Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood) inherent requirements

Behavioural stability is required to function and adapt effectively and sensitively in educational settings.

The student demonstrates:

• Behavioural stability to work constructively in diverse and challenging academic and educational environments.
• Consistency in responding appropriately to children, young people and families’ needs in stressful and challenging situations.

Justification of inherent requirement:

This is an inherent academic requirements for Education programs because:

• Behavioural stability is required to work individually and in teams in changing and unpredictable environments.
• Students will be exposed to complex, stressful situations and will be required to have behavioural stability to manage these events objectively and professionally.
• Graduates of accredited courses must meet the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST).

Reasonable adjustments must enable the recognition, initiation of, or appropriate response to, effective non-verbal communication in a timely and appropriate manner.

Examples:

As a student you must:

• Respond appropriately to constructive feedback.
• Cope with own emotions and behaviour effectively when dealing with individuals in community and educational settings.

Consistent and effective knowledge and cognitive skills are required to provide safe, professional and competent teaching practice.

The student demonstrates:

•  The capacity to locate appropriate and relevant information.
• The ability to process information relevant to practice.
• The ability to integrate, reflect on and implement theoretical knowledge in tutorials, professional and field experience settings.

Justification of inherent requirement:

These are inherent academic requirements of Education programs because:

• Delivery of quality teaching relies on the understanding and application of theory in practice.
• Graduates of accredited courses must meet the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST).

Reasonable adjustments must support the student’s ability to acquire, analyse and apply knowledge.

Examples:

As a student you must:

• Conceptualise and use appropriate knowledge in response to academic assessment items.
• Identify and apply knowledge of policy and procedures during professional and field experience settings.

Competent English language and literacy skills are essential for professional and effective delivery of teaching content.

The student demonstrates:

• The ability to accurately acquire information and convey appropriate messages.
• Ability to read and comprehend a range of texts for teaching and learning purposes.
• The capacity to understand and implement academic conventions to construct written text in a scholarly manner.

Justification of inherent requirement:

This is an inherent academic requirement for Education programs because:

• The ability to acquire information and to accurately convey information is fundamental to teaching and learning.
• The ability to read, decode, interpret and comprehend multiple sources of information is fundamental for effective preparation and teaching practice.
• Graduates of accredited courses must meet the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST).

Reasonable adjustments must demonstrate a capacity to effectively acquire, comprehend, apply and communicate accurate information.

Examples: 

As a student you must:

• Convey a spoken message using appropriate vocabulary and conventions of speech.
• Competently construct and share a range of texts including digital, written, and visual texts in a range of social contexts.

Competent and accurate numeracy skills are essential for effective delivery of teaching content.

Students must interpret and correctly apply data, measurements and numerical criteria in a range of contexts, with or without reasonable adjustments as shown below.

Justification of inherent requirement:

This is an inherent academic requirement for Education programs because:

• Competent application of numeracy skills is fundamental for effective delivery of teaching content.
• Graduates of accredited courses must meet the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) requirements to be competent in the application of numeracy skills.

Reasonable adjustments must enable the demonstration of effective numeracy skills.

Examples:

As a student you must:

• Demonstrate competency in applying basic mathematics knowledge and skills in everyday life and in academic tasks.
• Demonstrate effective use of numeracy skills in matters related to student learning.
• Apply numeracy skills to interpret and solve problems in a range of educational and academic contexts.

Effective non-verbal communication is fundamental to education and needs to be respectful, clear, attentive, empathetic, honest and non-judgmental.

The student demonstrates:

• The capacity to recognise, interpret and respond appropriately to behavioural cues and gestures.
• Consistent and appropriate awareness of own behaviour.
• Sensitivity to individual differences.

Justification of inherent requirement:

These are inherent academic requirements for Education programs because:

• The ability to observe and understand non-verbal cues assists with building rapport in academic and professional relationships.
• Displaying consistent and appropriate facial expressions, eye contact, being mindful of space, time boundaries and body movements and gestures promotes the trust and respect necessary to develop effective professional relationships.
• Safe and effective initial teaching education requires the capacity to observe, interpret and respond appropriately to non-verbal communication, particularly in situations where their students may not be able to verbalise distress, discomfort or fear.
• For children who do not talk or use verbal language their gestures and cues are their main communication tool.

Reasonable adjustments must enable the recognition, initiation of, or appropriate response to, effective non-verbal communication in a timely and appropriate manner.

Examples:

As a student you must:

• Recognise non-verbal cues and respond appropriately in tutorials and seminars.
• Recognise non-verbal cues and respond appropriately in professional and field experience settings.
• Display appropriate non-verbal gestures in classroom situations and professional and field experience settings.

