TCH82002 - Principles and Practice in Early Childhood Education (2020)

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Unit description

Provides students with an understanding of the key aspects of an early childhood educator’s practice. Involves observation and documentation of children’s learning, an understanding of the importance of building and maintaining relationships with children, parents and the community. The importance of flexible learning environments for children’s learning and development is considered.

Unit content

1. Contexts of and influences on early childhood education and care (ECEC) in Australia:

• Histories; influences: internationally, nationally, regionally; funding; management; quality ECEC; staffing; regulatory frameworks;

2. The importance of relationships with children, families, colleagues and the community:

• Attachment, personal philosophy, the setting
• Building the relationships respecting diverse histories and backgrounds including an Indigenous perspective on kinship; Inclusive practices that build relationships with families, honouring and celebrating diversity

3. Observation and documentation of children’s learning:

• Strategies and techniques: Why document? What to document? How to document?
• Alignment with personal philosophy to learning and teaching in early childhood
• The teacher as researcher

4. Constructing flexible ECEC learning environments:

• The importance of the physical and human environment to support learning and development
• The relationship between the physical and human environment on children’s learning and development – indoor outdoor, routines, transitions, aesthetics, the use of time, space grouping
• The importance of early childhood environmental education

5. Contemporary theories of professional practice: child rights, queer theory, feminist theory

Learning outcomes

Unit Learning Outcomes express learning achievement in terms of what a student should know, understand and be able to do on completion of a unit. These outcomes are aligned with the graduate attributes. The unit learning outcomes and graduate attributes are also the basis of evaluating prior learning.

Prescribed texts