Foundations of Learning and Development: A Child Centred Approach

This course will enable students to critically analyse and synthesise a body of research related to human development, learning and thinking, and to understand the application of these theories in educational settings for children and young people from birth-18 years. To support students to develop an integrated understanding of complex social issues and adversities that impact children's and young people's healthy development, well-being, and education, and provide strategies to support students to identify and effectively respond to such diversities within an educational setting. Students will critically analyse of a range of theories and theoretical perspectives which have been developed over time and are encompassed within a constructivist approach to learning. Students will critically analyse, reflect on, compare and contrast, and synthesise key theoretical concepts in Piaget's Cognitive Development Theory, Vygotsky's Socio-cultural Theory, Operant-Conditioning and Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory, Social and emotional development; Information Processing Theory, and Bronfenbrenner's Bio-Ecological Systems Theory. Students will develop an integrated understanding about how theoretical perspectives underpin children and young people's development and learning including Aboriginal children and children with special needs. Students will critically reflect on theoretical perspectives to apply these established theories to educational practice.

Students will develop specialised knowledge of the complexity of children's and young people's social context and the adversity and challenges for children and families living with poverty, parental mental illness, family breakdown, domestic violence, child neglect and/ or abuse and the effects on children's and young people's learning and development. Students will develop and integrate understanding of theoretical perspectives of children's learning and development and the influences of children's social environments to inform their understanding of how children's living and learning environments influence their learning and development. These concepts will feed into educational practice as a whole and will inform all other courses in the Master of Teaching program.