The focus of this unit is to develop understanding of the importance and purposes of assessment and evaluation and their relationship to learning. An historical overview of assessment and evaluation is essential to the understanding of current contexts of assessment and learning in schools. There is ongoing debate about assessment and student teachers need to have an informed understanding of the principles, practices and processes of assessment as well as engage in discussions about assessment issues. Assessment of student learning is integral to the teaching and learning process and significant developments and implications for teaching, learning and curriculum need to be understood by student teachers. The course focuses on concepts and principles of assessment and aims to increase knowledge and understanding of current assessment practices to promote fairness and equity in assessment and evaluation. Students will learn to identify, prepare and use practical assessment strategies to promote more effective assessment practices in schools and engage in discussion about in current issues in assessment.

This unit of study introduces Stages 4, 5 and 6 Aboriginal Studies, which are Board of Studies approved electives in the secondary curriculum. These courses are based on standard Board of Studies designs and, as such, provide students with an excellent first hand experience of the syllabus continuum in the secondary school. Outcomes-based teaching and learning is a feature and students learn to translate this approach into practical teaching, planning and implementation. Students also consider an holistic approach to Aboriginal Studies where the needs of the students, school and community directly influence the nature of program development and content. Consultation, protocols, ethical research practices and a local community focus feature as they do in both syllabuses. Cross curriculum content and skills with a focus on literacy and ICT (Information and Communication Technology) is part of the ongoing development of students becoming multi-skilled, adaptable and pro-active educators in the field of Aboriginal Studies.

The unit of study traces Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander relationships to country and place, and the continuities and dynamism of contemporary Indigenous Australian cultures. It will celebrate the fact that, despite the impact of colonisation, Indigenous Australian peoples have maintained unique identities and connections to land and sea. Through the themes of Indigenous Sydney, Connections to Place, and Cultural Continuity, this unit of study examines Indigenous activism, material culture and cultural heritage, Indigenous people and tourism, art, festivals and performance and film. Excursions to relevant exhibitions around Sydney will also be undertaken.

This unit is designed to focus on student skills as emerging teachers and in particular, develop and refine skills in reflection and communication. Students will focus on understanding learner diversity needs in the classroom with particular focus on multicultural, gender, and Aboriginal students' learning diversity. In preparation for the Professional Experience which is component of this unit; students will practice questioning, listening and responding techniques and will build knowledge of a range theoretical perspectives on classroom management to be practiced in the classroom. Students will investigate a range of policies that contribute to quality outcomes for students, including; multicultural, anti-racism, student welfare and discipline policies. The NSW Institute of Teachers Graduate Teaching Standards will be discussed in relation to the requirements of this Professional Experience. Students will also consider ways to engage parents and the wider community in the education process and plan for ongoing professional growth and development.

The twentieth century saw major transformations in Australian society. From the aftermath of the Great War, this unit of study follows the traumas of Depression and World War II, into periods of less dramatic but still profound change: the post-war boom through the Menzies years; threats posed by the Cold War; the proliferation of nuclear weapons; the impact of immigration; the 1960s youth protest movement and the Vietnam War, and social changes brought about by the Whitlam government. Through a survey of those years and their aftermath, the unit seeks to frame and enhance historical understanding of issues and challenges which confront Australians today.

The aim of this unit of study is to introduce students to Australian Indigenous literature. It presents students with a range of foundational and contemporary Indigenous authors and their work in the genres of poetry, fiction and autobiographical writing. It develops students' capacities to identify and reflectively engage with such genres by addressing central critical texts and the social, historical and political contexts of Indigenous writing practice. The unit will build generic skills in literary reading, genre identification, critical and theoretical analysis and historical research, and will encouraging students to develop an informed and independent assessment of contemporary Indigenous literature.

This unit of study integrates content in the Senior Modern History Stage 6 syllabus with a range of teaching strategies suitable for senior history students in NSW secondary schools. Students are introduced to the current Board of Studies Stage 6 Modern History syllabus. Areas of study covered in this unit include aspects of WW1, national studies including Nazi Germany, aspects of WW2, the role of the USA and Russia in the Cold War, and Australia's involvement in Asia. These content areas are integrated with historical skills such as source analysis, empathetic understanding, oral communication, historiography, including analysis and interpretation of texts relating to key historical debates within the content areas of the senior modern history syllabus. Practical guidance in planning and programing of lessons and units of work is also provided in this unit of study.

This unit of study extends the knowledge and understanding students gained in Teaching and Learning: History Curriculum, and looks at key concerns in the teaching and learning of history. This unit recognises the centrality of the 7-10 syllabus and extends students knowledge and understanding towards issues which are central to the development of strategies to improve the engagement of students in 7-10 history. In this unit of study students will be introduced to a range of issues and ideas to utilise in the classroom, including historical literacy, historical empathy, history as narrative, and civics and citizenship.

