Reference no: EM132239189 , Length: word count:3000

TASK - CASE STUDY

Imagine you are an educator who observes one of the situations described in this scenario document:

Below is a range of scenarios for you to choose from for your Assessment. Topics that are possibly related to the scenarios are listed below each scenario.

These scenarios are just a 'stepping off point/ starting point' for your resource for teachers. You do not need to mention the scenario at all in your resource - it is just there to provide you with a stimulus for creating a useful resource for teachers based on one or more topics and issues from our unit and to get you thinking about the advice and information a teacher might need.

NOTE: Where the scenario does not stipulate a specific age or year/grade level, you can decide that.

Scenario 1:

Because he is male, Benji was appointed by the principal to teach an upper primary school class which had some disruptive boys. The school is in a mid to low socio-economic neighbourhood - some would say a 'working class' suburb. The aim was to improve the reading and literacy of his class - the principal thought as a male the boys would respect their teacher and engage in learning - the boys might respond to this authority and teaching strategies. Halfway through the school year, a literacy test was conducted and this showed that the average performance of Benji's class was below the average of other schools in the state. Benji can't understand what has been going wrong. As part of this English lesson, he has been encouraging the students to work in groups and to choose which reading material they wanted to read and examine - Benji would help them read and analyse the books for meaning. Some students brought popular culture reading material from home, and others used what was provided in the classroom and school. At first, Benji thought this was a way to engage the boys who he noticed disliked reading and English lessons, but with the low literacy test scores, he's not sure his strategy is working. Interestingly, Benji begins to notice that a majority of the boys' groups had chosen to read motorbike and car magazines, and most of the girls were reading romance novels. While most of the girls seemed to engage in the reading (they are quiet). Some (not all) of the boys still seemed disinterested and disengaged. Some of these boys were becoming even more disruptive by rough housing (especially with other boys), making fun of the quieter boys, and putting down some of the girls, often with sexist comments. This seems to have moved into the playground, where other teachers ere becoming concerned about the negative effects of the boys' macho behaviours - bullying behaviours, sexist comments, and an anti-academic attitude.

Possible topics: Learning Environments, Gender Norms, Sexism, Social and Economic Disadvantage, Popular Culture, Difference & Diversity

Scenario 2:

Jill has been working as a lower primary school teacher for a couple of decades. She takes a keen interest in how students learn and display gender norms in her class. She recently reorganised her learning environment in response to the problem of boys taking over the classroom computers, which pushed the girls to the classroom bookshelf. She thought that maybe some of the issue stems from the other teachers in the centre who tend to treat the boys and girls differently, or seem to expect different things of them because of their sex. The girls in other classes would be encouraged to read certain books and play with certain toys. She often hears the other teachers make the comment that, 'Oh, they're just boys being boys'. She even noticed that when displaying the children's work, her Education Assistant would use pink decorations for girls, and blue for boys. Jill thinks the staff are unaware of their behaviour. Jill's concern escalates when she observe something: one morning John, a male student in Jill's class, observes his classmate Jane being dropped off at school by her two mothers, Patricia and Cassandra. At recess, John and three of his friends confront Jane and her friends. He points at Jane and says, 'Yuk, you have two mothers. That's weird'. Jane was upset by John's comments. Her friends grab both of her hands and they run away. Jill, who has been observing the interactions at a distance, thinks that maybe her students do not understand the changing nature of families, communities and gender norms, or the importance of celebrating difference and diversity.

Possible topics: Learning Environments, Gender Norms, Sexualities, Sexism & Discrimination, Difference & Diversity, Families, Inclusivity

Scenario 3:

Dexter is a young boy living in an eastern suburb of Perth. Perth people often joke about the suburb being 'bogan central'. It is known for its crime, and for being a low socio-economic area with high unemployment and social problems. Dexter's father works as a mechanic in a local mechanics business, his mum is a stay-at-home mum. Both dropped out of school at year 10. Dexter's brother recently obtained a TAFE certificate to work as a mechanic, and is now working part time at a local mechanics. Dexter's parents reinforce to Dexter that it's important to do well in school, and they try to help him out the best they can. Dexter has a pretty normal home life. He enjoys being at home. He is an avid (but not excessive) computer game player, and some of his friends and their parents call him an expert at it. He wants to work with animals when he leaves school, but he doesn't know how long he will last in school. He is disengaged from school and has become increasingly disruptive - the teacher noticed this disruption increased when they began a new unit of work for English - learning about the key elements of stories. Dexter knows school is important, but he often says he 'doesn't see the point of going to school' and his disruptive and anti-school attitude is spreading to other students in the class.

