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Assignment cover sheet

Note: (1) The attention of students is drawn to:
the Academic Regulations,
the Academic Honesty Policy and
the Assessment Policy, all of which are accessible via http://www.acu.edu.au/policy/136703
(2) A de-identified copy of your assignment may be retained for University quality (audit) processes,
benchmarking or moderation.
Student ID Number/s:

Student Surname/s:

Given names:

S00142914

Binks

Melissa Lynne

Course: Bachelor of Education (early childhood and primary

Unit code: EDFD167

School: Australian catholic university

Unit title: Contexts for learning and development

Due date: 29.03.13

Date submitted: 29.03.13

Lecturer-in-Charge: Linda Henderson

Tutorial Group/Tutor: Jo Bird

Assignment Title and/or number: Assignment 1

DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY
By submitting this assignment for assessment, I acknowledge and agree that:
1. this assignment is submitted in accordance with the Universitys Academic Regulations, Assessment Policy
and the Academic Honesty Policy. I also understand the serious nature of academic dishonesty (such as
plagiarism) and the penalties attached to being found guilty of committing such offences.
2. no part of any assessment item has been copied from any other source without acknowledgement of the source.
3. no part of this assignment has been written by any other person, except to the extent of collaboration and/or
group work as defined in the unit outline.
4. this assignment has not been recycled, using work substantially the same as work I have completed previously
and which has been counted towards satisfactory completion of another unit of study credited towards another
qualification, unless the Lecturer in Charge has granted prior written consent to do so.
5. a copy of the original assignment is retained by me and that I may be required to submit the original
assignment to the Lecturer in Charge upon request.
6. the Lecturer-in-Charge may, for the purpose of assessing this assignment:
6.1. reproduce this assignment;
6.2. authorise the reproduction of this assignment;
6.3. provide a copy of this assignment to another member of the University; and/or
6.4. communicate, or authorise communication of, a copy of this assignment to a plagiarism checking service,
such as the Turnitin service operated by iParadigms LLC (or such other service utilised by the University
at its absolute discretion). I acknowledge that a plagiarism service provider may then retain a copy of this
assignment on its database for the purpose of future plagiarism checking.
Signature of student(s): ___________________________________________
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Date: 29/03/13

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Week 1: Sites of learning
My site of learning was Miss. Willig my grade 1 teacher. As a child I was very shy and Miss Willig had a
huge impact on my life. In grade 1 I was placed into a composite class of 1/2s, most of the students
were in grade 2 while only 7 of us were in grade 1. This was very difficult for me as I have always had
difficulties talking to people and I was suddenly pulled away from almost all of the friends I had made in
prep. Luckily I had one girl from my previous year in the class with me but it was still a daunting
experience for me. Miss Willig was always conscious of my difficulty with relationships and encouraged
me to participate in conversations while not forcing me to do something that I did not want to do. My
teacher was a very passionate and energetic presence in the room. She always had interactive activities
for us to do and was really into recycling and making craft out of odd bits and pieces. She has had a
massive impact on my life and is part of the reason why I want to become a teacher. I wanted to become
a teacher like her, with so much passion and a genuine love for the kids she was teaching. After that
year she went to a different job for a few years. When I was in grade 5 she returned to my school and
became the art teacher. This was such a big thing for me because as soon as she was back I could tell
that even though she had been away for a few years she still knew who I was and had not forgotten the
simple things like my parent s names and my younger brothers name. Remembering these few things
just helped me to realise that she had genuinely cared for me that year and taken an interest in my life.
One of the most significant things for me with Miss. Willig is when after the school year had finished she
found a piece of artwork in the back storeroom that I had made and was really proud of. She then went
out of her way to drop the artwork into my house