The student demonstrates:

• Effective verbal communication at formal and informal levels in tutorials, with peers and lecturers/tutors in small and large groups.
• The ability to provide clear instructions and presentation of ideas to individuals and large groups relevant to the learning context.
• The capacity to use verbal language to give directions in a range of different social situations with children and adults during professional and field experience.
• The ability to communicate effectively with diverse linguistic and cultural groups and individuals across a range of social contexts.
• The capacity to use a range of Information and communication technologies (ICT) that support verbal communication with individuals and small groups for learning and assessment purposes and during professional and field experience.

Justification of inherent requirement:

These are inherent academic requirements for Education programs because:

• Verbal communication is the primary medium of communication in an educational setting.
• Timely, accurate, clear and effective delivery of information provides clear instruction and initiation of learning, and ensures safe learning environments.
• Interactivity of communication is fundamental to the educational process.
• Adequate verbal communication is essential in developing and maintaining effective relationships with all educational stakeholders.
• Graduates of accredited courses must meet the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) at Graduate stage.

Reasonable adjustments must enable verbal communication with clarity and accuracy that facilitates effective communication and safety.

Examples:

As a student you must:

• Communicate in English effectively and appropriately in tutorials, lectures and on professional and field experience.
• Demonstrate knowledge and use of ICT such as data projectors, computers and DVDs to support oral communication for tutorial presentations and small group presentation on professional and field experience.

Effective written communication in English is required to effectively access course content and participate in professional and field experience.

The student demonstrates:

•  The capacity to construct and model coherent written communication appropriate to the circumstance.

Justification of inherent requirement:

These are inherent academic requirements for Education programs because the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) require that students are able to:

• Construct a range of written assignments to ethical and academic standards in order to convey knowledge, understanding and skills of relevant content and pedagogy, curriculum materials and professional and field practice.
• Produce accurate, responsive and diligent reports, student profiles, record keeping, lesson material, curriculum plans, assessment and evaluations necessary for the provision of an effective learning environment.
• Effectively and appropriately use a range of texts, which include those that are written, screen-based, image-based, sign/symbol-based, that are necessary to communicate meaning, directions and imagination.
• Demonstrate sufficient aural ability to gather information and accurately feedback and monitor students consistently and accurately whilst on professional and field experience.

Reasonable adjustments must meet necessary standards of clarity, accuracy and accessibility to facilitate effective planning, delivery, reporting, evaluating and synthesising of information in both academic and educational settings.

Examples:

As a student you must:

• Construct written assignments that comply with academic standards.
• Convey information in a written form effectively to families or other staff in the educational setting.

Students need to comply with, and are governed by, quality and professional standards, where they are both accountable and responsible for ensuring professional ethical behaviour in all contexts.

Justification of inherent requirement:

 This is an inherent academic requirements for Education programs because:

• Compliance with the codes, guidelines and policies facilitates safe, competent interactions and relationships for students and/or the people with whom they engage. This ensures that the physical, psychological, emotional or spiritual wellbeing of the individual is not placed at risk.
• Understanding and applying key ethical and conduct principles are requirements of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) and for students in school settings. Students in school settings must meet graduate teaching standards in order to graduate and to be eligible to apply for registration as a teacher.

Reasonable adjustments must comply with standards and maintain ethical behaviour.

Examples:

 As a student you must:

• Demonstrate respect for the diversity of family and community values and practices within academic, professional and field experience settings.
• Comply with privacy and confidentiality requirements in academic, professional and field experience settings.
• Demonstrate honesty and integrity in academic, professional and field experience settings.

Initial teacher education programs are mandated by specific legislation and regulations to comply with professional accreditation, registration and professional and field experience requirements.

The student demonstrates:

• Knowledge and compliance with Australian law, professional regulation requirements and standards relevant to persons working with children, young people and their families, and those which dictate the scope of teaching, with or without reasonable adjustments as shown below.

Justification of inherent requirement:

 This is an inherent academic requirement for Education programs because:

• Knowledge, understanding, and compliance with legislative and regulatory requirements are necessary pre-requisites to professional and field experience in order to reduce the risk of harm to self and others.
• Compliance with these professional regulations and the Australian Law ensures that students are both responsible and accountable for their practice.
• Graduates of accredited courses must meet the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST).

Reasonable adjustments must be consistent with legislative and regulatory requirements.

Examples:

As a student you must:

• Comply with relevant child protection and safety legislation.
• Comply with relevant Work Health and Safety legislation.
• Adhering to requirements of informed consent, privacy and confidentiality with organisational, family and child information in academic and education settings.

The capacity to demonstrate aural observation skills.

