ASSIGNMENT 1 - ESSAY ON THE FOUNDATION OF TEACHING AND LEARNING

In his quote, “Education is the key to success in life, and teachers make a lasting impact
in the lives of their students,” Solomon Ortiz presents a bold statement accentuating the
value of teachers in the workforce. Put simply, teachers play a vital role in shaping
students through the methods of teaching and what they teach. Their professional
values, responsibilities and expertise are sources for a nation’s success (Skilbeck &
Connell, 2004). Yet, teaching is a little misunderstood and often take backstage in the
society’s perspective of professions (Connell, 2013). According to Connell (2013),
people held widespread belief that implies teaching is a soft job which requires less
hours per week than other jobs. But to repudiate this view, in recent years there is a
broad consensus that teaching matters and it is a profession. Hence, this essay will
endeavour to evaluate what quality teaching is and issues influencing teacher
professionalism in Australia by drawing on the four concepts; 1) teacher
professionalism, 2) curriculum, 3) pedagogy and 4) assessment. Subsequently, this
essay will attempt to address how effective incorporation of these concepts justify that
teaching is a profession.

Teacher professionalism in Australia has been shaped by both historical and modern
perceptions of teaching and learning (Connell, 2013). Generally, teaching
professionalism refers to teachers as educators with high degree of knowledge, skills
and practices (OECD, 2016). The collective membership of these professional teachers
forms the teaching profession, a body institutionalised by the State. In his study,
Demirkasimoglu (2010), highlighted that a profession is distinguished by its services to
the community, the theoretical and practical expertise, ethical code of practice, the
regulation of recruitment and discipline, and maintenance of individual autonomy.
According to early scholars, teaching couldn’t meet the criterions of a profession
(Demirkasimoglu, 2010). They believed that individual autonomy of teachers is
controlled by the school and the principal (Demirkasimoglu, 2010). Specifically, the
consistency and performance of teachers in accordance with the standards are
monitored and administered by the principal (Demirkasimoglu, 2010). Therefore, their
individual autonomy is restricted and it is the administrator who shapes the teachers to
achieve the organisational goals (Demirkasimoglu, 2010). Nevertheless, teacher
professionalism can be conceptualise as consisting of three domains: 1) professional
knowledge; 2) the autonomy to make decisions; and 3) peer networking (OECD, 2016).
Professional knowledge focuses on initial teacher training programmes to gain the
Page 1|6
 ASSIGNMENT 1 - ESSAY ON THE FOUNDATION OF TEACHING AND LEARNING

relevant qualification and continuous in-service professional development that builds

specialised knowledge of subject matter, pedagogy and classroom management (OECD,
2016). The second component is about teacher autonomy over curricular choices,
instructional planning and classroom standard of conducts (OECD, 2016). The third
area covers how peers are responsible for promoting high standards, knowledge
sharing, collaboration and support (OECD, 2016). In the Australian context, the race for
international educational rankings and in turn teacher professionalism contributed to
the Federal government placing priorities to form the Australian Institute for Teaching
and School Leadership (AITSL) in 2009 (Call, 2018). The Australian Institute for
Teaching and School Leadership then introduced the Australian Professional Standards
for Teachers (APST) in 2011 to provide a set of standards that would serve as a
framework to improve the quality of teaching in Australia (Call, 2018). The standards
are arranged into four career stages: 1) graduate teachers, 2) proficient teachers, 3)
highly accomplished teachers; and 4) lead teachers (NSW Education Standards
Authority, 2018). The APST was designed to support teacher professional learning at
these stages throughout their career and in turn maximise student learning (NSW
Education Standards Authority, 2018). Their overarching influences the management of
curriculum, pedagogy and assessment delivered for student learning across Australia
(Call, 2018). For example, a graduate teacher is equipped with knowledge and skills to
design and run classroom programmes that are guided by the standards to achieve the
desired outcomes. Therefore, the standards significantly influenced the daily work and
practice of teachers together with the common discourse that teaching is a profession.
Additionally, they contributed to professionalisation of teaching and raising the status
of the profession (NSW Education Standards Authority, 2018).

Like teacher professionalism, curriculum is being developed progressively and tailored

to meet the learning needs of students. In fact, there were major curriculum reforms in
many OECD countries in the past decade to serve both educational and economic
purposes (Savage & O’Connor, 2014). According to Egan (1978), there are many
dimensions to curriculum and the difference can be found in what is to be taught, how
to deliver the content and when to teach the content. While the curriculum is an
important guide, Egan (1978), highlighted that teachers should concentration on the
methods and procedures of how to deliver the material over the curriculum content.
Egan (1978) further stated that learning should be enhanced by group work,
Page 2|6
 ASSIGNMENT 1 - ESSAY ON THE FOUNDATION OF TEACHING AND LEARNING

differentiated learning and forms of technologies to increase student engagement.

