19 March 2007
Students undertaking the Graduate Diploma in Primary Education at Monash University's Peninsula campus will this year pilot a new style of teaching rounds.
Instead of placing the 110 Graduate Diploma of Primary Education students in up to 70 different schools, the Faculty of Education has decided to trial a new approach.
Project coordinator and Education lecturer Mr David Zyngier explains that the new model includes sending the students, two to a classroom, to a smaller number of schools, close to the campus for two consecutive days.
"Previously, one student was allocated per classroom for one day a week over a period of ten weeks followed up by a three-week teaching block," he said. "This meant that during the initial practical side of the course, the students' classroom teaching experience lacked continuity."
The new model will see students undertake two single days in the classroom as well as six double days followed up by a two week teaching block. "One of the main advantages to this new timetable is that students will have more consistency in the school and have opportunities to follow through on their teaching over the two days," he said.
"Having two students per class should be an enormous benefit for schools, their teachers and students, leading to all sorts of new and innovative learning and teaching approaches including acting as critical friends, providing peer support or taking individual students for testing or tuition while full class control was taken by the other member of the teaching team."
Logistically, the new model also has benefits, allowing university lecturers to be more involved in students' hands-on learning experience, with plans for tutorials to be run in the schools as a way of further connecting theory with practice.
The project will be trialled in five local primary schools this year -- Ballam Park, Langwarrin Park, Frankston, Woodlands and Rowellyn.
Ballam Park Primary School Principal, Mr Mark Renouf, said the teaching staff at the school were so enthusiastic about the potential of the program for their students that they decided to increase the number of student teachers in the school from 24 to 32.
"That means that 16 of the 18 classes in the school will have another two adults, two days a week to assist the children in their learning programs," he said. "The opportunity to be involved in this new initiative and to interact with a large group of motivated young professionals who have chosen to continue their own education and become primary teachers is particularly exciting and will be a win-win exercise for the Monash students, the staff and most importantly the primary school students."
Photo opportunity: Students from Monash University will be at Ballam Park Primary School, Belar Avenue, Frankston, on Tuesday 20 March at 2 pm.
For more details contact Mr David Zyngier on +61 3 990 44230 or 0411 693 867, or Mr John Watts on +61 3 9905 9201 or 0448 574 148.
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