These skills facilitate safe and effective supervision of children and young people in a range of educational and community settings is established utilising aural skills, with reasonable adjustments as required and as indicated below. Safe and effective supervision of children and young people is the major focus.

The student demonstrates:

• Sufficient aural acuity to perform the required range of skills.
• Sufficient aural acuity to monitor children and young people's behaviour and safety.

Justification of inherent requirement:

These observational skills are inherent requirements for Education programs because:

• They are necessary to demonstrate the required range of skills, tasks and assessments.
• Monitoring and assessment through aural perception is fundamental to safe and effective teaching practice.

Reasonable adjustments to address the effects of a hearing impairment must be effective, consistent and not compromise effective and timely reception of, and response to, auditory inputs.

Examples:

 As a student you must:

• Monitor children and young people’s safety and well-being in indoor and outdoor settings and engage in activities requiring monitoring and evaluation at both near and far distances.
• Negotiate unfamiliar settings effectively.
• Manipulate a range of resources.
• Monitor children's behaviour, safety, health and wellbeing.

The capacity to demonstrate visual observation skills.

These skills facilitate safe and effective supervision of children and young people in a range of educational and community settings is established utilising visual skills, with reasonable adjustments as required and as indicated below. Safe and effective supervision of children and young people is the major focus.

The student demonstrates:

• Sufficient visual acuity to perform the required range of skills.
• Sufficient visual acuity to monitor children and young people's behaviour and safety.

Justification of inherent requirement:

These observational skills are inherent requirements for Education programs because:

• They are necessary to demonstrate the required range of skills, tasks and assessments.
• Monitoring and assessment through visual observation is fundamental to safe and effective teaching practice.

Reasonable adjustments to address the effects of vision impairment must be effective, consistent and not compromise care or safety.

Examples:

As a student you must:

• Monitor children and young people’s safety and well-being in indoor and outdoor settings and engage in activities requiring monitoring and evaluation at both near and far distances.
• Negotiate unfamiliar settings effectively.
• Manipulate a range of resources.
• Monitor children's behaviour, safety, health and wellbeing.

Sufficient fine motor skills are necessary to perform, coordinate and prioritise education and care. Tasks that involve fine motor skills include being able to grasp, press, push, turn, squeeze and manipulate various objects.

Justification of inherent requirement:

These are inherent academic requirements for Education programs because:

• Students must be able to demonstrate and perform these tasks consistently and safely, with or without reasonable adjustments, to reduce the risk of harm to themselves and others.
• Teaching is a profession that requires manual dexterity and fine motor skills.

Reasonable adjustments must facilitate functional effectiveness, safety of self and others and a capacity to provide appropriate education and care.

Examples:

As a student you must:

• Record, observe, document, and clearly model the use of equipment such as scissors, pencils.
• Manipulate resources during learning activities.
• Use ICT equipment for teaching and learning.

Tasks that involve gross motor skills include sitting, lifting, carrying, pushing, pulling, standing, twisting and bending.

The student demonstrates:

• Ability to perform these tasks consistently and safely, with or without reasonable adjustments as indicated below, in order to reduce the risk of harm to themselves and others.

Justification of inherent requirement:

These are inherent academic requirements for Education programs because:

• Participation in physical activities and movement is required to function effectively in community and educational settings.
• Students must demonstrate the ability to move and perform gross motor function within the scope of practice.

Reasonable adjustments must facilitate functional effectiveness, safety of self and others and a capacity to provide appropriate education and care.

Examples:

As a student you must:

• Set up safe learning environments with resources and equipment.
• Safely retrieve, move and use large pieces of equipment.

The capacity to demonstrate the required physical and mental performance at a consistent and sustained level over appropriate time frames to meet the course and program outcomes.

The student demonstrates:

•  Consistent and sustained level of physical energy to complete a specific task in a timely manner.
• The ability to perform all required activities with a level of concentration that ensures a capacity to focus on the activity until it is completed appropriately.
• The capacity to maintain consistency and quality of performance throughout the designated period of academic, field, or professional experience.

Justification of inherent requirement:

These are inherent academic requirements for Education programs because:

• Sufficient physical and mental endurance is an essential requirement needed to perform multiple tasks in varying periods of time to provide safe and effective participation in all teaching, field, and professional experience activities.
• Graduates of accredited courses must meet the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST).

Reasonable adjustments must enable sustained and consistent performance over a given period.

Examples:

As a student you must:

• Prepare for and participate in tutorials, lectures and professional experience.
• Provide consistent supervision, education/instruction and care to children/young people over a negotiated time frame.
• Perform multiple tasks simultaneously whilst supervising the safety and care of children.