Dr Anne Marie Ross

This elective course examined current environmental issues facing Australia and the wider world and considered the impact that primary schools can have by implementing ecological sustainable communities. 

EDUC4807 was one of a number of courses students chose from in order to meet the requirement for examination of sustainable communities in the BTeach (Primary) / BA program. It was designed to be run as an online/intensive course which worked well with preservice teacher internship. The online content, after setting the scene for environmental education/education for sustainability, was based on EE/EfS issues and active pedagogies with a focus on each KLA while also attending to the cross-curricula, systems thinking, whole school EE/EfS process. Assessments were interactive as were the field-days which included our preservice teachers experiencing the many resources available to them both in the environment and within a school setting.

This first year course nurtures preservice teachers through the subjects of academic culture, literacy and networking; education as a field of study; the historical, psychological and sociological disciplines that inform education; and, teaching as a profession and craft.

This course takes an interdisciplinary approach to examining contemporary understandings and practices in the sciences by exploring the histories, philosophical underpinnings and social processes that have shaped them. It investigates the different ways in which the sciences have been described and practiced during key periods in human history with reference to the prevailing social, cultural, and technological contexts of the time. It explores the interplay between these contexts, the conceptions of knowledge and the nature of reality, and the dominant scientific practices of these key historical moments.

This course examines the interconnections between identity, schooling and society in primary and secondary schooling and early childhood education. The course prepares students to explore and understand historical and contemporary education systems and care, including elements of education curriculum, policy and practice both in Australia and globally. There is a focus on the needs of students from economically, socially and culturally disadvantaged backgrounds, and the ways in which educators might contribute to a just society. Students experience a field study component, as a way of further understanding sociological issues covered in the course as they play out in educational and community settings. Students experience a field study component, as a way of experiencing the school context from a teacher perspective.