document

APA style referencing about 10 and the assessment is 1250 words

Assessment overview

This individual assessment task requires you to complete a document analysis. Through this process, you will demonstrate:

your knowledge of documents that shape schooling

your capacity for analytical thinking, and

your capacity for communicating ideas using conventions of academic English.

The purpose of this document analysis is to provide you with an opportunity to become familiar with documents that shape Australian education policy, public discourse on education and schooling, and ultimately, teaching in Australian schools.

You are to analyse this document

Review of the Australian Curriculum: Final Report (Department of Education, 2014, pp. 1-11)

https://docs.education.gov.au/node/36269

This the reference for the document

Department of Education (2014). Review of the Australian curriculum: The final report. Retrieved from https://docs.education.gov.au/node/36269

Reading the document’s executive summary or introduction to get a sense of its focus.

You must answer the following questions:

1. What type of document is it?

2. Who is the author/s and what is his/her position? Cite evidence from the text that supports your identification of the author’s position.

3. For whom was the document written? Cite evidence from the text to support your assertion.

4. What is the purpose of the document? Cite evidence from the text to support your assertion.

5. Elaborate on three things the document tells you about schooling and/or teaching in Australia.

6. Write two questions to the author that have been left unanswered by the document. Why are these questions important to you?

This is more details about how to answer each question

Q1. What kind of document is it? There will be clues in the title (The shape of the Australian curriculum document is a shaping document – it says so in the title; the Review of the Australian Curriculum: Final Report is a report on a review of the Australian curriculum – it says so in the title.) There are no tricks to this question, it’s very straightforward.

Q2. Who is the author? How do you know? If the author is ACARA, then you need to say who ACARA is. If the author is the Early Years Foundation, then you need to say who they are. You then need to answer: what is the author’s position and you can find more about that my searching for information about the author/s. Are the authors right-wing conservatives who want to ensure that education goes back to a 1950s model of schooling? How do you know this? So you need to indicate their position and then address how you know that.

Q3 . For whom is the document written? There will be evidence in things like word choice, use of specific educational terminology, the type of document it is (for instance, a shaping paper is not written for children). You need to think about who might be stakeholders in education – is the paper written for business leaders, for educational leaders, for policy makers, for parents, for teachers, for academics, for the wider community, for architects, for the media commentators, for curriculum writers, for government, for lawyers, for plumbers … do a brainstorm of potential stakeholders, cross those off that are a bit too ludicrous (like plumbers and architects) and then consider who’s left. What evidence is there in the document that it’s written for this particular audience?

Q4. What is the purpose of this document? Again, brainstorm as many possible purposes as you can think of, but also think about who it’s written for as the audience and the purpose will be linked. Is it to shape public opinion about education? Is it to provide information to an educational authority about potential changes that need to be made to the current curriculum? Is to shape curriculum writers’ work in writing the curriculum? Is it to instil confidence in the Australian public in relation to the state of schooling? Is it to provide information to educators about what should be taught and how it should be taught in Australian schools and early learning centres? If you do the brainstorming, you will come up with loads of reasons and then you can read the document and consider whether any of those purposes fit. You will have had to have read at least some of the document before you do the brainstorming though.

Q 5: In order to answer question five you will need to start reading the document ultra-carefully. What does this document you have chosen tell you about schooling? That it’s in turmoil? That Australian schooling is of world class standard? That Australian children are being prepared for a life in which they can flourish, feel safe, can continue to learn … if you read carefully, and make notes as you read, you will not have any trouble answering this question (particularly if you read with this question in mind).

Step 3: Digging a little deeper....

Q 6. No document can answer all questions – you are being asked to bring your understanding of schooling in Australia, and the contexts in which schooling happens, and your knowledge of wider educational issues to the fore in identifying two questions that you don’t think are answered in this document. You then need to respond to why those questions are important to you. If you read the papers, if you search for information about the state of education in Australia at the moment, if you are aware of the international context (and how it’s reported in the media) you won’t have any problems with this final question. It requires to you be engaged and interested in schooling and education and teaching and to read widely – particularly the commentary and the rhetoric around education. It is in responding to this question that you will demonstrate your engagement in the field you are entering (teaching) and your willingness to learn as much as you can about the world of education of which you are now a part. Responses to this question will differentiate the pass from credit submissions, and the distinction from the high distinction submissions. This is key question in this task and one that should take the majority of your time.

Should I write in third person?

Yes this is an academic submission. You should use third person. Avoid ‘I’ ‘We’ ‘Our’

Size and font of text? Set up your document for submission ensuring you have the formatting correct: 1.5 line spacing, size 12 typeface/font, 3cm margin on the right hand side, page numbers in the footer

Do I use Sub headings?

No. The document analysis is more than a list (no bullet points please) of responses to the questions. It must incorporate all the information required but flow from one point to the next.

What about paragraphs?

Responses to the first four questions can be included in the first paragraph, question 5 can be a separate paragraph/s, and question 6 can be the final paragraph.

What style of writing should I use? You should write in a narrative style, ensuring they address the questions. For example:

This is an examples of how you should answer the questions.

The shape of the Australian Curriculum is a framing document written by the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA], an independent statutory authority. ACARA takes direction from state and Federal governments on implementing and guiding education related policy initiatives. The shaping paper was written for those charged with implementing the Australian Curriculum and for those undertaking curriculum writing, and its purpose is to ‘guide the development of the first phase of the Australian Curriculum [and to] provide background for the implementation’ (ACARA, 2012, p. 3) of that curriculum

Your submission will be marked on the following four areas:

1. Clarity of analysis in relation to the national context of schooling

2. Depth of analysis in relation to societal and professional expectations of teachers

3. Critical reflection

4. Conventions of academic English

Referencing

Check your referencing. Have you made claims that you have not supported with evidence? Have you referenced correctly, both in-text and in your reference list?

• You will need to cite information that you have sourced from academic sources, including the document you are working with.

• You really need to draw their information from within the document itself, rather than going outside of it to find evidence. If you are making claims, then you are making claims about what is said in the document and therefore you need to cite evidence from the document, rather than from other sources.

• Number of resources: rather than looking at the number of resources, we will be looking at the quality of the resources.

To be able to pass

· Each of the questions has been answered

· Key points from the document have been identified.

· Evidence, in the form of direct quotations, has been cited from within the document to support assertions about position, purpose and audience.

· The reading tends to be literal, taking the documents at face value and accepting their assertions as truth.

· A developing capacity for critical reflection is evident through identification of points of personal connection and relevance.

· Conventions of written English are generally adhered to. Careful proofreading has meant the elimination of most typographical and spelling errors. Word choice, sentence structure and grammatical issues do not detract substantially from the communication of ideas. Any material (words and ideas) that is not your own has been cited correctly, according to APA guidelines.

· The submission sustains insightful, in-depth analysis.

· Deep and accurate knowledge of the document chosen for analysis.

· Deep understanding of authors’ position (has moved beyond literal and inferential reading).

· Depth of analysis: close analytical reading has allowed for reading beyond the lines – that is, an evaluative reading; making connections between the contents of the document and what the reader brings from life experience (e.g. knowledge from other texts …).

· Questions posed are insightful and genuinely seek alternative perspectives.

· Identification of own and others’ knowledge, values and beliefs about teaching, expectations of teachers and issues confronting teachers

· Thorough attention to editing and proofreading processes ensure that there are no errors in referencing, spelling, grammar or punctuation.