Possible topics: Gender, Social and Economic Disadvantage, Learning Environments, Cultural Capital, Virtual Schoolbag

Scenario 4:

Marika has been working as a primary school teacher for a couple of decades in an ethnically diverse lower socio-economic suburb of Western Sydney. As she emigrated from Greece to Australia with her parents when she was 6 years old, Marika takes a keen interest in how students think about the ethnicity of themselves and others, and their place in the world. She has been working in an ethnically diverse school in Western Sydney. Over the past four weeks, she has been enacting a curriculum plan designed to encourage the children to learn about other cultures and people. She had a food day where children brought and made food from other cultures, and on another day, children brought in the traditional costumes and clothes of their home countries. One morning, a new male student (Abedi) arrived from Somalia. Marika settles Abedi into the classroom, supported by a special Education Assistant assigned to Abedi to support him as he starts school. It has been arranged by the Department of Education for Abedi to spend half of his week in the primary school, and half the week in a specialist centre to help settle him. At lunchtime a few days after Abedi's arrival, Marika observes Jennifer, a Caucasian girl in the class making fun of Abedi. She overhears her saying to a small group, "My parents say boat people are bad people who ruin our country. People who come here should be just like us." The small group nod in agreement. Marika, shocked to hear such a young child saying this, reflects on what she has heard. She questions the success of her learning program. She thinks about what else she could do to improve respect for cultural diversity and the experiences of different ethnic and cultural groups, particularly because the centre has children from many cultures.

Possible topics: Ethnicity, Cultural Diversity, Social and Economic Disadvantage, Learning Environments, Immigration, Refugees, Racism

Scenario 5:

Jill has been working in an early childhood centre for a decade. She takes a keen interest in how children learn and display gender norms in her class. She recently reorganised her learning environment in response to the problem of boys taking over the computers, which pushed the girls to the bookshelf. She thought that maybe some of the issue stems from the other staff in the centre who tend to treat the boys and girls differently, or seem to expect different things of them because of their sex. The girls would be encouraged to read certain books and play with certain toys. She often hears he co-workers make the comment that, 'Oh, they're just boys being boys'. She also noticed that when displaying the children's work, the co-workers would use pink decorations for girls, and blue for boys. Jill thinks the staff is unaware of their behaviour. Jill's concern escalates with her recent observation: one morning Richard, a four year old in Jill's centre, observes John, another four year old, being dropped off at school by his two mothers, Patricia and Cassandra. At one point in the day, Richard and three of his friends confront John and his friends. He points at John and says, 'Yuk, you have two mothers. That's weird'. John looks upset by Richard's comments. His friends grab both his hands and they run away. Jill, who has been observing at a distance, thinks that maybe the children do not understand the changing nature of families, communities and gender norms, or the importance of celebrating difference and diversity.

Possible topics: Gender Norms, Sexualities, Learning Environments, Sexism, Discrimination, Inclusivity, Families

Scenario 6:

Tulia has been working in an early childhood centre in an ethnically diverse, modest socio-economic area south of Melbourne. As she emigrated from Greece to Australia with her parents when she was 6 years old, Tulia takes a keen interest in how students think about the ethnicity of themselves and others, and their place in the world. Over the past four weeks, she has been creating learning experiences for the children learn about other cultures and people. She had a food day where children brought and made food from other cultures, and on another day, children brought in the traditional costumes and clothes of their home countries. She thought this was a success. One morning, a new male child (Abedi) at the centre. He is from Somalia. Tulia settles Abedi into the centre, supported by a special Education Assistant assigned to Abedi to support him as he starts in the centre. He will be spending half of the week at the centre, and half at a specialist centre to help him settle in to Australia. One morning a few days later, and near the end of her cultural appreciation curriculum program, Tulia observes John making fun of Abedi and the story. She overhears him saying to a small group, "My parents say boat people are bad people who ruin our country. People who come here should be just like us." The small group nod in agreement. Tulia, shocked to hear such a young child saying this, reflects on what she has heard. She questions the success of her learning program. She thinks about what else she could do to improve respect for cultural diversity and the experiences of different ethnic and cultural groups, particularly because the centre has children from many cultures.

Possible topics: Ethnicity, Cultural Diversity, Social and Economic disadvantage, Prejudice, Inclusivity, Immigration, Refugees, Tourist Curriculum, Learning Environments

Scenario 7:

June has been working in an early childhood centre. She likes the idea that children can pursue their own interests through play and being creative. June noticed that many children are bringing toys into the centre and playing with them. She has noticed that the boys are bringing toys from popular movies and television shows (like GI Joe), and girls are bringing dolls like Barbie, and characters from television shows. Seeing their interest in these, June put up some posters of these characters and their movies in the centre. June recently noticed the children appear to take on the character of their dolls. The boys have been becoming louder, more boisterous and physical as they pretend to be GI Joe. Some of the girls have become more quiet and passive as they play houses with their Barbie and Pony dolls. June becomes a little concerned by what appears to be happening in the centre.

