EDN221: Teaching and Learning Semester 1E 2025 – Week 3 Notes

Check Learning Management System (LMS) for weekly topic information.
Watch lecturer-provided video lecture.
Complete assigned readings related to the topic.
Engage in further learning activities available on LMS.
Participate in workshops and online discussions.
Complete a weekly quiz that will be graded.
Reflect on weekly lessons and integrate insights into broader reflections and personal teaching philosophy.
Prepare for upcoming assignments involving this week's material.

Week 1: The Developing Learner - Introduction & Physical Development.
Week 2: The Developing Learner - Cognitive Development.
Week 3: The Developing Learner - Social, Emotional & Moral Development.
Week 6: The Learning Process - Behavioural Views of Learning.
Week 7: The Learning Process - Cognitive Explanations of Learning.
Week 10: Individual Differences - Motivation & Engagement.
Week 11: Individual Differences - Creativity & Intelligence.
Week 8: The Learning Process - Humanist Approaches to Learning.
Week 12: The Inclusive Classroom - Learning Support Needs & Inclusive Education.
Week 13: The Inclusive Classroom - Sociocultural Factors in the Learning Process.
Week 14: The Inclusive Classroom - Creating a Positive Classroom.

Reflect on these guiding questions:
- How do students’ socioemotional concerns impact the classroom environment?
- What influences do educators have on students’ self-concept?
- How can educators balance autonomy development against feelings of shame/doubt, industry/inferiority, and identity/role confusion in students?

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) refers to the process whereby individuals, particularly youth, acquire and apply knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for:
- Developing healthy identities.
- Managing emotions effectively.
- Setting and achieving personal and collective goals.
- Demonstrating empathy for others.
- Establishing and maintaining supportive relationships.
- Making responsible and caring decisions.
SEL promotes educational equity and excellence by building collaborative relationships among schools, families, and communities.
It establishes learning environments grounded in trust, collaboration, and rigorous curriculum while addressing educational inequities.

Activity Task: Group micro-skills associated with SEL into categories using the provided framework from the CASEL website.
Discuss similarities and differences in groupings to encourage critical thinking about the importance of SEL in education.

Form groups with peers teaching similar grade levels.
Choose a relevant SEL competency and brainstorm the critical micro-skills for its development.
Design teaching strategies to incorporate these skills in lessons, identifying benefits for student learning and engagement.

Profile of Liam:
- Year 5 student (age 10-11 years).
- Characteristics: Compliant, quiet, socially likable, enjoys hands-on learning (particularly in HASS and Science).
- Academic issues: Inconsistent performance in mathematics; gaps in foundational skills such as multiplication, place value beyond thousands, and fractions.
Instructional Approach:
- Liam’s teacher employs a constructivist approach focusing on inquiry and collaboration.
- Example task: “If three pizzas are shared equally between five people, how much pizza does each person get?”
- Encouraged strategies include discussing, representing ideas, and justifying thoughts collaboratively.
Emotional Response:
- Begins lesson with uncertainty, leading to anxiety as peers demonstrate competence in math language, increasing his feelings of inadequacy.
- Internal thoughts:
- “Everyone else seems to get this except me.”
- “If I ask a question, I’ll look stupid.”
- “I’m just bad at maths.”
Observable Behaviour:
- Delays task initiation, copies diagrams for lack of understanding, participates less in discussions, avoids eye contact, and exhibits passive behavior.
- Physical signs: Staring into space, doodling, slumped posture, sensitive to feedback.

When is a constructivist approach most suitable based on Liam’s experience?
Which indicators can teachers monitor to assess students' readiness for constructive learning tasks?
List the key advantages of using constructivist approaches when appropriately applied.
How do constructivist approaches facilitate higher-order thinking?
Identify social-emotional risks associated with constructivist teaching evident in Liam’s case.
Highlight the similarities between constructivist approaches and cooperative learning methods.
Reflect on the ethical responsibilities of educators in choosing pedagogical methods.

Having a foundational program helps save time and creates a common language among teaching staff, providing clarity and consistency in SEL delivery.

Opportunities for Practice and Feedback:
1. Explicit Information: Discuss the importance of emotions and feelings.
  - Activity: Compile a poster of different feelings, categorize them, and discuss intensity variations.
2. Practicing Skills:
  - Feelings Charades: Students act out emotions for peers to guess, supporting experiential learning.
  - Feelings Meter: Class indicates the intensity of feelings on a scale while discussing scenarios to promote emotional awareness.
3. Application in Real Life:
  - Feelings Record Take-Home Task: Students describe emotional experiences tied to different scenarios, illustrating learned concepts practically.
  - Class Stories Discussion: Analyze characters' emotions to deepen understanding of feelings and related cues.

Introduction to BRiTE (Build Resilience in Teacher Education) program.
- Focus areas: Building resilience, establishing relationships, enhancing wellbeing, and promoting emotional intelligence.
- Encouragement to engage with online modules for personal development.

Engage with video content considering personal beliefs around moral values and ethics within education.
Prepare notes during the video for group discussion.

This concludes the workshop for Topic 1: The Developing Learner.
Completing this week's reflection is necessary for submitting a comprehensive summary for Topic 1 evaluation.
Use available rubrics on LMS to understand the expectations related to reflections.
Guidance on citations necessary for claims; ensure adherence to APA 7th edition referencing style.

Thank you for engaging with this material and for your commitment to enhancing teaching practices in relation to social, emotional, and moral development.