Upon Successful Completion Of This Assessment, Graduate Student Teachers: Teaching Assignment, UOL, Ireland

Module Learning Outcomes

1. Upon successful completion of this assessment, Graduate Student Teachers (GSTs) will be able to.

2. Demonstrate a critical understanding of the Foundation disciplines and recognize their manifestation in modern-day, post-primary education.

3. Critically reflect on the pedagogical relevance of the Foundation theories of education and suggest how they might inform and support the practice of contemporary post-primary teachers in an Irish education system, which is ever-changing and potentially complex.

4. Synthesize the Foundation’s theoretical perspectives and interpret their influence on education policy and practice in contemporary post-primary education.

5. Assess the relevance of the Foundations of Education in the development of the Irish post-primary education system.
6. Evaluate how the Foundations of Education informs the practice of post-primary teachers in the Irish education system.

When completing this assessment, students should be cognizant of the learning outcomes and seek to demonstrate attainment of these through reflection on the module content and fulfillment of the requirements of the assessment task.

Graduate Student Teachers will be assessed on their ability to attain the learning outcomes of the module. Successful attainment of the learning outcomes is the standard required for a pass. Higher marks will be awarded where a student demonstrates that s/he has exceeded the learning outcomes, depending on how far they have been exceeded, to what degree, in how many areas and how consistently.

The module is assessed in an integrated way that requires the student to draw on all aspects of the module content and demonstrate his/her ability to apply this to practice. The assessment requirements include a range of evidence to demonstrate the attainment of the module learning outcomes.

Continuous Assessment Task 1: 

Part 1: Critical Discussion 

Select two of the six specified themes identified in bold type in the case study below and critically to discuss each of them in light of themes you have studied in Psychology of Education and Psychology of Adolescence. You must draw material and research from both of these Foundations of Education disciplines in the critical discussion of the two themes.

Part 2: Detailed Evaluation 

Make a detailed evaluation of the two themes discussed in Part 1 in connection to Dondee’s educational community and reflect on their application in the contemporary classroom and school.

Case Study

Dundee Community School is situated in a large Irish suburb (population approximately 10,000). It was established as a result of the amalgamation of three schools. In its mission statement, Dondee Community School expresses a philosophy of education based on the principles of inclusion and equality, plurality and diversity; it aims to foster in its students’ active citizenship, respect and tolerance in a just society; and active teaching and pedagogical approaches

The results of a recent whole-school evaluation (WSE) by the Department of Education and Skills (DES) into Dondee Community School found that it was an open and inclusive school that respects diversity and socio-economic differentiation. The report highlighted the school’s adoption of differentiated teaching and learning approaches and commented on the engagement of staff with reflective practices. The report recommended an enhanced commitment to continuous teacher development, particularly in the context of peer collaboration.

Dundee Community School has a large cohort of students with special educational needs. The school’s Special Education Needs (SEN) department – consisting of SEN teachers and special needs assistants (SNAs) – has adopted, in

line with best practice, an integrated model of support: while some students are withdrawn for extra tuition, the team also works with students within the environment of the general classroom.

Following through on the WSE recommendations, the school’s curriculum advisory committee has taken on the task of enhancing teacher development. Stephanie Bloom, the chair of the advisory committee, has just completed a master’s in education. Her dissertation was on the application of cooperative teaching and learning methodologies to the process of teaching and learning within the context of the contemporary post-primary school setting. She has been asked by the Principal to share her findings with the staff, with a focus on motivation and personality and the language used in teaching and learning, practices that support student attention in the post-primary classroom.

The Principal has also asked the advisory committee to survey staff on how the school as a community can fully encourage achievement and participation, and support students in meeting the demands of a changing, complex and uncertain world. As the school prepares to introduce the well-being program as part of the junior cycle reforms, she is particularly concerned to lead the staff in exploring ways of helping students to improve their coping and resilience skills, in light of considerations of adolescent identity and development.

Matthew Tweedy, a newly qualified teacher is aware of the degree of diversity within the student body but is taken aback at the wide gaps in the levels of student achievement as recorded in-class assessments. As he had recently studied the sociology of education and in particular, equality of condition, he has offered to assist the staff in identifying and determining an appropriate response to educational inequality within the school community.