102086 – Designing Teaching and Learning 17719490 – Anthony Nakhoul

The daily work of Australian teachers uses teacher professionalism, curriculum,

pedagogy and assessment as important foundation concepts in contemporary education. The

following essay evaluates how these concepts interrelate and influence how teachers educate.

The aim of this essay is to focus on gifted and talented students and how these concepts

interconnect with one another, within teaching methods. Through the corresponding programs

provided by National Standards, both teachers and students are able to apply these concepts to

enhance their knowledge.

Professionalism is the means of maintaining ethical standards (Dr Berger, 2017).

Teachers have responsibilities that they must comply with in order to teach. As a result,

teachers need to continuously improve their skills to be thoughtful practitioners. Teachers must

respect all students equally and create a safe learning environment that promotes active learning

and effective communication (Freidson, 2001). In order to evaluate teacher professionalism, it

is important to understand the Australian Professional Standards (APST; 2011). With the

Australian Professional Standards comes the National Professional Standards all provided by

the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL). The APST provides

pointers for teachers at a national level. The construction of teaching is difficult as teachers are

continuously learning new ways to develop their skills in order to deliver their class. Students

are not the same hence require different teaching strategies to assist their learning. There are 3

important flaws of the Australian Professional Standards, they include; professional

engagement, professional knowledge and professional practice. Professional engagement

identifies the ways in which teachers can meet students’ needs. Professional knowledge is to

understand how to teach the students and identify how the students would like to be taught.

Professional practice is putting the methods to use and demonstrate active teaching and

learning. Put together, all interrelate to create a sophisticated learning environment that is

essential to student’s needs (AITSL, 2012).

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102086 – Designing Teaching and Learning 17719490 – Anthony Nakhoul

Curriculum is what teachers must deliver to their students. In saying so, the Australian

National Curriculum sets the standards of what teachers must deliver to their classes. It

describes the knowledge, understanding and skills that are taught and learned (Dr Berger,

2017). The aim is to create effective learners, self-confident and inspired persons, and active

and knowledgeable students. Each state and Territory and accreditation authorities are

accountable for shaping how the Australian Curriculum is unified into their courses.

Interchangeably the difficulty of knowledge can be exchanged due to the level of understanding

achieved by students. Both primary and secondary teachers must carefully integrate learning

in a way which benefits students of all different needs. Such students include Indigenous

Australians and refugees who require more attention and effort due to disadvantages such as

language barriers. There are also cross – curriculum priorities which focuses on Australia’s

engagement with Asia and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories which will educate

students and let students of those backgrounds relate to the content (Dr Berger, 2017). By

continuously changing certain aspects of the National Curriculum, teachers are able to meet

the learning areas of their students by adjusting to different teaching strategies to best suit their

needs (ACARA, 2014). In saying so, it also a challenge for teachers as they have to

continuously adapt to new teaching methods. If it is not capable for teachers to adapt there will

be a reduced amount of learning which will drop curriculum standards.

Pedagogy is the method of practice and teaching (Dr Berger, 2017). An effective

teacher must learn how to assimilate their content, with their students past content in order to

create lessons which focus on students’ needs. There are 2 types of pedagogies, expository and

constructivist pedagogies, they both have their own unique structure which benefits and suits

teacher’s methods of instruction. Expository teachers focus on evidences and knowledge while

using definite examples and work off set questions from the textbook. On the other hand,

constructivists are more creative, they use a variety of unique ways to deliver content. As the

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102086 – Designing Teaching and Learning 17719490 – Anthony Nakhoul

teacher is used more as a guide, it allows the students to find their own way of understanding

as they are engaged in activities and aren’t told what they must do exactly. It provides the

students the opportunity to become involved in group activities and learn for themselves.

According to (Liberante, 2012) The NSW Quality Teaching Model interrelates with the

fundamentals of pedagogy as it “allows the teachers to understand, analyse and focus their own

teaching practices for improved student learning”. The three fundamental dimensions include

Intellectual Quality, Quality Learning Environment and Significance. This reinforces the idea

that there must be a positive teacher-student relationship in order to continue student

development in the academic room.

