| Effective Term: | 2025/05 |
| Institute / School : | Institute of Education, Arts & Community |
| Unit Title: | Nature Pedagogy 2 |
| Unit ID: | EDMAS6036 |
| Credit Points: | 15.00 |
| Prerequisite(s): | Nil |
| Co-requisite(s): | Nil |
| Exclusion(s): | Nil |
| ASCED: | 070101 |
| Other Change: | |
| Brief description of the Unit |
This unit is designed to provide PSTs with a deep understanding of the theory and pedagogical approaches and practices of learning with nature as an alternative approach and pedagogy to curriculum design, with a focus on health and physical education. Historical and contemporary approaches to nature programs will be addressed including the impact of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives on early nature programs in Australia. This unit will acquaint PSTs with the value and benefits of learning with nature and how these approaches generate opportunities to differentiate teaching strategies and methods to meet a range of children's abilities, interests and dispositions, including children with special needs and those from culturally diverse backgrounds. PSTs will also come to understand that learning with nature supports other curriculum approaches and pedagogies such as play-based pedagogies, inquiry learning stances, socially inclusive practices and learner engagement. PSTs will explore a range of curriculum teaching areas, with a particular focus on the health and physical education teaching area, and how nature programs can meet curricula, teaching methods and legislative requirements of curriculum areas and other regulatory frameworks. PSTs will examine how children's health, wellbeing and safety can be addressed in nature programs and how such programs incorporate notions of diversity, difference and inclusion. PSTs will come to understand the importance of family and community partnerships in the planning, programming and evaluation of nature programs and will be able to demonstrate the ability to plan for children prior-to-school and as they transition to school, particularly within the health and physical education curriculum area. |
| Grade Scheme: | Graded (HD, D, C, P, MF, F, XF) |
| Work Experience Indicator: |
| No work experience |
| Placement Component: No |
| Supplementary Assessment:Yes |
| Where supplementary assessment is available a student must have failed overall in the Unit but gained a final mark of 45 per cent or above, has completed all major assessment tasks (including all sub-components where a task has multiple parts) as specified in the Unit Description and is not eligible for any other form of supplementary assessment |
| Course Level: |
| Level of Unit in Course | AQF Level(s) of Course | | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | | Introductory | | | | | | | | Intermediate | | | | |  | | | Advanced | | | | | | |
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| Learning Outcomes: |
| Knowledge: |
| K1. | Demonstrate an understanding of health, safety and wellbeing of children and implications for and of nature learning |
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| K2. | Articulate and demonstrate the role and value of nature pedagogy as a curriculum approach and an awareness of how the dynamic nature of teaching, afforded through nature pedagogical approaches, link to and support other pedagogies and how nature programs support socially inclusive teaching and assessment practices. |
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| K3. | Demonstrate an understanding of content teaching areas, in particular, health and physical education, and how they can be addressed using nature and play-based pedagogies and the selection of appropriate health and physical education experiences for young children. |
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| K4. | Outline legislative and curricula requirements as they relate to conducting nature programs and the importance of demonstrating a positive attitude toward health and physical education |
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| K5. | Demonstrate an understanding of the importance of parent/carer and community partnerships in developing and implementing nature programs |
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| Skills: |
| S1. | Address curriculum content areas across early education contexts, with a focus on the health and physical education curriculum area and describe the various ways in which health and physical education experiences can contribute to children's development |
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| S2. | Plan engaging experiences that use inclusive teaching and assessing strategies for young children in prior to school settings ensuring health, safety, curricula and regulatory requirements are addressed |
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| S3. | Use IT to record teaching and assessment in nature programs and analyse and critically reflect on nature pedagogy approaches |
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| S4. | Be conscious of the role that the adult can play in assisting young children to explore health and physical education and articulate why health and physical education should be taught to children |
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| Application of knowledge and skills: |
| A1. | Identify and apply relevant health and physical education curriculum which can be used to implement a nature based learning experience. |
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| A2. | Plan appropriate health, physical education and nature-based experiences that cater for a diverse range of students. |
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| A3. | Using knowledge of nature approaches, socially inclusive practices, and curricula requirements, articulate the value of nature programs for the wellbeing of children, critique and reflect on their own teaching practices to highlight professional learning goals and strategies for improving the teaching of health and physical education |
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| A4. | Distinguish possible changes to the environment in an early childhood context and discuss how changes could be implemented with active involvement of children, families and communities |
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| Unit Content: |
Topics to be covered may include:
• Contextualising nature pedagogical approaches
• Theoretical frameworks that inform nature pedagogy such as, but not limited to Froebel, Steiner, Te Whariki
• Personal dispositions toward nature learning and the impact of personal attitudes in developing children's positive attitudes toward health and physical education
• Benefits of physical education in natural environments in early years development
• How learning with nature generates opportunities for children to understand complex integrated across-curriculum teaching areas
• Participating in nature pedagogy, health and physical education for all learners
• Risk and resilience when learning with nature
• Inclusive practices: social emotional, cultural, developmental, additional needs
• Planning, implementing and assessing through nature programs, particularly in the health and physical education curriculum area
• Preparing challenging environments
• Sensitive, responsive and intentional interactions with children in natural environments
• Policy and practice and nature programs: curricula and regulatory requirements
• Communicating and collaborating with parents/carers and the community
• Critically reflective practice and professional learning |
| Graduate Attributes: |
| Federation University recognises that students require key transferable employability skills to prepare them for their future workplace and society. FEDTASKS (Transferable Attributes Skills and Knowledge) provide a targeted focus on five key transferable Attributes, Skills, and Knowledge that are be embedded within curriculum, developed gradually towards successful measures and interlinked with cross-discipline and Co-operative Learning opportunities. One or more FEDTASK, transferable Attributes, Skills or Knowledge must be evident in the specified learning outcomes and assessment for each FedUni Unit, and all must be directly assessed in each Course.
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| FED TASK and descriptor | Development and acquisition of FEDTASKS in the Unit | | Level | FEDTASK 1
Interpersonal | Students at this level will demonstrate an advanced ability in a range of contexts to effectively communicate, interact and work with others both individually and in groups. Students will be required to display high level skills in-person and/or online in: • Using and demonstrating a high level of verbal and non-verbal communication • Demonstrating a mastery of listening for meaning and influencing via active listening • Demonstrating and showing empathy for others • High order skills in negotiating and conflict resolution skills\\ • Demonstrating mastery of working respectfully in cross-cultural and diverse teams. | 1 - Yes | FEDTASK 2
Leadership | Students at this level will demonstrate a mastery in professional skills and behaviours in leading others. • Creating and sustaining a collegial environment • Demonstrating a high level of self -awareness and the ability to self-reflect and justify decisions • Inspiring and initiating opportunities to lead others • Making informed professional decisions • Demonstrating initiative in new professional situations. | 1 - Yes | FEDTASK 3
Critical Thinking and Creativity | Students at this level will demonstrate high level skills in working in complexity and ambiguity using the imagination to create new ideas. Students will be required to display skills in: • Reflecting critically to generate and consider complex ideas and concepts at an abstract level • Analysing complex and abstract ideas, concepts and information • Communicate alternative perspectives to justify complex ideas • Demonstrate a mastery of challenging conventional thinking to clarify complex concepts • Forming creative solutions in problem solving to new situations for further learning. | 1 - Yes | FEDTASK 4
Digital Literacy | Students at this level will demonstrate the ability to work competently across a wide range of tools, platforms and applications to achieve a range of tasks. Students will be required to display skills in: • Mastering, exploring, evaluating, managing, curating, organising and sharing digital information professionally • Collating, managing complex data, accessing and using digital data securely • Receiving and responding professionally to messages in a range of professional digital media • Contributing competently and professionally to digital teams and working groups • Participating at a high level in digital learning opportunities. | 1 - Yes | FEDTASK 5
sustainable and Ethical Mindset | Students at this level will demonstrate a mastery of considering and assessing the consequences and impact of ideas and actions in enacting professional ethical and sustainable decisions. Students will be required to display skills in: • Demonstrate informed judgment making that considers the impact of devising complex solutions in ambiguous global economic environmental and societal contexts • Professionally committing to the promulgation of social responsibility • Demonstrate the ability to evaluate ethical, socially responsible and/or sustainable challenges and generating and articulating responses • Communicating lifelong, life-wide and life-deep learning to be open to the diverse professional others • Generating, leading and implementing required actions to foster sustainability in their professional and personal life | 1 - Yes |
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| | Learning Outcomes Assessed | Assessment Tasks | Assessment Type | Weighting | | 1. | K2, S4 | Reflect on how personal participation or lack of participation contributes to the forming of habits around health and physical education in daily lives | Hurdle Forum Posting | U/S | | 2. | K1, K2, K3, K5, S1, S2, S3, A1, A2, A3, A4; APST: 1.2, 1.5, 1.6 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 4.1, 4.2, 4.4, 5.1, 5.2, 7.2 | Planning and Reflection Using the Learning Experience Plan (LEP) template, plan and implement a nature-based learning experience that focuses on health and physical education for a group of children with diverse learning needs. Following implementation, assess children's learning and reflect on teaching strategies, selection of resources and inclusion of all children. Based on your assessment of children and evaluation of your own teaching, modify your original plan to implement again. Following the second implementation, reflect on personal strengths and areas for further development. State three goals for further development and propose strategies for meeting these goals. | Planning and Reflection | 40%-60% | | 3. | K4, K5, S1, S3, S4, A3; APST: 1.2, 1.6, 3.1, 3.7, 4.1, 4.4 | Identify and explain the benefits of nature-based experiences in the teaching of health and physical education and the wellbeing of children | Presentation | 40-60% |
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