Moreover, the ability, cultural and socioeconomic background of the individual learner
as provided for under standards 1,3 and 4 of the Australian Professional Standards for
Teachers (NSW Education Standards Authority, 2018) should become the centre of
attention more than the curriculum content (Egan, 1978). In light of the pressure to be
competitive in the global knowledge economy (Savage & O’Connor, 2014), Australia
developed its curriculum from the “Melbourne declaration 2008” after all state and
territory ministers of education agreed on a blueprint (K. Carroll, personal
communication, March 10, 2020) The curriculum was eventually introduced in 2011
and is governed by Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority
(ACARA, 2020). It was established upon quality, equity and transparency – allowing for
the same content to be taught across Australia, regardless of where they live and their
background (ACARA, 2020). The Australian curriculum has three key elements: 1)
learning areas, 2) general capabilities and 3) cross-curriculum priorities (Australia
Curriculum, 2020) to guide teaching and learning. The curriculum is where the teacher
will draw the contents from and arrange it or make a scaffold to address inclusiveness
and diversity learning. The teacher will also need to identify outcomes or what the
curriculum will achieve by looking for skills, behaviours and dispositions that students
apply to the content (K. Carroll, personal communication, March 10, 2020). It is also
important for the teacher to put together a range of resources such as videos, visual
aids, computers and internet to assist the student learnings. Additionally, teachers
should set expectation using learning intentions or success criteria to inform the
learners of what is required and what they need to demonstrate (K. Carroll, personal
communication, March 10, 2020). It is therefore safe to say that curriculum is
everything that is planned, negotiated, structured and reconstructed in a classroom
context and more broadly across the whole school (K. Carroll, personal communication,
March 10, 2020).

While there is a clear definition between curriculum and pedagogy, there is difficulty in
separating the two in the classroom. In context, the curriculum content is what is taught,
but teachers still have significant responsibility for and control over how to present and
deliver the curriculum content. Practically, an exceptional teacher can generate interest
into a dull content and search for methods to apply it to the real world. As the art of
teaching, pedagogy is evident by the interaction of the teacher and the learner through a
Page 3|6
 ASSIGNMENT 1 - ESSAY ON THE FOUNDATION OF TEACHING AND LEARNING

range of activities in a given environment resulting in quality learning outcomes

(Learning Portal, 2018). A range of pedagogical approaches are prevalent in schools, but
some approaches are more effective and appropriate than others. One example would
be the constructivism strategy where it puts students at the centre of learning and it
incorporates project work, problem-based learning, group work and activities, develop
student’s understanding of their learning process and to create authentic tasks daily
(Richardson, 2003. p1626). Hence, recognizing the value of effective pedagogy, the NSW
Department of Education and Training designed a quality teaching model which has
three dimensions and eighteen elements to guide teacher development that address
quality learning outcome (NSW Education Standards Authority, 2018). Dimension one
ensures teachers understand the knowledge of the learner and the depth of their work
(Department of Education and Training, 2003). The second dimension focused on
creating a positive learning environment that is safe, caring and supportive
(Department of Education and Training, 2003). And the third dimension emphasises
connection between individual students and the nature of the given tasks and the
context of the tasks (Department of Education and Training, 2003). These three
dimensions are linked to standards 1, 3 and 4 of the Australian Professional Standards
for Teachers (NSW Education Standards Authority, 2018). Together with the pedagogy
model the standards provide the teacher with the instructions required to exclusively
engage the learner. Moreover, they improve the teaching quality which supports the
development of talents and creativity of all students in pursuit of attaining the highest
achievement irrespective of learners’ background or circumstances (Department of
Education and Training, 2003).

