013445 English Education: The Early Years

Warning: The information on this page is indicative. The subject outline for a particular session, location and mode of offering is the authoritative source of all information about the subject for that offering. Required texts, recommended texts and references in particular are likely to change. Students will be provided with a subject outline once they enrol in the subject.

Subject handbook information prior to 2025 is available in the Archives.

UTS: Education: Initial Teacher Education
Credit points: 6 cp
Result type: Grade, no marks

There are course requisites for this subject. See access conditions.
Anti-requisite(s): 012240 English Education: The Early Years

Description

This subject introduces pre-service teachers to the NSW English K–10 Syllabus (2023) with a focus on Early Stage 1 and Stage 1 utilising current research and methodologies for the explicit and systematic instruction of early reading. It aligns with the Australian Curriculum (English), focusing on Foundation to Year 2. The subject also introduces the Early Years Learning Framework for Australia V2.0, addressing the important transitions from the Early Years and the critical role of oral communication in literacy classrooms. In addition, the subject explores the explicit teaching of phonemic awareness, phonological awareness, and phonic knowledge, with an emphasis on evidenced-based practices for building learners’ vocabulary and grammar when interacting and composing texts across oral and written modes. Culturally responsive pedagogies and strategies are introduced, addressing Indigenous Australian ways of learning. The subject develops pre-service teachers who are capable and competent in planning to teach early reading and writing instruction in super diverse classrooms for the early years of primary schooling.

Subject learning objectives (SLOs)

a.	Describe how language is developed prior to formal schooling
b.	Explain the emphases and key components of the English syllabus for Early Stage 1 and Stage 1 in the context of public debates about educational issues
c.	Plan appropriate lesson sequences appropriate for children at varying stages in ES1-S1 using appropriate professional language to inform instructional decisions and programming about literacy development
d.	Critically analyse research to identify evidence-based practices for effective literacy instruction across local and global contexts of education
e.	Communicate effectively for academic, professional and community contexts using a range of genres and technologies

Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs)

This subject engages with the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs), which are tailored to the Graduate Attributes set for all graduates of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

Apply scholarly knowledge of the needs of primary school students and how they learn. (1.1)
Interpret and critically analyse the content of relevant syllabuses & apply a scholarly approach to teach them. (1.2)
Plan, implement and evaluate teaching & learning programs based on contemporary perspectives on teaching and learning. (1.3)
Create and maintain inclusive,supportive and safe learning environments founded on contemporary psychological and sociological perspectives of learning. (1.4)
Assess, provide feedback & report on student learning in schools based on contemporary theories of learning, teaching and assessment. (1.5)
Engage in professional and scholarly learning for educators. (1.6)
Engage critically with the local and global contexts of education. (3.1)
Contribute scholarly knowledge and practice to workplace and public debates about educational issues. (5.1)
Communicate effectively in academic, professional& community contexts. (6.1)

Teaching and learning strategies

Preservice teachers will engage with online asynchronous teaching to gain theoretical understanding of literacy skills and development. The asynchronous teaching is accompanied by weekly academic readings. This component also includes weekly activities to prepare for the synchronous seminars. These seminars build on the theory and academic readings to include practical strategies that develop literacy knowledge and skills through individual, small group and whole class activities. Groupwork, reflection phases during the workshops, and quizzes provide opportunities for formative feedback.

Content (topics)

Current theories and evidence-based research into how students learn to read and compose written texts.?
Current theories on how the brain learns and how the brain learns to read.?
The NSW English K-10 Curriculum focusing on Kindergarten to Year 2 (ES1-S1).??
Roles of oral language, and vocabulary for developing literacy.?
Culturally responsive pedagogies and strategies that address indigenous Australian ways of learning.?
The early years framework and the National Literacy Learning Progression.?
Explicit and systematic teaching of phonics in the early years.?
Assessing early literacy skills to inform teaching.?
Planning quality literacy encounters when explicitly and systematically teaching reading, responding to, and creating texts from Kindergarten to Year 2 (ES1-S1).?

