As a primary teacher in NSW your selection of content should stem from the stage outcomes in the Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standard’s (BOSTES) syllabus documents. Regular stage planning days for teachers held at GEPS assist in ensuring common expectations across classes for the core content to be covered. In selecting the day-to-day content and tasks for your students, you need to consider the following principles: |
1. Tasks should reflect high expectations and increasing levels of challengeBoth teachers and students have a specific role to play in the development of meaningful tasks, and in ensuring their success in enhancing learning (City et al.; Halbert & Kaser; Hattie). Teachers must ensure tasks reflect high expectations and that these are made explicit to students (Halbert & Kaser; Siraj & Taggart). They should also provide students with increasing levels of challenge as well as opportunities to grapple with difficult concepts.
Tasks also need to be flexible and adaptive so that teachers can engineer them to meet individual student need (Luke & Freebody; Goss et al.; Siraj & Taggart). Task design that includes appropriate scaffolding and differentiation is used to ensure the success of all students. |
2. Tasks should motivate and interest students and be connected to their prior learning
Students must be able to access tasks at their point of need. This requires that teachers take into consideration, and build on, students' prior knowledge, skill and understanding.
Vygotsky (cited in Gredler) highlights this point saying that if learning is to occur the task must be in the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), that is, set at just the right level of challenge. Effective tasks also enable students to make meaningful connections and improve the quality of their work through feedback (Luke & Freebody; Hattie; William). Research by Munns and Woodward using the REAL framework focuses on engagement through authentic learning. They draw a distinction between procedural and substantive forms of engagement. For authentic engagement to occur classroom learning tasks and experiences need to be high cognitive, high affective and high operative. They also need to include opportunities for deep reflection and self-assessment. |
3. Tasks should develop deep understanding
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