1.1 Physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of students
I approach my practice based on two main theories, Erikson's stages of psychosocial development and Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Based on Erikson's theory, those in high school are likely to be experiencing Industry vs. inferiority (in regards to academic extra curricular competency), Identity vs. role confusion (where friends and role model are most important) and Intimacy vs. isolation (where the issue of sextual identity needs to be established without shame and stigma). These are difficult times for young people as their self confidence fluctuates with changes in their identity, therefore comments and remarks should be well thought of as it may have a significant effect on young people. I achieve this through discussion with other teachers of a particular person, aides and even well being coordinator, I also allow myself time to observe as assess the young person personally to avoid misinterpretation. With my lesson plans and activities, I vary the expectation based on the development of the individual person, rather than the dumbing down the activity as I believe that all young people are able to perform the activity I have set. Maslow's theory states that without the basic need, higher order needs such as self esteem and self actualization is hard to achieve, thus students family, finance and social maybe impacting their achievement of higher needs. So in order to develop student higher needs, the lower ones such as safety and physical needs needs to be address. I am aware that I am unable to do this on my own, this needing a network of organizations and colleagues to help me.
1.2 Understand how students learn
No two young people learn in the same way. I treat my students as individuals and provide them with various teaching styles and examples. The activity conducted in class also vary to cather for different kind of learning. The lesson plan, structured formative and summative assessment however follow the backwards design approach. When I do my planning focused on the final project and what it aims to achieve, then tailor each class to correlate with each criteria the final project requires. I also used feedback from my mentors to improve my future class.
1.4 Strategies for teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students
My article review as well as professional development session at VU has gave me a good insight into what can be done to support the learning of indigenous young people. Coming from a multicultural background myself, I can understand how some particular examples would not make sense to these young people. Therefore, I would need to learn and know more about culturally relevant examples for teaching my subjects. I don't believe the culturally detached method would be very useful in teaching indigenous young people. I may also implement the 8 ways of learning approach which would also cover different learning styles of non-indigenous student.
1.5 Differentiate teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities
I achieved this by talking to colleagues and other teacher to exchange ideas and practises which have worked for them. I discussed problems I was facing and seeked solutions for them through discussion, reflection and research. I actively seek out my mentors, other preservice teachers even if they are not in the same method areas and search for talks and lectures from reliable sources on the internet. After gaining some alternative perspective on the issue, I reevaluate my actions and the options I have to improve student learning. I found peer feedback from preservice teachers who watched me teach particularly useful. I was not aware that my voice should not be clearly heard at the back of the class due to room size, I would have never been aware of this if it wasn't for peer feedback. In the future, I might place a video camera in the back of the room to record my action and the students' reaction to my teaching. I would used this to reflect on my teaching. Talking to my colleagues also gave me an insight into how my students were behaving in other classes, as well as their strengths, interests and difficulties they have. This is then used to modify activities and teaching strategies used to engage and motivate students during my class.