Possible topics: Gender Norms, Popular Culture, Gender Stereotypes, Sexism, Learning Environments, Corporate Culture

Scenario 8:

Polly has recently been enrolled in Elizabeth's class. While Elizabeth has been teaching for thirteen years she has not taught outside the private school system or outside the metropolitan area. Polly's country is Bidyadanga, south of Broome and home to the Karajarri, Juwalinny, Mangala, Nyungamarta and Yulpartja language groups. During the school term Polly lives in an Aboriginal hostel for regional and remote students. The hostel is located in a low socio economic suburb some distance from the school. Each day Polly catches the train and two buses to attend the school. Polly has been placed in a class where she is the same age as the other students but appears to be more mature socially. She does not comply easily with task instructions and often suggests she has an alternative way that is better. Her reading age and abilities to complete work at a very competent level is not in question but she can be disruptive when other students are working. Several Aboriginal students who missed a previous class are working in another part of the room on the same skills with the Aboriginal and Islander Education Officer (AIEO). Polly asks to attend the smaller group as they work 'differently' but Elizabeth tells Polly that she does not need the extra help and to go back to her seat. Polly, clearly frustrated with this command, picks up her school bag and instead of sitting back down at her desk, walks out of the room, slamming the door. Elizabeth begins to reflect on the events.

Possible topics: The Third Teacher, Socio-economic disadvantage and the virtual schoolbag, Indigenous Educational Justice, Curriculum planning and assessment, Difference and diversity, Inclusivity

Concerned by what you observe, you then decide to create a useful guide for educators on the issue/topic/s you observe in the situation. The guide can be a booklet (PDF or Word), interactive e-book or e-magazine, or website/blog site. The purpose of the resource is to inform and educate your colleagues about the issue/s, so they can be better informed educators.

This is formal academic writing and in text referencing, correct paragraph format and tone are needed.

AT LEAST FIVE (5) UNIT READINGS are needed to show an engagement with the unit ideas and content! The unit readings must come from the list provided in the Program Calendar at the back of our Unit Outline. You must show a deep engagement with these readings first, then choose additional/ extension ones and add research.

While you can organise the guide in any way you choose, everyone needs to submit a Word document .If you create an electronic resource, place the link at the top of the Word document (your draft script/ word document). If you are creating a Word document, upload the final version only.

Your resource must have at least the following key sections:

A brief Introduction: This should introduce to the reader the guide, the issue/topic, what to expect and the guide's purpose and contents (200 words recommended).

The issue (your own subheading if you like): This section describes and explains the issue/topic. It should explain why educators should know or learn about it. You must use the unit readings describe and explain the issue. You can also use other associated resources from the unit in your description and explanation. You can link your issue to other issues (they are often inter-related), but try to give emphasis to one only unless you can combine more than one to some depth (1000-1200 words REQUIRED here as this is the section where you show us a deep engagement with the unit's ideas and readings).

Defensible approaches/strategies: This section focuses on describing and justifying (with readings/ references) one or more appropriate and effective approaches educators and schools can use at a classroom, centre, school, and/or community level to respond to the issue. You cannot make up strategies - they must come from a reading or wider research. Each strategy needs a reference next to it. It should not be a list, but a detailed description of and justification for one or more strategies or approaches. These should be justified by reference to research from the unit readings and resources, and any other credible source. You should demonstrate a deep understanding of why these approaches/strategies are important (200-400 words recommended).

An awareness of the curricula documents and frameworks and their overarching philosophies and understandings: What educators do should be framed by formal curriculum documents and policies. This section describes how the issue and/or the approaches/strategies for addressing the issue are or could be linked to philosophies of the official curriculum documents or framework documents, which might include the Melbourne Declaration, the Adelaide Declaration, the Australian Curriculum and/or the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF). This section should demonstrate your understanding of the underlying principles of these official curricula document/s. (200-300 words recommended).

Ideas into practice: In this section, you should provide a thoughtful activity for TEACHERS (not students) that they can complete (individually or in groups) in a professional development session so they can learn about the issue/s, and related approaches and strategies. For example, you could create a scenario/case study with a number of discussion questions or activities that encourage educators to understand and respond appropriately to certain situations. You should state the objectives of the activity at the top of the section. Be creative. (200-400 words recommended).

Conclusion: (200 words recommended).

Additional resources for educators (3-5 appropriate resources or additional sourced readings recommended). Each resource must have a brief synopsis attached - why this would be helpful/ what is it about. This is not in the word count.

TEXTBOOK to be used: Powers of Curriculum: Sociological Perspectives on Education Book by Brad Gobby and Rebecca Walker.

The word count expected is between 2500-3000 words.

Attachment:- Assignment File.rar