The activities that are carried out by teachers to attain knowledge about students is

called assessment. There are assessment strategies that impact students’ learning, they include;

diagnostic, formative, summative and formal and informal approaches (Dr Berger, 2017). The

interrelation between the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN)

and assessment is very clinical in understanding where students’ level of understanding is

currently at. However, there is a lot of controversy with regards to NAPLAN. The effectiveness

of NAPLAN is yet to be decided as it only focuses on English and Math, whereas students may

not be confident in those certain subjects but may be confident in others such as history or

geography. In saying so, strategies linked with NAPLAN have had an undesirable impact on

teachers. A teacher must understand how to devise consistent assessment materials that can aid

students with different needs (Dix, Slee, Lawson & Keeves, 2012). A valued teacher must

understand and develop a program that links curriculum, pedagogy and assessment in order to

assess student development. Therefore, it is difficult to say whether NAPLAN overall is a

positive or negative indicator of student abilities as the form of assessment is bias.

Gifted and talented students are permitted to difficult, appropriate and interesting

learning opportunities drawn from the Australian Curriculum and associated with their

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102086 – Designing Teaching and Learning 17719490 – Anthony Nakhoul

different learning needs, strengths, wellbeing and objectives (ACARA, 2014). The Australian

Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) recognises that there are various

models of curriculum adjustment with regards to gifted and talented students (ACARA, 2014).

However though, it is not predominantly clear as there no resources that are directly aimed at

gifted and talented students.

Gagné’s Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent (2008) delivers research-based

meanings of gifted and talent that are specifically related to education. In his model he refers

to gifted and talented students as being intellectually, socially, physically and creatively above

average (Gagné, 2009). Gifted and talented students have different learning needs to regular

students. Due to the students being intellectually above average, the students may lose interest

in class as it may not be challenging enough for them. The class may not be stimulating enough

and may cause the students to lose interest, this can be a downfall for the teacher as the students

will disengage with the class and cause future problems for the teacher.

In saying so, teachers must adjust their teaching programs to benefit those with specific

needs as their capabilities are a lot different. Essentially educators want all students to achieve

maximal learning in school so it is necessary to meet the needs of the gifted and talented

students. By providing them with extra-curricular activities they are able to enhance their skill

set. As regular work many be simple for them, the extra-curricular activities will test their limits

and engage the students in class. The class teacher has a vital role to ensure gifted and talented

students do meet the curriculum requirements. The level of ability varies from student to

student, it is important to implement activities that students can relate to. Teacher

professionalism is a must when dealing with gifted and talented students. The teacher should

be able to help the gifted student use his own talent to better their education and improve their

abilities in ways in which they did not know. They will be able to push the student and further

their knowledge in ways that other students may not be gifted. In saying so, the teacher must

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set classroom standards before commencing class so that students do not step out of line and

respect each other.

Teachers must listen and respect all students in class which will develop a positive

student-teacher relationship. By creating a safe learning environment, teachers can understand

where the student levels of ability are through the use of assessment methods such as the

National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). The use of NAPLAN

will help the teachers decide whether the students have satisfactory English and mathematics

skills. By doing so, they will know what teaching areas must be targeted as an area for

improvement. This can allow the teachers to see what curriculum the students need to improve

on and the content students already know. Other methods can be done in the classroom setting

which can help assess students’ levels of understanding such as problem solving activities.

(Diezmann & Watters, 2000).

The use of pedagogy is important when dealing with gifted and talented students. In

order for maximum learning capacity, teachers must explore their methods of practice and

teaching to see whether the students are improving their learning and understanding. With

regards to expository and constructivist pedagogies it is up to the teacher to decide how they

wish to deliver their classes. They must keep in mind that the methods they choose must benefit

the learning needs of these students. While expository teachers have a straight forward

approach to teaching, it is important that content is enjoyable to learn and understand. With

reference to the constructivist pedagogy, teachers have multiple methods of teaching. The

teacher can monitor students’ progress during classes rather than a step by step process in which

they tell them what to do. Group activities can be very beneficial for gifted and talented students

as it allows them to put their perspective into action and interact with other students around

them.

