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Trialling the making a difference curriculum


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TRIALLING THE MAKING A DIFFERENCE CURRICULUM




Linda Are


Adelaide Institute of TAFE


Some Background


The project tender was prepared by Rosemary Purcell and when successful needed to be re-directed to a teaching lecturer as Rosemary had been seconded to Central Office.
I was to commence teaching at Adelaide TAFE after a 7 year absence and was aware I would require some professional update, especially with regard to using the Certificate in Preparatory Education (CPE) curriculum which I had never used as a lecturer /teacher.
The opportunity to trial the Making A Difference Curriculum (MADC) coincided with my seeking guidance and direction in interpreting new curriculum and putting into practice appropriate teaching methodologies. I found the format of the MADC of interest as it provided explicit learning outcomes which could be linked to teaching activities, and the stories clarified the distinctions to be taught. In total I 'trialled' “Language and Power”, “The Media”, “Health” and “Work Now and In the Future” modules from the MADC. Lack of familiarity with current resources caused some challenges as both the students and I searched through the Library and the Internet for relevant readings.
My experiences and observations are recorded in this context.


The Research


Enthusiasm, Energy and Need along with a genuine valuing of the exemplars given and activities recommended in the MADC powered the research I undertook. The research questions requested by the authors of MADC guided my observations and my recordings.
The monthly research review meetings at the University of S.A. supported my research efforts and assisted in establishing timelines for trialling and documentation.
Colleagues provided encouragement at our fortnightly meetings.
However as the single researcher I missed the opportunity to “compare notes”.
I undertook the research across 3 terms of teaching and attempted to represent the findings in the interim reports (see attachments 1, 2, 3)

What I Did


I looked for opportunities across the two curricula, that is the CPE I was teaching and the MADC I was trialling. I prepared activities and worksheets that included outcomes from both curricula, so in fact the students were extended in their efforts to achieve outcomes from both curricula.
Students were informed of the trial and agreed to undertake the activities and complete the worksheets as they saw relevant to their achieving the CPE outcomes. Whilst some students were not able to achieve all the outcomes or complete all the work within the term timelines, I noted co-operation and interest in general.
I generally introduced the information to the whole group and then provided on-going assistance to individuals as required. This appeared the most effective methodology. The one example of introducing a topic “Work, Now and Into the Future” to an individual student was unsuccessful. It appeared group sharing and support was most effective in trialling the MADC.


Findings


My overall view is that the MADC explores more of the social/political context of learning new competencies whilst the CPE provides more strategies for adult learning and developing study competencies.
Specific findings have been documented in previous reports (see attachments 1, 2, 3).
I found it much easier to trial and evaluate MADC learning outcomes the closer the outcomes were to the CPE outcomes.
As a teacher new to both curricula, I found the exemplars and explicit learning outcomes of the MADC invaluable and I was motivated to prepare activities and worksheets in addition to the CPE resources I was duplicating! I believe the trialling extended me as a teacher and I believe my students benefited from the experience. Certainly my resource base was extended and the students were guided to achieve additional learning outcomes. For future trialling, the collection of resources would be a preferred first step.
Restricted timelines meant there was not the opportunity to explore the MADC learning outcomes in the depth required in addition to completing CPE outcomes which were the students' priority.
Many of the MADC learning outcomes were better achieved in group discussion and clarification. I also re-affirmed my particular preference to work with others in co-operative research. However working part-time means that research skills do need to be developed independently and the MADC document facilitated this individual research process.


Recommendation


I believe it was a useful professional development activity to research and trial the MADC document.
It will be now developed into a resource package and I am confident that it will complement both the CPE and IVEC courses of study offered here in S.A.


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