This subject is designed to focus on student skills as graduating teachers and in particular, further refine skills in reflection and communication. Students will focus on the specific needs of gifted and talented students, students with learning difficulties and students at risk and develop skills in differentiating the curriculum to meet these needs. In preparation for the Professional Experience which is a component of this course, students will discuss classroom management techniques with particular emphasis on designing quality learning environments, and planning and preparing to teach using standard lesson plan templates and weekly planning sequences. The NSW Institutes of Teachers Graduate Teaching Standards will be discussed in relation to the requirements of this Professional Experience and in preparation for entry into the teaching profession.

This aim of this unit of study is to explore the philosophical, legal and cultural foundations of international and national Indigenous rights. It critically examines the formation of categories of Indigeniety in the ancient, colonial and modern eras, and how such discourses have contributed to systematic denials of Indigenous rights in Australia and other colonised countries. It explores the subsequent evolution of Indigenous rights agendas in modern and postcolonial Australia, and contextualises these developments by investigating various international precedents. The unit will build generic skills in philosophical and historical research and theoretical analysis, encouraging students to develop an informed and independent assessment of contemporary issues in Australian and international Indigenous Rights.

This unit of study aims to provide an introduction to the central events of early twentieth-century European history, a period which historian Eric Hobsbawm described as 'an age of catastrophe'. This unit, which examines the tumultuous events that occurred during the early twentieth-century, takes World War One as its starting point, investigating the impact this war had on the changing politics, nations, culture and ideology of Europe. The unit then explores these themes in detail by focusing on individual national case studies, and, in particular, the leaders considered instrumental in enacting these changes. Students will also considers the lived history, that is, the social aspects of the changing politics in England, Russia and Germany. Finally, students will examine European history from a broader perspective by tracing the history of four examples of international conflict.

This unit of study aims to prepare students to teach Board of Studies Stages 6 Human
Society and Its Environment (HSIE) Key Learning Area syllabuses. The program draws on research findings concerning the types of knowledge and skills that the HSIE teacher needs to teach Stage 6 Society and Culture and Work Studies. Particular emphasis will be placed on Board of Studies Assessment procedures, appropriate teaching and learning strategies for Stage 6 learners, and assessment of learning for both these syllabuses.

This unit has two main purposes. The first is to introduce students to the study of the integration and inclusion of students with special needs, in accordance with the mandatory requirements of the NSW Department of School Education for pre-service teacher education. It is designed to provide an understanding of the theoretical models and social issues underpinning the education of students with disabilities in a range of settings.

This unit of study is designed to provide students with a critical overview of the key concepts 'knowledge', and 'self' as they have been articulated in major educational discourses. The unit is philosophically based but draws upon sociological and psychological insights. Building on earlier units in the Education strand of the program it explores ideas about the nature of self in relation to learning, and raises significant questions about claims regarding knowledge as constitutive of self. It problematises inherited notions of rationality, experience, 'discourse' and the dimension of the social in knowledge-generation, its dissemination and institutionalisation. Major philosophical theories of knowledge are examined, notably those of, rationalism and varieties of constructivism, empiricism, post-structuralism pragmatism and certain approaches in phenomenology. The relationship of these theories to contemporary curriculum knowledge (that is, the 'knowledge base' of each subject area) is explored. An important objective of the Unit is to provide opportunities for developing skills that will enable students to more usefully analyse the kinds of epistemological assumptions underlying the school curriculum.

Even before Europeans officially 'discovered' the New World they had imagined what it might be. Not withstanding decolonisation, this world and its people have continued to be represented according to changing Western priorities. Arguably categories like "race", "blood" and "culture" continue to influence Western historical accounts and colonised people are often still classified according to historical models according to Western intellectual and political priorities. In this course we examine this process of representation and Indigenous challenges to it, focusing on Australia and the Pacific. Three key themes will be investigated, one for each block. These are (1) history and the representation of the Pacific; (2) Colonising and decolonising the Indigenous people of Australia and the Pacific; and (3) the Pacific on the world stage, war and decolonising identities.

This course aims to prepare Bachelor of Education (Secondary: Aboriginal Studies) students to teach Board of Studies Stages 6 Human Society and Its Environment (HSIE) Key Learning Area syllabuses. This particular program draws on research findings concerning the types of knowledge that the HSIE teacher needs to teach senior Legal Studies. Particular emphasis in HSIE 5 is placed on knowledge of the new syllabus to be implemented for Year 11 students in 2010 and to be first examined in the HSC in 2011. Board of Studies assessment procedures, appropriate teaching and learning strategies and assessment of learning for Legal Studies will also be considered.