Assignment 1: Meeting the needs of contemporary learners.

1. Meeting the needs of
contemporary learners-
in a world where all is interconnected.
Natalie Khoury
15224222

2. Personal teaching and learning philosophy

3. An image of 21st century teachers
• Facilitator
• Collaborative
• Lifelong learner
• Reflective
• Open-minded
• Inquirer
• Cultivator
• Constructor
• Activist
• A collector of many
lenses
• Adaptive
• Motivator
• Loving

4. An image of 21st century learners
• Multiliterate
• Innovative
• Problem poser and
solver
• Collaborative
• Independent
• Reflective
• Multidimensional
understandings
• Critical thinker
• Active citizens
• Curious
• Transferor of many
skills

5. Encompassing inquiry learning within a
classroom of the 21st century
• Meaningful learning occurs.
• Builds upon children’s prior knowledge and
experiences.
• Authentically integrates learning areas of The
Australian National Curriculum.
• Reflection of the real world.
• Incorporates the voice of the child; children
are active participants throughout the
planning process.

6. Proposed inquiry question and the
motivation driving it

7. Established models of inquiry learning

8. Focus model of inquiry:
International Baccalaureate (IB)
Primary Years Programme (PYP)
The International Baccalaureate: Primary Years
Programme (IB: PYP) is an educational framework
which strives to cultivate internationally-minded
citizens of the 21st century, who are equipped with the
skills and understanding necessary for our society
today. It is a framework which encompasses inquiry
learning, and integrates the traditional subject areas,
so as to provide children with an enriched
understanding of the world.

9. Unpacking the PYP

10. Questioning… a natural human
tendency.
• Through encompassing the whole child, it is imperative that
we also honor their questions, it is through doing this that
we are constructing a classroom of enriched learning; as it
is based on what a child desires to know, not what an adult
requires them to know.
• Encouraging children to ask the hard questions which are
worth finding out about (Clark, 2002)
• Placing an emphasis on the questions, and the potential
discoveries to follow, not whether children will find the
correct answer (Clark, 2002).

11. Embedding assessment throughout the
learning process
• Assessment for learning
• Continuous
• Provides further insight
• Enables thorough differentiation
• Rich tasks
• Collaboration
• Self-assessment
• Feedback
• Valid and reliable
• Celebration

12. Examples of authentic assessment to be
incorporated throughout the integrated
programme

13. Curriculum direction

14. Proposed thinking strategies

15. Sample lesson plans
Sample Experience Plan 1 Sample experience Plan 2

16. Conclusion
Integrating the curriculum enriches childrens learning
experiences and acknowledges them as citizens of today,
as opposed to tomorrow; a child’s voice and perspectives
are listened to and embraced in the classroom, as opposed
to being heavily teacher directed.
Children are able to acquire a deeper understanding of the
important concepts of the world and they are assessed in
learning situations which they are likely to excel in.
Integrating the curriculum is bringing the diversity and
richness of the world into the classroom, and cultivating
human beings who will make tomorrow better than the
world is today.

17. Reference list
Andain, I., & Murphy, G. (2008). Creating lifelong learners: challenges for education in the 21st century. Wales, GB: International
Baccalaureate Organisation.
Arthur, L., Beecher, B., Death, E., Dockett, S., & Farmer, F. (2012). Programming and planning in early childhood settings (5th ed.). South
Melbourne, Victoria: Cengage Learning Australia.
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting and Authority (ACARA). (2014). Foundation year curriculum. Retrieved from:
http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/FoundationYear
Beherenbruch, M. (2012). Dancing in the light: essential elements for an inquiry classroom. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
Campbell., R. & Green, D. (Eds.) (2006). Literacies and learners: current perspectives (3rd ed.). Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson Education
Australia.
Clark, T. E. (2002). Questions worth arguing about. In, Designing and implementing an integrated curriculum: a student-centered approach
(pp.74-92). Brandon, Vermont: Psychology Press/ Holistic Education Press.
Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. (2009). Belonging, being and
becoming: The early years learning framework for Australia. ACT: Commonwealth of Australia.
Chappuis, S., & Stiggins, J. R. (2002). Classroom assessment for learning. Educational Leadership, 60 (1), 40-43.
Collie, J. R., Shapka, D. J., and Perry, E. N. (2012). School climate and social-emotional learning: predicting teacher stress, job Psychology,
104 (4), 1189-1204.
Edwards, C., Gandini, L., & Forman, G. (Ed.). (1993). The hundred languages of children: the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood
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Fleet, A., Patterson, C., & Robertson, J. (Ed.). (2009). Insights behind early childhood pedagogical documentation. Australia: Pademelon
press.

18. Reference List
International Baccalaureate Organisation. (2009). Primary Years Programme. Making the PYP happen: A curriculum framework for
international primary education. International Baccalaureate Organisation: Cardiff, Wales.
Kruse, D. (2010). Thinking tools for the inquiry classroom. Carlton, South Victoria: Curriculum Cooperation.
Liu, K. (2007). Global perspectives and childhood. Association for Childhood Education International, 83 (5), 308.
MacDoneell, C. (2007). Project-based inquiry units for young children: first steps to research for grades Pre-K-2. Worthington, Ohio: Linworth
Publishing.
Murdoch, K., & Hornsby, D. (1997). Planning curriculum connections: whole-school planning for integrated curriculum. South Yarra, Victoria:
Eleanor Curtain Publishing.
Parette, P. H., Quesenberry, C. A., & Blum, C. (2010). Missing the boat with technology usage in early childhood settings: a 21st century
view of developmentally appropriate practice. Early Childhood Education Journal, 37, 335-343. doi: 10.1007/s10643-009-352-x.
Primary Connections, (2008). An elaboration of the Primary Connections 5E Learning Model. Retrieved from
http://www.science.org.au/primaryconnections/teaching-and-learning/images/5Es.pdf
Robertson, H. K., & Diaz, J. C. (2006). Diversity and difference in early childhood education: issues for theory and practice. New York: Open
University Press.
Shaw, A. (2009). Education in the 21st century. Retrieved from: http://www.21stcenturyschools.com/what_is_21st_century_education.htm.
Short, G. K., & Burke, C. (1996). Examining our beliefs and practices through inquiry. Language Arts, 73 (2), 97-104.
Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design (2nd ed.). Alexandria, Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development.
Wilson, J., & Wing Jan, L. (2009). Focus on inquiry: a practical approach to curriculum planning. Carlton, South Victoria: Curriculum Press.