As a pre-service teacher I gained a lot of knowledge about how students learn depending on their developmental stage including their; physical, social, and intellectual stage. I participated in the topic ‘EDUC-2320 Learners and Their Development’ where a wide range of activities engaged me to learn about the development of students from childhood to adolescence, and what impacts on these stages.
I understand that learners are diverse in a variety of ways, and this can have substantial impacts on their learning. Therefore I present content in a variety of forms to cater for different learning preferences. Some students require hands-on activities, visual or auditory aids, others like to work socially in groups, individually or in pairs.
Students also come from a range of backgrounds; cultural, religious and socioeconomic. Knowing more about my students in these situations has helped me to maximise outcomes. I see the importance of positive relationships to help achieve this. I have also learnt how to teach Christian Studies in a Lutheran School by not evoking a faith response and not assuming that all students share the same world view.
I have also participated in a topic titled, ‘EDUC-2420 Teaching Indigenous Australian Students’, where I learnt a lot about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, their backgrounds, and how to teach for social justice through the Teaching for Resistance Model and Reconciliation Pedagogy.
Stephanie Rodert 