Assessment

Assessment task 1: Assessing reading to inform literacy instruction

Objective(s):

a, b, c and e

Weight:

40%

Length:

Part A – 750 words

Part B – 750 words

Criteria linkages:

Criteria	Weight (%)	SLOs	CILOs
Accuracy of the phonemic awareness assessment data collection and analysis?	30	a, c	1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5
Appropriateness of a culturally appropriate strategy to develop the targeted phonemic awareness, and quality of application using a culturally appropriate picture book	30	c	1.4, 1.5
Appropriateness of selected words to practice the phonemic skill using the strategies selected	10	c	1.4, 1.5
Appropriateness of the English Syllabus content points and theory to justify the targeted skill and phonemic sound patterns selected	20	a, b	1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 5.1
Cohesiveness and accuracy in written presentation	10	e	6.1

SLOs: subject learning objectives
CILOs: course intended learning outcomes

Assessment task 2: Using student writing data analysis to inform teaching

Objective(s):

a, c, d and e

Weight:

60%

Length:

Part One – 600 words??

Part Two – 600 words?

Part Three – 800 words

Criteria linkages:

Criteria	Weight (%)	SLOs	CILOs
Explicitness and effectiveness of the spelling assessment rubric?	20	c, d	1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 3.1
Accuracy in labelling and grouping graphological errors?	20	a	1.1
Effectiveness and relevance of the strategy to address identified graphological needs	15	a, c	1.1, 1.4, 1.5
Conciseness and relevance of identified sentence-level grammatical errors	20	a	1.1
Effectiveness and quality of the strategy to address identified sentence-level grammatical needs?	15	c, d	1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 3.1
Cohesiveness and accuracy of academic writing?	10	e	6.1

SLOs: subject learning objectives
CILOs: course intended learning outcomes

Minimum requirements

There are no minimum requirements for this subject.

Required texts

The NSW K-6 Syllabuses are located on the NESA website:

https://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/k-10/understanding-the-curriculum/k-6-curriculum-requirements

References

Refer to weekly program in subject outline.?

Australian College of Education (apply for a free membership as an associate)?

https://www.austcolled.com.au/product/aace/

Australian Literacy Educators Association (half price student membership)?

https://www.alea.edu.au/membership/category/basic-membership?

Brock, C., Exley, B., & Harris, P. (2024). What do opportunities and diversities have to do with literacies teaching and learning?: A provocation. In International perspectives on literacies, diversities, and opportunities for learning (pp. 12-30). Routledge.?

Delphine, T., Auld, G., Lynch, J., & O’Mara, J. (2024). Neither this nor that: the challenge of social justice for non-indigenous English teachers in First Nations Australian education contexts. English in Education, 1-16.?

Derewianka, B. & Jones, P. (2016). Teaching Language in Context. Oxford.??

Flint, A. S., Vicars, M., Muscat, A., Bennet, M., Ewing, R., Shaw, K., & Tartakover, S. (2024). Literacy in Australia: Pedagogies for engagement. John Wiley & Sons.?

McDonald, L. (2018). A Literature Companion for Teachers. PETAA.?

McKnight, L. (2023). Storying the earth: decolonising literacy education through the pedagogical imagination. The Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 46(3), 257-269.?

PETAA Primary English Teaching Association Australia?

http://www.petaa.edu.au/imis_Prod/w (half price on graduation) Student memberships prices available?

Rigney, L. I. (2023). Teachers cultivating aboriginal child as knowledge producer: Advancing Australian culturally responsive pedagogies. In Global Perspectives and New Challenges in Culturally Responsive Pedagogies (pp. 10-19). Routledge.?

Winch, G., Ross Johnston, R., March, P., Ljungdahl, L. & Holliday, M. (2020). Literacy.?

Reading, Writing and Children's Literature. Oxford.??