Unit Outline

This unit will appeal to any students wishing to explore the impact of trauma in our lives, and especially how this affects our learning. The unit will introduce and highlight key concepts of early adversity, that you may be familiar with from your own prior learning or educational experiences. These concepts will be explored through a lens of resilience and wellbeing. You will be introduced to theories, principles and strategies that will further your understanding of the impact of trauma, and enable you to build resilience, promote wellbeing, and support growth and learning, both for yourself, and others more effectively. You will also explore the importance of self-care to ensure your own sense of wellbeing which is critical for learning and the support of others.

Intended Learning Outcomes

As per the Assessment and Results Policy 1.3, your results will reflect your achievement against specified learning outcomes.

On completion of this unit, you will be able to:


1	Explain the impact of early adversity on children’s growth and development
2	Examine personal beliefs and attitudes in relation to early adversity.
3	Explore trauma-related theories and their relationship to contemporary practice.
4	Reflect on how trauma-informed skills and knowledge can be applied to support learning.
5	Communicate effectively using professional and scholarly conventions and language.

Requisites


REQUISITE TYPE	REQUISITES
Pre-requisite	EDU202

Alterations as a result of student feedback

How will I be Assessed?

For more detailed assessment information please see MyLO.

Assessment schedule


ASSESSMENT TASK #	ASSESSMENT TASK NAME	DATE DUE	WEIGHT	LINKS TO INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Assessment Task 1:	The impact of early adversity: Key understandings and practices	Week 7	20 %	LO1, LO3
Assessment Task 2:	Behaviour analysis and the implications for practice	Week 8	40 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4, LO5
Assessment Task 3:	Action Plan and Reflection on Learning	Week 11	40 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4, LO5

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: The impact of early adversity: Key understandings and practices

Task Description:

Once you have engaged in and completed your weekly learning activities related to each of the overarching topics noted below, you will be required to complete four (4) online quizzes (one per topic). The quizzes will be embedded in the related weekly Learning Resources pages in MyLO, and you will complete them individually. The quizzes will be open book and will consist of a variety of multiple choice, scenario, and true/false questions.

• You may attempt the quizzes as many times as you like to check your understanding of the weekly learning content. However, it is the result for your first attempt that will be counted towards this assessment task.
• Each quiz is worth 5% (in total, all four quizzes comprise AT1 and are 20% of the final overall mark for the unit).
• The topics for the quizzes are:

AT1a: Trauma and Trauma informed practice; What do these terms mean?
AT1b: Attachment
AT1c: The impact of trauma on brains and bodies
AT1d: The impact of trauma on beliefs and behaviours

An assessment brief for this task is provided in MyLO.

The quizzes are due in weeks 2, 4, 5 and 7.

Task Length:

Equivalent 1000 words

Due Date:

Week 7

Weight:

20 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Demonstrate theoretical understanding of the impact of early adversity on children’s growth and development.	LO1
2	Demonstrate knowledge of the theoretical base for supporting children who have experienced adversity.	LO3

Assessment Task 2: Behaviour analysis and the implications for practice

Task Description:

One key aim of this task is to help you deepen your knowledge and understanding of the ways in which early adversity may impact children’s development and in turn, their behaviours. A second aim of both this task and AT3, is to begin developing your understanding of ways to support individuals to build their resilience and support learning. To this end, completion of AT2 will inform your thinking and preparations for AT3.

Part A: Context statement

Develop a context statement that clearly describes an individual you are supporting and the setting within which that support work takes place. This scenario can be drawn from your own experience of supporting an individual or can be hypothetical as relevant to your future professional context. Further information about key inclusions in your context statement will be provided in MyLO.

Part B: Analysis of context

Write a statement detailing what you believe the child is communicating through these behaviours. This analysis must be supported by relevant scholarly literature.

Part C: Implications for practice

What support might this child need in order to strengthen their resilience, to support their wellbeing, and promote learning? Part C must be supported by relevant scholarly literature.

You may choose to work collaboratively (in pairs) for this task or work individually. Should you choose to work in pairs, each member of your group must submit an exact copy of the assignment to the MyLO dropbox, and clearly indicate at the top of the page, both your own and your partner/s name and Student ID number.