Assessment has always been integral to the education system along with pedagogy.
Traditionally, it is intended for checking and reporting on what is learnt in relation to
classroom activities (Amua-Sekyi, 2016). Thus, assessment is important to teaching and
learning in schools and facilitates the interaction between teachers and students in the
classroom (Amua-Sekyi, 2016). Assessment is all about identifying, collecting and
interpreting information from activities that teachers and students engaged in (NSW
Education Standards Authority, 2018). Assessment is also used in ranking, monitoring
and motivating students including filling public expectation on standards and
accountability (Amua-Sekyi, 2016). Therefore, it is critically important for the teacher to
understand assessment in order to make proper judgment of student’s achievements.
Page 4|6
 ASSIGNMENT 1 - ESSAY ON THE FOUNDATION OF TEACHING AND LEARNING

Consequently, teachers can integrate the diagnostic, formative and summative

assessment when assessing the students. The diagnostic assessment is usually taken at
the introduction of the lesson or a unit to assess the level of skills, ability, interests or
learning difficulties (K. Carroll, personal communication, March 24, 2020). For example,
as a teacher you need to understand the students’ background and the knowledge, they
bring with them, so you would ask questions to the class to test their level of literacy
and numeracy. Formative assessment occurs on day to day activities and a cumulative
report of the student’s achievement is collected. It is also used for monitoring and
providing meaningful feedback on the progress of the student. Additionally, it assists
the teacher to amend the programmes and the teaching method. As for summative, it
assists teachers to judge students’ achievement at the end of the unit, semester or the
year. It can be used for measuring the level of achievement of the learning outcomes
required under the curriculum. The information is collected through lab activities, tests,
projects, assignments and presentations (K. Carroll, personal communication, March 24,
2020). Equally important, teachers should use assessment techniques such as norm
referenced to compare performance of each student against another, and criteria
reference to measure the students’ achievement against the standard outcomes.

Based on the definitions, the standards for teaching and the different dimensions,
curriculum, pedagogy and assessment are inseparable, and it requires a professional
teacher to facilitate quality learning. Generally, teachers work is made complex
specifically by diversity in culture, ethnicity, gender, ability and others. Teachers spend
considerable time planning and developing programmes to meet the diverse needs of
the students. For a typical program or lesson would look like this; a teacher would need
to understand the curriculum to determine the desired outcomes and then arrange the
different types of assessments to measure those outcomes. The teacher then forms the
pedagogical approach required to facilitate the learning. As a teacher, you build your
own knowledge as you construct the programmes. Teacher professional development in
NSW goes through four stages and the learning is continuous after the initial graduation.

Therefore, Solomon Ortiz is right in saying that teachers make lasting impacts. Thus,
teaching is a profession because it is guided by standards and code of practice and it
also serve the public. The teaching standards are integral to the curriculum, pedagogy
and assessment.

Page 5|6
 ASSIGNMENT 1 - ESSAY ON THE FOUNDATION OF TEACHING AND LEARNING

References
ACARA. (2020). About the Australian Curriculum. Retrieved from Australiancurriculum.edu.au:
https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/about-the-australian-curriculum/

Amua-Sekyi, D. T. (2016). Assessment, Student Learning and Classroom Practice: A Review. Journal of
education and practice Vol.7 No.21, 1-6.

Australia Curriculum. (2020). F-10 curriculum. Retrieved from www.australiancurriculum.edu.au:

https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/

Call, K. (2018). Professional T essional Teaching Standar eaching Standards: A Compar ds: A
Comparative Analysis of e Analysis of Their History, Implementation and Efficacy. Australian
Journal of Teacher Education Vol. 43 Issue 3.

Connell, R. (2013). Teachers. In Education, change and society 3rd ed (pp. 261-275 (Ch 12)). Oxford
University Press.

Demirkasimoglu, N. (2010). Defining “Teacher Professionalism” from different perspectives. Procedia

Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2047–2051.

Department of Education and Training. (2003). Quality teaching in NSW public schools. NSW.

Egan, K. (1978). What Is Curriculum? Taylor & Francis, Ltd, 65-72.

Learning Portal. (2018, March 29). Effective and appropriate pedagogy. Retrieved from
https://learningportal.iiep.unesco.org: https://learningportal.iiep.unesco.org/en/issue-
briefs/improve-learning/teachers-and-pedagogy/effective-and-appropriate-pedagogy

NSW Education Standards Authority. (2018). Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. Sydney:
NSW Education Standards Authority.

OECD. (2016). Supporting Teacher Professionalism: Insights from TALIS 2013. Parish: TALIS, OECD
Publishing.

Richardson, V. (2003. p1626). Constructivist Pedagogy. Research Gate, 1623-1640.

Savage , G. C., & O’Connor, K. (2014). National agendas in global times: curriculum reforms in
Australia and the USA since the 1980s. Journal of Education Policy, 609-630, DOI:
10.1080/02680939.2014.969321.

Skilbeck, M., & Connell, H. (2004). Teachers for the Future - The Changing Nature of Society and
Related Issues for the Teaching Workforce. Teacher quality and educational leadership
taskforce.

Page 6|6