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EDES560 - Foundations of Development and Learning in Australian Early Childhood Contexts

Unit Rationale, Description, and Aim

This unit is designed to help pre-service teachers develop a critical understanding of the nature of learning and learners, including the psychological, social, economic, environmental, and cultural factors that influence student needs. The unit draws on recent insights from cognitive and developmental psychology and educational sociology to help pre-service teachers understand learner characteristics and their implications for teaching.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completing this unit, students will be able to:

• Draw on current scholarly literature and developmental/learning theories to develop a critical understanding of children's developmental stages and diverse learning needs.
• Critically analyze basic assumptions, concepts, and principles of major learning theories and children's developmental stages to determine implications for instructional settings.
• Draw on and critically analyze current scholarly literature, sociological theory, education policy, curriculum, and resources to propose evidence-based strategies that respond to the learning needs of students from diverse socio-economic, gender, and cultural backgrounds.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the complex roles of early years educators and the related ethical, legal, and professional responsibilities.
• Complete a successful professional experience in an early childhood setting supported by appropriate evidence developed across the professional experience component.

Unit Content

The unit is based on an understanding that learning and development are situated in complex and diverse contexts. The content will cover three modules:

• Developmental/learning theories and applications for instruction
• Sociological factors influencing student experiences of schooling
• Infant and toddler studies

Assessment Strategy and Rationale

The assessment tasks and their weightings are designed to allow pre-service teachers to progressively demonstrate achievement against the unit learning outcomes and to develop graduate attributes consistent with University assessment requirements.

Overview of Assessments

• Assessment Task 1: Critical Reflection (50%)
• Assessment Task 2: Planning for Infants and Toddlers (50%)
• Hurdle Requirement 1: Preparation for the Professional Experience Placement (Pass/Fail)
• Hurdle Requirement 2: Professional Experience Summative Assessment (Pass/Fail)

Learning and Teaching Strategy and Rationale

To ensure accessibility and flexibility, this unit may be delivered on-campus, online, or in multi-mode. A social constructivist approach supports pre-service teachers to understand child development and learning theories through critical reading, modeling, engagement, and discussion.

Representative Texts and References

• Required texts:
  • Duchesne, S., & McMaugh, A. (2018). Educational psychology for learning and teaching (6th ed.). Cengage.
  • Smidt, S. (2013). The developing child in the 21st century: A global perspective on child development (2nd ed.). Taylor & Francis Group.
  • Welch, A., Connell, R.; Mockler, N., Sriprakash, A., Proctor, H., Hayes, D., Foley, D., Vickers, M., Bagnall, N., Burns, K., Low, R., & Groundwater-Smith, S. (2018). Education, change and society (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.
• Highly recommended texts:
  • Apple, M. (2013). Can education change society? Routledge.
  • Apple, M. (2014). Official knowledge: Democratic education in a conservative age (3rd ed.). Routledge.
  • Berk, L. E. (2015). Infants children and adolescents (78th International ed.). Pearson Education.

Locations

• Melbourne
• Online
• Strathfield

Credit Points

10

Year

2026