| All delivery modes | Essay | Critical Reflection | 1.5 | Practiced |
| 2.1 | Assessed | |||
| 2.2 | Assessed | |||
| 2.3 | Assessed | |||
| 2.5 | Assessed | |||
| Unit Plan Critical Analysis | 1.2 | Assessed | ||
| 1.5 | Practiced | |||
| 2.1 | Assessed | |||
| 2.2 | Assessed | |||
| 3.2 | Assessed | |||
| Quiz/zes | Quiz - including scenarios | 2.1 | Assessed | |
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 |
| Required | Tompkins, Smith, Campbell, Green | 2019 | Literacy for the 21st Century | 3 | Pearson |
Specific requirements
Lap tops Digital texts
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: