Masters of Education EDU5005 – School and Community Learning
Purpose of the Placement
EDU5005 placements provide opportunities for Master of Education (Inclusion and Diversity) students to gain specialist knowledge and experience, and to explore, develop, evaluate, and improve their teaching strategies, and/or participate in other teaching-related activities discussed in university classes. Students are expected to gain practical knowledge of policies and practices of Australian education settings.
The successful completion of supervised professional experience and related fieldwork experiences is a requirement of the Master of Education (Inclusion and Diversity). La Trobe University students will undertake a placement which is negotiated with the Subject Coordinator and the placement setting.
From the La Trobe University perspective, these placement experiences differ in some respects from the usual placement experiences undertaken in a student’s earlier years of teacher preparation. It is assumed that students in the Master of Education (Inclusion and Diversity) will have already acquired beginning teacher competence; it is also acknowledged that some students undertaking this course will be experienced teachers upgrading their qualifications. The expectations for the placement proceed on the assumptions that students are expected to take greater responsibility for their own professional development and be able to demonstrate this.
Placement a Glance
| PLACEMENT DETAILS | INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS | DOMESTIC STUDENTS |
| Placement Purpose | Professional learning and reflective inquiry | Professional learning and reflective inquiry |
| Settings | Early Years Centres | Schools or approved settings (scholarship holders must complete 15 days in a specialist setting) |
| Placement duration | Minimum 5 days | Between 15-30 days, depending on prior experience |
| Daily hours | 8-hour working day expected | 8-hour working day expected |
| Payment to setting | No payment to centre or supervising teacher | No payment to centre or supervising teacher |
Detailed Information
Placements have a negotiated quality, apply an inquiry focus, and students are expected to incorporate professional self-reflective processes in a report on their placement experience. Click below to read more about each of these elements.
Students are free to arrange a placement with a school at any time during the semester that is mutually convenient for the student and the school. Although placements are usually taken as a block, this is not the only arrangement mode and indeed may not be the optimum arrangement in some settings. Students are encouraged to explore different possibilities for their placement, which in some circumstances may include out-of-normal hours work, e.g. participation on a school camp.
Placement can be undertaken in Early Years Centres (international students), or in schools, pre-schools, human services agencies, supported employment agencies (domestic students), or other suitable settings as discussed and approved with the Subject Coordinator. A qualified teacher must be available in the organisation to supervise the placement.
During placements students are expected to observe supervisors’ and others’ work and undertake duties consistent with their professional training. They will familiarise themselves with the aims, structure, and policies of the setting, learn of the work of other specialist professionals with whom agency staff may liaise and work effectively as a member of a professional team.
While they have the general task of managing the planning and teaching, supervision, and related agendas throughout their placement period, in addition, they are expected to develop a particular inquiry focus and to report on that.
For example, if undertaking a placement in a specialist school, the focus may be to explore the contribution which a particular program or an exploration of collaborative teacher-parent relationships in a special setting. In a mainstream school setting where there is an Inclusion teacher, students may seek to explore how this school-wide resource works with other teachers, educational support staff, outside specialists, and parents. In a non-school setting, the learning focus may be to choose to explore the ways in which that agency networks with schools or personnel from the schooling system.
In the time allocated at the setting, students should use their own specific learning focus to gain relevant experience and to negotiate their own professional development around that identified agenda. It is important to remember that during a special education placement, students are not solely a practitioner building their professional teaching skills, but also an investigator. Their Placement Report needs to reflect both these aspects.
Preparation as a professional in teaching students with disabilities includes a capacity to develop effective professional self-reflection skills. The development of such skills is fostered through a variety of means: through students gaining confidence in their ability to work effectively in classrooms, schools or other agencies, through professional mentoring, through being able to undertake successful collaborative activities with colleagues and students, and via the evaluation of programs.
In school settings, there is also a need for teachers to gain confidence in their ability to become professionally creative, innovative, and enterprising, and to demonstrate initiative, and an ability to develop diverse ways of applying their knowledge. There is no greater need than in students with special needs. The capacity to develop strong professional self-reflection skills is one of the foundations in the development of these qualities. In undertaking these placements students should be open to developing opportunities to be able to undertake some activities in innovative ways. Part of their reflective practice may revolve around a particular learning focus. For example, during a Specialist Setting placement, the particular learning focus might be about students’ transition processes from school in late adolescence. Towards this end, students might participate in small group discussions with students at the school about their current programs and their expectations, aspirations, knowledge, and fears about life beyond school. This knowledge might then contribute to their thoughts about themselves as a teacher and how they will effectively prepare young adults for transition.
Role of the School or Agency
Supervising staff are asked to maintain an overview of the student’s progress with the placement consistent with the objectives outlined in the student’s placement proposal and complete the supervisors report.
Supervisors should be aware that students may use these reports for inclusion in their personal Curriculum Vitae.
Placements are assessed as either ‘Ungraded Pass’ or ‘Unsatisfactory’ and accurate descriptive comments provide an essential component for student development.
In school settings (domestic students only), students are expected to gain as wide an experience as possible with respect to the individual students they will be working with and assisting. So as part of the total teaching arrangements it would be expected that students be given opportunities to manage the learning in a variety of ways. This might include taking responsibility for the whole class group to undertake as appropriate, small group work discussion with significant adults within the school or participation in special activities such as excursions, and inclusion in any scheduled Program Support Group.
The Supervising Teacher Report should be completed at the end of the placement, following discussion with the student.
Descriptive comments from supervisors will contribute to a student’s overall assessment and their suitability for this placement.
Supervising Teacher Report
The Supervising Teacher is sent a copy of the report upon confirmation of the placement. The report is to be completed and returned to Placement Operations (Education Team) via email on the final day of the PST’s placement.
To indicate that the student has read the report, both the Supervising Teacher and the student sign the form before returning it to the placement team. This should be done promptly to facilitate submission of results.
It is important that the Supervising Teacher Report form is completed before the student leaves the school. Three copies of the form should be made: one for the University, one for the student and one for the school’s records. The Supervising Teacher/School Placement Coordinator will then return the form to the University on the final day of the PST’s placement to: education.placements@latrobe.edu.au
Access the Supervising Teacher Report
Additional Support
If a Supervising Teacher has concerns about a student’s progress, they should seek additional support from the University. See Help for Partners for more information on this process.
Legal and Policy Matters
Please review this information relating to Legal and Policy Matters during placement. While the information makes reference to pre-service teachers, it is equally applicable to Master of Education students on placement.