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Student interaction is important for gifted and talented students as it allows them to

participate in their peers’ learning as well as developing social skills. This will allow the

students to develop problem solving skills and provides flexibility for the teachers as it allows

them to understand what the students may be lacking.

The Australian Professional Standards for teachers is designed to ensure that students

are receiving the best possible help in the classroom. Teachers must understand their students

and target ways in which they are able to help them learn and further their knowledge. This

illustrates the knowledge that teachers must have in order for them to teach a beneficial lesson.

The use of curriculum further enhances teacher’s knowledge regarding their students,

permitting them to aim at achieve lesson outcomes. However, it can be argued that certain

schools are not able to meet the challenge at hand when approaching gifted and talented

students. Schools that have lower socio-economic status will be more vulnerable to this

challenge because they cannot provide facilities and material to further enhance their existing

education (Elhoweris, 2008).

By analysing these foundation concepts, it is evident that teachers use these various

methods of practice to influence and better their students’ academic process. The concepts that

were explored within the essay have addressed how they are implemented regarding gifted and

talented students. It has become evident that gifted and talented students require different

teaching strategies which help stimulate and improve their education. The use of different

teaching methods has proven to be very beneficial to gifted and talented students as they are

unique in their own way and learn differently. The use of literature has further explored the

concepts and has helped understand that assessment methods such as NAPLAN can decide

where students level of ability is but can prove to bias as it focuses on literacy and numeracy

rather than the rest of the learning areas.

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References

ACARA, A. C. (2014, March 14). Senior secondary Curriculum. Retrieved from Australian

Curriculum : http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/seniorsecondary/overview

ACARA, A. C. (2014, March 14). Gifted and talented students. Retrieved from Australian

Curriculum : http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/studentdiversity/gifted-and-talented-

students

AITSL, A. I. (2012, Febuary). Formerly the National Professional Standards for Teachers. Australian

Professional Standards for Teachers. Australia: MCEECDYA Secretariat.

Diezmann, C. M., & Watters, J. J. (2000). Catering for mathematically gifted elementary students:

Learning from challenging tasks. Gifted Child Today, 23(4), 14-52.

Dix, K. L., Slee, P. T., Lawson, M. J., & Keeves, J. P. (2012). Implementation quality of whole‐

school mental health promotion and students’ academic performance. Child and adolescent

mental health, 17(1), 45-51.

Dr Berger, N. (2017, 02 27). Lecture 4; Assessment. Designing, Teaching and Learning. Sydney,

New South Wales, Australia: Centre for Educational Research Western Sydney University.

Dr Berger, N. (2017, 03 06). Lecture 3: Pedagogy. Designing Teaching & Learning. Sydney, NSW,

Australia: Centre for Educational Research Western Sydney University.

Dr. Berger, N. (2017, Febuary 10). Lecture 1: The Teaching Profession. Designing Teaching &

Learning. Sydney, NSW, Australia: Centre for Educational Research Western Sydney

University.

Dr. Berger, N. (2017, 02 24). Lecture 2: Curriculum. Designing Teaching & Learning. Sydney,

NSW, Australia: Centre for Educational Research Western Sydney University.

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Elhoweris, H. (2008). Teacher judgment in identifying gifted/talented students. Multicultural

Education, 15(3), 35.

Freidson, E. (2001). Professionalism, the third logic: on the practice of knowledge. University of

Chicago press.

Gagné, F. (2009). Gagné‘s differentiated model of giftedness and talent (DMGT), 2008. Reaching

Forward Conference, Rotorua.

Liberante, L. (2012). The importance of teacher–student relationships, as explored through the lens

of the NSW Quality Teaching Model. Journal of student engagement: education matters,

2(1), 2-9.