TE6672 - Enhanced Curriculum Studies 3

As in the previous Enhanced Curriculum Studies modules your learning will be situated in a distinct ‘community of practice’ where experiential, collaborative and individualised learning strategies will enable you to develop a deeper understanding of your enhancement subject alongside the personal, professional and transferable skills associated with those leading subjects with Early Primary and Primary Education. You will work with peers and individually on formative projects related to your enhancement subject. Tutor led sessions will support your study as you seek to develop a critical and well-informed understanding of the nature of your enhancement subject within the early and primary education and in contemporary society. You will be encouraged to make full use of established social and professional networking tools in addition to the online resources provided by the University to enhance your learning and support your academic and professional development, a central aspect of this will be the utilisation of the eLP. You will learn through university-based collaborative sessions which aim to underpin professional learning with academic knowledge and critical understanding.

As with all other modules on your programme, successful academic achievement requires a system of robust support and guidance to help you focus on your learning needs. In addition to the pastoral support you will receive, the tutors involved in delivering this module will provide guidance and academic counselling to ensure that you are able to confidently engage with the academic rigour of this module. This dialogue will be face-to-face in lectures, workshops or individual tutorials and is an essential aspect of the programme’s assessment for learning strategy. There are also extensive peer-support opportunities built into this module as you work collaboratively with peers from the same subject enhancement area. Extensive support is also accessible online as part of the University’s commitment to technology enhanced learning. This employs the use of the e-learning portal (Blackboard including Pebble+) and social networking and collaborative tools.

A central feature of the academic support available to you is the service provided by the University Library. This 24/7 service caters for all your learning needs, has extensive access to electronic texts and tutorials that will directly support the development of academic skills aimed at improving your critical thinking and analytical writing.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. The reading list for this module can be found at: http://readinglists.northumbria.ac.uk
(Reading List service online guide for academic staff this containing contact details for the Reading List team – http://library.northumbria.ac.uk/readinglists)

Knowledge & Understanding:
• Demonstrate the acquisition of coherent and detailed knowledge, at least some of which is at the forefront of current educational thinking within your subject enhancement area.
• Identify an issue, innovation or tension for teachers in relation to your subject enhancement area and drawing on your module learning present some solutions to these in the form of a ‘short in service training session’ to a non-specialist audiences.

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
• Work autonomously to plan a short INSET session, justifying your own opinions, and challenging your thinking by drawing on current models of best practice, that will maximise children’s progress and development within your area of subject enhancement.

• Demonstrate correct use of all aspects of spoken and written Standard English, e.g. spelling, punctuation and grammar.

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):
• Demonstrate the qualities and transferable skills necessary to support colleagues from other enhancement areas to understand and be able to address contemporary issues in your enhancement area.

Summative Assessment

The 10 minute presentation will form 100% of your summative assessment for this module.

The assignment is designed to enable you to demonstrate your critical understanding of current issues and tensions within your subject enhancement area. Through the planning and delivery of a short INSET session you will be able to demonstrate your ability to communicate your knowledge, understanding and passion for your subject enhancement area to others.


Assignment Title:

From your research identify a current issue, innovation or tension within your subject enhancement area and plan a 10 minute INSET/CPD session which will enable non-specialist peers to address this with increased understanding and confidence.
K&U 1, 2, 3 I/PS&A 1, 3 PVA 1,2

All Year 1 and 2 modules

Educational Placements 3
Professional Studies 3
Curriculum Studies 3
Educational Research and Enquiry 3

This module enables you to draw on the university based, collaborative and independent learning to further develop your critical and evaluative skills in relation to your chosen subject enhancement area. Through research you will identify a current issue or tension within your subject area and plan a short in-service training session to deliver to students from other subject enhancement areas. Your training session will identify the issue or tension and model strategies and approaches that they can use in school to address this issue. This is excellent preparation for employment, enabling you speak confidently about problems and solutions within your subject area and develop the skills needed to lead others within school.