Brenton Hawken 11538282 Due Date: Friday 7th April 2017

EED408 Assessment 1 Value 50%

Effective teaching and learning strategies used to address diversity of learners and
differentiated learning needs
Professional teachers must be aware of a wide range of teaching and learning strategies and
how to implement these effectively in the classroom. As Grover explains: every new class
brings new opportunity to develop strategies for a new group of students who possess their
own unique combination of interests, abilities and learning needs (Grover, 2017). Therefore,
it is important to continually evaluate the effectiveness of selected teaching and learning
strategies, to ensure students are learning to their full potential. The concept of the
differentiated classroom has been developed to meet the diverse needs of students in the
classroom. This is where: teachers engage students in instruction through different
approaches to learning, try to accommodate a range of students interests, present information
with varying degrees of complextity and provide differing support sytems (Killen, 2016, p.
23) John plans effective learning strategies around his students knowledge, interests and
literacy skills. He explains he tries to: come up with many examples that relate to the kids in
my classroom (John, 2017). For example, when discussing the origin of the earth, John
incorporates Indigenous and Asian perspectives into the topic as he has students with these
backgrounds. If John is discussing forces and his students have a keen interest in motorbikes,
he will link this to their prior knowledge so they understand the relevance of the topic (John,
2017). John uses the inquiry based learning approach integrated with other strategies such as
cooperative learning and problem solving in his classroom. Inquiry is a form of: research
that promotes student-directed learning by helping students to develop the skills necessary to
aquire and reflect on their new knowledge and understanding (Killen, 2016, p. 273). This
type of learning strategy can be challenging to implement as: students are use to being told
what is right and wrong. I use it to enocurage students to find something that they are
interested in (John, 2017) to drive learning. There are a myriad of teaching and learning
strategies that can be employed in the classroom. Teachers need to know their students and
what makes them tick to implement successful strategies that support learning.

Influences of the Australian Curriculum and 21st Century Learning Approaches

The Australian Curriculum
The purpose of the Australian Curriculum is to: set the expectations for what all Australian
students should be taught, regardless of where they live or their background (Australian
Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, 2014). Students are delivered the same
content across the country, with their achievements being measured against consistent
Brenton Hawken 11538282 Due Date: Friday 7th April 2017
EED408 Assessment 1 Value 50%
national standards. Depending on what best meets their students needs and interests, schools
and teachers are responsible for choosing the contexts for learning. John states that: apart
from telling me exactly what I have to be teaching, with the new curriculum theres a bigger
push to understand how the Indigenous Australians approached my subject area and to
understand the role of Australia in Asia (John, 2017). John highlights a shift in the focus of
the old curriculum to the new curriculum, stating: before my focus was on the history of
Europe and America, whereas now I have to understand whats been happening in Asia and
make that link (John, 2017). This shift of focus aligns with current events in the world
today. The Australian curriculum: acknowledges that the ways in which young people learn
will continue to change and that their future learning will be shaped by many challenges
(Killen, 2016, p. 5), the expansion of Asia being one of these challenges. The new Australian
curriculum describes: a learning entitlement for each Australian student that should provide
a foundation for successful, lifelong learning and participation in the Australian community
(Killen, 2016, p. 4). The Australian curriculum is an important tool that schools and teachers
must follow to ensure every student has access to quality education. Schools and teachers
then have the responsibility to decide on contexts that best meet their students needs and
interests to deliver this quality education.

21st Century learning approaches

The purpose of our education system in the 21st century is: to equip young people with the
capacity to think, solve problems and respond to and thrive within a changing society
(Bruniges, 2015). More than ever before, pedagogy: has put the emphasis on the 4cs-
collaboration, critical thinking, creativity and communication (Bruniges, 2015). The
challenges of todays increasingly complex and global society require students to be able to
access information globally available, work collaboratively, and apply innovative solutions to
problems (BOSTES, 2016). As 21st century educators, our challenge is to: ensure quality
pedagogy works within the world of contempory students and to keep upskilling our teachers
to meet those needs (Bruniges, 2015). John emphasises that 21st Century learning approaches
focus on the implementation of technology into the classroom, however this is not always
possible. He explains: theres a massive push to use technology in the classroom, although
this is not being supported by a budgetary point of view (John, 2017). He emphasised the
need for students to bring their own device (BYOD) to bridge this gap, however class work
needs to be relevant and interesting to avoid students getting distracted. Incorporating
Information Communication Technologies into class activities helps guide student learning
Brenton Hawken 11538282 Due Date: Friday 7th April 2017
EED408 Assessment 1 Value 50%
effectively as many students now start school technologically literate. Evidence based
learning strategies such as inquiry based, cooperative and problem solving learning are
becoming popular in 21st century classrooms as they: promote student-directed learning by
helping students to develop the skills necessary to aquire and reflect on their new knowledge
and understanding (Killen, 2016, p. 273). Students interact with the world by exploring and
manipulating objects, solving questions and controversies or performing expereinments.
Professional teachers who integrate technology and evidence based strategies in a 21 st century
classroom, will best encourage and facilitate learning amongst students.