Unit Outline

As the introductory unit of the secondary Arts education specialisation, this unit focuses on exploring the role of the Arts educator, developing skills in reflective practice in Arts education, and creating an individualised pathway towards your professional practice. The unit will involve interactive online learning activities with peers, and engagement with the work of Arts education specialists in schools. You will investigate the role of the Arts educator through the lens of critically reflective practice. Commencing with your entry level skills and knowledge, and with reference to the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers and the Australian Curriculum: The Arts, you will highlight areas for focus and articulate a plan to develop these, expanding your skills and knowledge across two disciplines. By the end of this unit, you will have developed: an introductory understanding of the role of the Arts educator, an understanding of critically reflective practice in Arts education, explicit understanding of your own skills and knowledge in two discipline areas, and a clear pathway for your ongoing professional learning.

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	collect, analyse and evaluate information about the role of the arts educator using lenses of critical reflection.
2	synthesise your skills and understandings, and key components of the Australian curriculum: the arts, and the Australian professional standards for teachers, with your evolving understanding of the role of the arts educator.
3	apply research to your evolving understanding of the role of the arts educator.
4	communicate your knowledge of arts education in writing.

Requisites


REQUISITE TYPE	REQUISITES
Concurrent Pre-requisite	EMT502

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:	Critical Reflections in Arts Education	Week 9	50 %	LO1, LO3, LO4
Assessment Task 2:	Pathway Planning in Arts Education	Week 14	50 %	LO2, LO3, LO4

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Critical Reflections in Arts Education

Task Description:

Submit as ONE MS Word document:

Plan, conduct and transcribe an interview with a practicing secondary Arts educator (ten minutes maximum) and place the recording and the transcription on the discussion board (by Friday, week 4). Include the transcript, as Appendix A, in your final MS Word document for assessment.

Using the Colleagues’ Perceptions lens (Brookfield, 2017) critically reflect on one of your peer’s interviews (as allocated) and place this reflection (700 words maximum) on the discussion board (by Friday, week 5). Include this, as Appendix B, in your final MS Word document for assessment.

Using the Personal Experience lens (Brookfield, 2017) critically reflect on your own interview, and on the feedback provided by your peer, and relate these to the Theory lens (Brookfield, 2017). Include this in your final MS Word document for assessment (1300 words maximum).

Include in your final MS Word document, as Appendix C, a copy of the 700 word reflection your allocated peer provided to you (not for assessment).

Components of this task are suitable for inclusion in your portfolio

Completion of this Assessment Task relates to Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) 1.2, 2.1, 6.2

Task Length:

2000 words

Due Date:

Week 9 (24/Sep/2025)

Weight:

50 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Plan, conduct and transcribe an interview with a secondary Arts educator (10%)	LO1, LO3
2	Apply the Personal Experience lens to your understanding of the role of the Arts educator (30%)	LO3
3	Apply the Colleagues’ Perspectives lens to your understanding of the role of the Arts educator (25%)	LO3
4	Apply the Theory lens to your evolving understanding of the role of the Arts educator (25%)	LO3
5	Communicate knowledge of Arts education with due attention to spelling, grammar, punctuation and referencing of sources (10%)	LO4

Assessment Task 2: Pathway Planning in Arts Education

Task Description:

Submit as a table in ONE MS Word document, for both your principal and second domains of practice:

Row: Summarise your entry-level strengths and weaknesses;
Column 1: Describe two selected weaknesses identified in your summary;
Column 2: Align your two selected weaknesses with the Australian Curriculum: The Arts;
Column 3: Align your two selected weaknesses with the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers; and
Column 4: Design a learning pathway that addresses your selected weaknesses.

Completion of this Assessment Task relates to Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) 1.2, 2.1, 6.1, 6.2

Task Length:

2000 words

Due Date:

Week 14 (27/Oct/2025)

Weight:

50 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Describe and evaluate your skills and understandings in Arts education (25%)	LO2
2	Apply key components of the Australian Curriculum: The Arts to your understanding of the role of the Arts educator (20%)	LO2
3	Apply the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers to your understanding of the role of the Arts educator (10%)	LO2
4	Describe a plan for your pathway to professional practice (25%)	LO2
5	Apply research to your evolving understanding of the role of the Arts educator (10%)	LO3
6	Communicate knowledge of Arts education with due attention to spelling, grammar, punctuation and referencing of sources (10%)	LO4

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.

Required Resources

Required reading materials

Brookfield, S. (2017). Becoming a critically reflective teacher (2nd Edition). Jossey Bass.

Please note this text is available as a UTAS eBook in the Reading List. Reading Lists provide direct access to all material on unit reading lists in one place. This includes eReadings and items in Reserve. You can access the Reading List for this unit from the link in MyLO, or by going to the Reading Lists page on the University Library website.