An assessment brief for this task (including further information on working in pairs) is provided in MyLO.

Task Length:

1400 words

Due Date:

Week 8

Weight:

40 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Identify factors influencing behaviour	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
2	Analyse described behaviours and the implications for practice	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
3	Provide evidence of personal beliefs and attitudes related to supporting learning	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
4	Use relevant theory to support analysis and discussion of implications for practice	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
5	Communicate ideas through appropriate use of scholarly writing conventions and information literacy skills	LO5

Assessment Task 3: Action Plan and Reflection on Learning

Task Description:

This task is designed to support you in developing your skills and knowledge in trauma-informed practice and reflective practice. Part A builds on the work you completed for AT2. You will need to refer to your AT2 submission and feedback when preparing this final assessment task.

Part A (approx. 900 words):

This first part of Assessment Task 3 requires you to develop a plan of action to support the learning of the child you described in AT2. Specifically, you will develop an action plan based on AT2 Part C: Implications for Practice. Your action plan should include:

A detailed description of the support strategies that you would put in place for this child.

A rationale that explains the reasoning and theory underpinning the chosen strategies on your plan. In this section, you need to demonstrate your understanding of the key concepts in this unit.

You must support your writing with relevant literature to demonstrate how your thinking and understanding has been informed.

Part B (approx. 500 words):

For this final part of Assessment Task 3 you are required to complete a written reflection about your learning in this unit. Your reflection should include (but is not limited to) your response to the following questions:

How has your thinking changed/consolidated in relation to the impact of early adversity on child development?

What aspects of your learning in this unit challenged your thinking the most and what does this mean for your ongoing learning and practice?

Task Length:

1400 words maximum (Part A approx. 900 words; Part B approx. 500 words)

Due Date:

Week 11

Weight:

40 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Identify relevant strategies to support an inclusive learning environment	LO2, LO3, LO4
2	Apply trauma-related theories to contemporary educational practice.	LO2, LO3, LO4
3	Justify the choice of strategies chosen to support learning	LO2, LO3, LO4
4	Reflect on your personal beliefs and understanding related to early adversity and its impact on learning.	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
5	Communicate ideas through appropriate use of scholarly writing conventions and information literacy skills	LO5

How your final result is determined

To pass this unit, you need to demonstrate your attainment of each of the Intended Learning Outcomes, achieve a final unit grade of 50% or greater, and pass any hurdle tasks.

Submission of assignments

Where practicable, assignments should be submitted to an assignment submission folder in MYLO. You must submit assignments by the due date or receive a penalty (unless an extension of time has been approved by the Unit Coordinator). Students submitting any assignment in hard copy, or because of a practicum finalisation, must attach a student cover sheet and signed declaration for the submission to be accepted for marking.

Academic integrity

Academic integrity is about acting responsibly, honestly, ethically, and collegially when using, producing, and communicating information with other students and staff members.

In written work, you must correctly reference the work of others to maintain academic integrity. To find out the referencing style for this unit, see the assessment information in the MyLO site, or contact your teaching staff. For more detail about Academic Integrity, see Important Guidelines & Support.

Requests for extensions

If you are unable to submit an assessment task by the due date, you should apply for an extension.

A request for an extension should first be discussed with your Unit Coordinator or teaching support team where possible. A request for an extension must be submitted by the assessment due date, except where you can provide evidence it was not possible to do so. Typically, an application for an extension will be supported by documentary evidence: however, where it is not possible for you to provide evidence please contact your Unit Coordinator.

The Unit Coordinator must notify you of the outcome of an extension request within 3 working days of receiving the request.

Late penalties

Assignments submitted after the deadline will receive a late penalty of 5% of the original available mark for each calendar day (or part day) that the assignment is late. Late submissions will not be accepted more than 10 calendar days after the due date, or after assignments have been returned to other students on a scheduled date, whichever occurs first. Further information on Late Penalties can be found on the Assessments and Results Procedure.

Review of results and appeals

You are entitled to ask for a review of the marking and grading of your assessment task if there is an irregularity in the marking standards or an error in the process for determining the outcome of an assessment. Details on how to request a review of a mark for an assignment are outlined in the Review and Appeal of Academic Decisions Procedure.