The 5Rs Framework, developed by the School of Education at Macquarie University, is embedded throughout your teacher education course.
Your use of the 5Rs Framework will help you develop the capabilities that will make your teaching career sustainable and fulfilling.
In this unit, you will learn using the 5Rs framework in the following important ways:
Resilient
Teachers need to manage uncertain and complex issues and unexpected events when they arise in their career. We know teaching is challenging and demanding, however, it has been observed that teachers who thrive are able to draw on their personal resources and the social and structural supports around them.
Experiences outside comfort zones and engaging in potentially unfamiliar Creative Arts learning might be daunting and challenging and this unit gives students a safe space to navigate this alongside peers and build confidence and resilience.
Reflexive
Teaching is about understanding multiple and changing ecologies of learning: individual students’ needs, the affordances of classroom spaces, student and teacher relationships, curriculum, research evidence, school culture, parental expectations, community demographics and needs, expectations of the profession, and government policy. Teachers must recognise and mediate these elements in their career, along with their own motivations and priorities, to make effective and impactful decisions that ensure quality student outcomes every day.
This unit engages students in planning learning experiences in the Creative Arts for a specific context, child and/or group of children in a school or prior-to-school setting. Students plan purposefully for the identified needs and interests of the children in the chosen context.
Responsive
Teaching is a relational profession: great teachers make deep connections with students, parents and communities. Most of us remember a great teacher we had at school: not because of the content they taught, but because they were inspiring; because of the connection they made with us, their interest in us as an individual, their care for our wellbeing and success.
This unit encourages students to collaborate and create meaningful learning experiences that are connected to children and their contexts.
Ready to learn
When teachers graduate from university they are not at the end of their learning journey, but at the beginning. Ongoing pursuit of learning is a mark of a quality teaching profession. There are always new challenges to deal with and new ideas to try. However, in practice, learning needs are not a one size fits all affair. Teachers need to identify their own learning needs for their context and they can pursue that learning to achieve great outcomes for all students.
This unit challenges students in workshops and assessments to step outside their comfort zone and embrace new learning and develop their confidence and skill in music, dance, drama, and visual arts.
Research engaged
Effective teachers base their practice on evidence. This evidence can come from their own research in the classroom and from the latest academic research in specialised areas of learning, teaching, motivation, cognition, curriculum, technologies and spaces to name a few. Understanding data is important so that it can be analysed and woven back into practice.
This unit requires students to engage with relevant, recent, and quality research literature through their assessment tasks, lectures, and prescribed readings.