Unit Outline

Literacy in Secondary School is designed to help you develop your knowledge and skills for the teaching of literacy in secondary classrooms. With a focus on the nature of literacy in Australia, this unit will reveal the vital role language and literacy plays in the learning process across the curriculum. You will explore literacy through curriculum documents and the requirements of their implementation across different discipline areas. Explorations of literacy will be related to current theories of language development and acquisition, their impact on teaching and learning, and the literacy demands/requirements of the teaching profession.

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	Articulate knowledge of current theoretical approaches to literacy.
2	Critically reflect on the nature of literacy and the implications of changing knowledge about literacy for your teaching context.
3	Demonstrate understanding of the literacy conventions and demands associated with particular curriculum areas.
4	Identify appropriate texts and create literacy strategies for specific educational contexts.
5	Demonstrate academic and information literacy skills.

Requisites


REQUISITE TYPE	REQUISITES
Concurrent Pre-requisite	EMT502

Alterations as a result of student feedback

Amended assessment tasks.

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:	Literacy in the subject disciplines	Week 7	40 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO5
Assessment Task 2:	Lesson planning	Week 10	40 %	LO1, LO3, LO4, LO5
Assessment Task 3:	Developing a robust theory of literacy	Week 14	20 %	LO2, LO3, LO5

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Literacy in the subject disciplines

Task Description:

AT2 requires you to demonstrate your developing understanding of theories and strategies that can inform literacy teaching in your specialisation. You will need to consider significant concepts and theories from Module one (weeks 1 – 6) and the Australian Curriculum, to prepare and record a multimodal presentation for an audience of your pre-service peers at a Tasmanian Education Society (TEDS) event.
The presentation will address the role of literacy in learning, its importance in your discipline specialization and literacy strategies and approaches to support reading in your subject.

A more detailed task description will be provided in the assessment section online.

Task Length:

10 minute presentation with transcript (1500 words equivalent)

Due Date:

Week 7 (07/Apr/2025)

Weight:

40 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Communicates the importance of literacy with reference to the Australian curriculum and teaching specialisation.	LO1, LO2, LO5
2	Demonstrates understanding of significant literacy concepts and theories with reference to literature.	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO5
3	Demonstrates how literacy theory and concepts relate to the literacy demands of a teaching specialisation with illustrative examples.	LO2, LO3
4	Communicate ideas appropriately for a professional audience including effective use of multimodal format and use of academic conventions.	LO5

Assessment Task 2: Lesson planning

Task Description:

AT3 requires you to demonstrate your ability to plan a lesson to support student literacy in your teaching specialisation. This task draws on your learning in module 2 to identify and explicitly teach an aspect of literacy relevant to your subject. Further detail about this assessment task will be provided in the assessment section in MyLO.

Task Length:

1500 words

Due Date:

Week 10 (07/May/2025)

Weight:

40 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Apply knowledge of theory and strategy to design a literacy based lesson plan appropriate for implementation in a secondary classroom	LO3, LO4
2	Apply knowledge of discipline specific curriculum documents and texts to develop a lesson plan.	LO3, LO4
3	Justify the suitability of lesson plan drawing on literature.	LO1, LO3, LO4, LO5
4	Communicate ideas using academic conventions appropriately.	LO5

Assessment Task 3: Developing a robust theory of literacy

Task Description:

AT1 requires you to reflect on your changing understanding about the nature of literacy to articulate a robust theory of the role of literacy
in your teaching specialization. As part of this assessment, you are required to complete a brief literacy survey at least three times during the course. You will draw on your survey responses and course learning to reflect on your changing understanding about the role of literacy in your teaching.
Further information about the reflective task is available in the assessment description in MyLO.

Task Length:

750 words

Due Date:

Week 14 (04/Jun/2025)

Weight:

20 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Articulates a contemporary definition of literacy drawing on literature and the Australian Curriculum.	LO2
2	Shows insight into the relationship of literacy to own teaching specialisation.	LO2, LO3
3	Reflects on how own ideas about literacy have evolved making connections to literature and professional experience and articulates implications for future teaching practice.	LO2, LO3
4	Communicates ideas about literacy with clarity and coherence using appropriate academic conventions.	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.

Academic progress review

The results for this unit may be included in a review of your academic progress. For information about progress reviews and what they mean for all students, see Academic Progress Review in the Student Portal.

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.