Unit rationale, description and aim
This unit supports final-year teaching students in confidently transitioning into the teaching profession by integrating key principles of ethical, inclusive, and evidence-informed practice. Drawing on research-based strategies, the unit reinforces proactive classroom management, positive relationship-building, and personalised goal-setting to foster respectful, high-expectation learning environments. Students will engage critically with whole-school frameworks and develop skills in modelling and promoting positive behaviour. A strong focus on cultural responsiveness and self-reflection encourages students to examine their positionality and challenge biases, particularly in relation to First Nations and EAL/D learners. The unit also explores effective family and community engagement, its impact on student outcomes, and the teacher＊s role in sustaining collaborative partnerships. Through reflective practice, effective communication, and a commitment to inclusive teaching, students will strengthen their professional identity and be equipped to meet the diverse needs of learners in contemporary classrooms.
The unit aims to prepare pre-service teachers for the profession by promoting reflective, ethical, and communicative practices. It helps them develop a teaching philosophy, understand diverse communities, and demonstrate readiness to meet the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers at the Graduate level. The unit aims to support diverse learners by including multimodal expressions of understanding.
Campus offering
No unit offerings are currently available for this unit.Learning outcomes
To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.
Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from 51勛圖 with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.
Explore the graduate capabilities.
Evaluate professional communication in relation to...
Learning Outcome 01
Apply knowledge of expectations 每 including codes ...
Learning Outcome 02
Communicate effectively and professionally across ...
Learning Outcome 03
Develop a personal professional teaching philosoph...
Learning Outcome 04
Critically reflect on collaborative and networked ...
Learning Outcome 05
Content
Topics will include:
- Professional identity and practice
- Expectations of the professional teacher
- Professional ethics
- Codes of conduct and codes of ethics for teachers
- Social media practices and profiles
- Professional Learning, strategies for ongoing professional development and practice
- Engaging with professional networks and associations
- Professional identity and communication
- Models of communication for effective and ethical communication in school and community
- Classroom communication and management; classroom and school-based approaches
- Representational systems, verbal, non-verbal and digital communication and cues
- Communicating with colleagues, parents and allied professionals
- Tools and practices for communicating learning updates and outcomes
- Transitioning into the profession
- Workload and self-care, balancing personal and collaborative priorities
- Presenting yourself as a professional teacher
- Professional expectation from the principal＊s perspective
- Preparing for applications, curriculum vitae, and interviews
Assessment strategy and rationale
This unit focuses on pre-service teachers applying knowledge and skills relevant to the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers: Graduate level in preparing to transition into independent professional practice and to take responsibility for their own professional learning and identity. Ethical and responsible use of all resources, including generative AI, will be expected of pre-service teachers.
For Assessment Task 1 pre-service teachers will design and resource a professional learning plan to address an area for improvement in their own teaching practice. Assessment Task 2 requires the construction of a portfolio of artefacts of professional communication used in an educational setting. Pre-service teachers will reflect on these artefacts, considering their learnings and readings in this course. The two assessment tasks are sequenced to allow feedback and progressive development of content knowledge and skills.
The assessment tasks for this unit are designed to demonstrate achievement of the learning outcomes. To pass this unit, pre-service teachers are required to achieve a passing grade in each assessment task, thereby achieving a minimum passing grade overall. It should be noted that Task 2 is a critical task designed as a summative assessment of the nominated APST: Graduate.
Overview of assessments
Assessment Task 1: Professional Learning Plan ? C...
Assessment Task 1: Professional Learning Plan?
Compose a professional statement outlining your educational philosophy and a rationale for continued professional learning. Identify an area for improvement and design a Professional Learning Plan to develop relevant skills, knowledge and practice. Then, participate in an Annual Review Meeting role-play, including a semi-structured professional learning conversation.?
50%
Assessment Task 2: Critical Task: Professional Co...
Assessment Task 2: Critical Task: Professional Communication Portfolio
Create six artefacts demonstrating different types of communication used in educational settings, demonstrating ethical and professional use of digital and/or multimodal technology, including generative AI. Annotate each artefact to demonstrate connections to professional standards and research evidence of effective and ethical communication. Include examples of communication with: (1) parents/carers that support family engagement for learning, (2) colleagues that support professional learning and engagement, and (3) students that support student learning.??
50%
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
This unit adopts a constructivist learning and teaching approach, recognising that learners build new knowledge on pre-existing understandings shaped by their sociocultural context. Learning is active, inquiry-based, and student-centred, positioning pre-service teachers as adult learners who take responsibility for their own development and engage in critical problem-solving. Designed to foster deep understanding, the unit includes strategies that promote active engagement, knowledge application, and the development of analytical and evaluative skills. This design ensures that theories of professional engagement, communication and identity are closely connected to teaching practice.
Teaching strategies are flexible and support both guided and self-regulated learning, in line with adult learning principles. Key learning activities include self-paced learning through online modules, structured engagement with readings, peer collaboration and reflective dialogue, and professional critical engagement with lecturers and other pre-service teachers. Pre-service teachers will be scaffolded through discussion in relation to the appropriate and ethical use of generative AI in professional practice and communication.
Representative texts and references
Recommended texts?and documents
Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership.?(n.d.).?Australian professional standards for teachers.?[PDF] Retrieved from?
Churchill, R., Apps, T., Batt, J., Beckman, K., Grainger, P., Holloway, J., Keddie, A., Letts, W., Mackay, J., & McGill, M. (2025).?Teaching?: making a difference?(Sixth edition.). John Wiley & Sons
Ewing, R., Lowrie, T., Higgs, J. (2010). Teaching and communicating: Rethinking professional experiences. Oxford University Press.
Fenech, M., & Ribarovski, J. (2020). Professional communication for early childhood educators: Interpersonal and workplace communication in everyday practice. Oxford University Press.
Recommended references
Baxter, G., & Toe, D. (2021). Parents don＊t need to come to school to be engaged: Teachers use of social media for family engagement. Educational Action Research,?31(2), 306每328.
Knoster, K. C., & Goodboy, A. K. (2023). A zoom teaching experiment using CTML principles of multimedia design.?Communication Quarterly,?71(4), 367每389.
Monfrance, M., Haelermans, C., Leenders, H., de Jong, J., & Coppens, K. (2024). Parental engagement in primary education: differences in teacher perceptions and parent-teacher communication explained.?Teachers and Teaching, Theory and Practice, 1每16. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2024.2397581
Murray, E., McFarland-Piazza, L., & Harrison, L. J. (2015). Changing patterns of parent-teacher communication and parent involvement from preschool to school.?Early Child Development and Care,?185(7), 1031每1052.
Rogers, B., (2015). Classroom behaviour (4th edition). Sage Publications
Schneider, C., & Arnot, M. (2018). Transactional school-home-school communication: Addressing the mismatches between migrant parents＊ and teachers＊ views of parental knowledge, engagement and the barriers to engagement.?Teaching and Teacher Education,?75, 10每20.
Skehan, L. (2018). Growing High Standards?: Using the AITSL standards to develop your teaching.?Agora (Melbourne, Vic.),?53(3), 26每33
Stokes, H., & Brunzell, T. (2024).?Implementing trauma-informed pedagogies for school change?: shifting schools from reactive to proactive?(1st edition.). Emerald Publishing Limited.
Witter, M. & Brunzell, T. (2025). Teachers＊ self-efficacy beliefs about trauma informed education practices. International Journal of Educational Research 131 .