Standard 1: Know Students and How They Learn
1.2 Understand how students learn: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of research into how students learn and the implications for teaching.
1.3 Students with diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds: Demonstrate knowledge of teaching strategies that are responsive to the learning strengths and needs of students from diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds.
1.5 Differentiate teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of strategies for differentiating teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities.
(Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL), 2022, para. 1)
On placement, I was tasked with designing and implementing a year one mathematics lesson to develop the fundamental skill of recognising and describing Australian coins. The instructional environment consisted of 20 children, including two brothers originally from Syria, speaking their native dialect as their first language, and English as an additional language or dialect (EAL/D) (APST 1.3; 1.5) (Haynes, 2013). Before planning my lesson, I consulted my mentor to acquire student data, seen in Artefact 1.1, collating essential knowledge and understanding to ensure I could be responsive to the learning strengths and needs of all pupils, particularly those from diverse linguistic backgrounds (APST 1.2; 1.5). This learner profile assisted me in creating an effective lesson with differentiated instruction to comprehensively support EAL/D students’ engagement in learning (APST 1.2; 1.3) (Harper & Feez, 2021).
I began my planning process by designing a mainstream task, deriving explicit learning goals from relevant content descriptors within the Australian Curriculum (APST 1.5) (Autin & Davis, 2020). From this initial plan, I considered the student data collated (Artefact 1.1) and outlined amendments to be incorporated throughout the teaching sequence, scaffolding or extending activities to demonstrate my knowledge of EAL/D pupils’ learning strengths and needs, seen in Artefact 1.2 (APST 1.2; 1.3). The Inclusive Education Policy (Department of Education, 2021) sanctions that all students have a legal right to receive adequate support and necessary resources to participate and engage in learning experiences. In accordance, I supported second language (L2) acquisition through the integration of key L2 pedagogical strategies, designing inclusive, supportive, and equitable educational opportunities (APST 1.3) (Harper & Feez, 2021). Cupsa (2018) explained that whilst learning new language and content, EAL/D pupils are required to simultaneously listen and process by translating between their native language and English. This overwhelming procedure can take considerable attention; therefore, I incorporated teacher-directed instruction to transition knowledge efficiently from educator to student, in small, analytical steps with interactive resources, seen in Artefact 1.3 (APST 1.2; 1.3; 1.5) (Autin & Davis, 2020). A prominent L2 pedagogical approach adopted was the constructivist theory, primarily focusing on children flourishing with visual, hands-on experiences to explore and comprehend new information (Graham, 2020). By using manipulatives to symbolise real-world objects and actions, EAL/D students began to understand content by connecting to their background knowledge and experiences (APST 1.2; 1.3) (Haynes, 2013).
It became evident, when EAL/D learners began to respond positively to manipulatives and engage enthusiastically in whole-class conversation, that my incorporation of prominent L2 pedagogical strategies was highly beneficial to participation and comprehension (APST 1.2) (Harper & Feez, 2021). In particular, the decision to associate learning with children’s background knowledge and experiences immensely benefited students’ engagement (APST 1.3) (Haynes, 2013). EAL/D learners flourished when comparing Australian and Syrian coins, and contributed to discussion unguardedly, communicating with peers to share their personal stories and prior knowledge. Harper and Feez (2021) expressed the importance of connecting learning with the classes’ cultural and linguistic backgrounds to cultivate a sense of belonging in a conducive and supportive learning environment, where all children are encouraged to prosper in learning (APST 1.3; 1.5).
References
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA]. (2018). Australian Curriculum: Foundation to year 10 curriculum: Mathematics: Year 1 level description (Version 8.4). The Australian Curriculum. https://australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/mathematics/
Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL). (2022). Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) (Rev. Ed.). https://www.aitsl.edu.au/docs/default-source/national-policy-framework/australian-professional-standards-for-teachers.pdf
Autin, N., & Davis, T. (2020). The cognitive trio: Backward design, formative assessment, and differentiated instruction. Research Issues in Contemporary Education, 5(2), 55–70. https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2019v44.n11.4
Cupsa, I. (2018). Culture shock and identity. Transactional Analysis Journal, 48(2), 181–191. https://doi.org/10.1080/03621537.2018.1431467
Graham, L. (2020). Inclusive education for the 21st century. Taylor & Francis Group.
Harper, H., & Feez, S. (2021). An EAL/D handbook. Primary English Teaching Association Australia (PETAA). https://www.petaa.edu.au/common/Uploaded%20files/SampleChapters/PET125-1st-chapter-web.pdf
Haynes, J. (2013). Getting started with English language learners: How educators can meet the challenge (1st ed.). Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development.
Queensland Department of Education. (2021). Inclusive Education Policy (Version 1.3). https://ppr.qed.qld.gov.au/attachment/inclusive-education-policy.pdf