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Week 2: Context and intersections: race, culture and power
Growing up in a dominant white society I was not exposed to many different cultures or beliefs at a
young age. Most of the children at my school were Anglo-Saxon or only had a slight variance in skin
colour. Throughout my time at primary school I can only even remember seeing 2 or 3 children with a
noticeably darken skin tone than mine and I never associated with them because we were in different
year levels. I do not remember my parents ever telling me about the difference in skin colours and
nationalities, but I am sure it would have come up at least once. The fact that I did not notice other
coloured skin until I was older doesnt surprise me as Currently in Australia, in regards to racial and
cultural hierarchies, white identities are routinely placed at the top, with other cultural and racial identities
organized beneath (MacNaughton & Davis, 2009, p. 118). As we become a more culturally diverse
country we need to start considering what children from other backgrounds are used to. In many
different countries the roles of play and education are seen differently and we as a society need to allow
for this in schools. For example, children who accompany their parents to work in the field or herd
animals often express adult roles in make-believe play (Bloch as cited in Roopnarine, Lasker, Sacks &
Stores, p. 154). As culture and race are such important and relevant topics, children need to experience
different cultural practices when they are young so they can value difference rather then ignore it.

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Week 3: Nature versus nurture and theories of development

I believe that both nature and nurture have had a significant impact on my development. My parents
values and beliefs have shaped my own values and beliefs, whilst I have still been able to develop my
own through my environment. I believe that some of my beliefs have come naturally to me while others
have developed through my interactions with those around me. I do not think that either nature or
nurture is more important, but I do think Parenting has important long-term consequences for the
development of characteristic adaptations, including the lifelong relationship between the parent and
child( McCrae et al, 2000, p. 175). On the nature side of things I have developed physically due to
some biological traits such as my eye colour and hair colour. I believe that most of my physical traits are
biological, whilst a lot of my personality traits I have gained from my environment. It is important that
Children are seen to influence their own development as well as being influenced by those around
them (Arthur, Beecher, Death, Dockett, & Farmer, 2012, p. 75). In my opinion psychologists and
theorists should start to move away from the argument between nature and nurture and start to look at
what each aspect has influence over, rather than trying to argue that only one has an effect.

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Week 4: Social ecology and theories of development

Through learning about Bronfenbrenners ecological model and Rogoffs theories, I have begun to
understand how there are so many different areas that can have an effect on my life. Bronfenbrenners
model looks at the influence of Microsystems, Mesosystems, Exosystem and the Macrosystems. I
found it interesting to think about what impact the Exosystem and the Macrosystems - such as my
parents work place, media and large social institutes could have had on my development as a child. I
now realise that if a government policy had changed and affected my parents jobs, then I may not
have been able to get the education that I did as a child. While Bronfenbrenners ecological model has
provided a good basis for the influence of external factors, it does not look at the effects of culture.
Rogoffs theory was designed to include the aspects of culture and has three aspects; apprenticeship,
guided participation and participatory appropriation. Apprenticeship suggests that we learn through
participating in a community group, rather then being taught by instructions. For young children object
use may constitute an important, and partially independent, dimension of the social ecology (Santos,
& Winegar, 1999 p. 2). It is important for children to learn not just through watching others and verbal
instructions. Children need to be hands on learners and gain knowledge by participating. Rogoff
(2003) believes that engaging with people whose practices differ from those of ones own community
can make one aware of aspects of human functioning that are not noticeable until they are missing or
differently arranged (p.13). It is particularly important that children are exposed to different cultures
and their ways of learning, so that they can participate in processes which they may find more effective
than their traditional ways of doing things.

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Week 5: A lifespan perspective on development

I have always understood the idea that the human lifespan was progressive, we go from being
children to teenagers, then adults and finally we become elderly. This has been my only view of the
lifespan, I have not even bothered to think if other cultures see things differently. Growing up I have
heard about the stolen generation and have known that these aboriginal children were taken from
their homes to be raised in a western societal way, but it is onlynow that I am truly understanding
this. It was not the right of the government to come into a cultural group and tell them they are
raising their children wrong. When we look at the lifespan through the Aboriginal culture we see that
they do not have a transitional stage form children to adults like we do. Aboriginal culture suggests
that children go straight from being children to being adults and they have been practicing this for
centuries. By removing these children from their culture they were not able to experience cultural
rituals and many feel that they are now distant from their heritage. The Aboriginal community
believes that lifehood is a set of experiences and realities of living in relatedness with others and
self, from the womb to the tomb(Martin, 2005, p. 28-29). Aboriginals are highly connected to the
land and use it as a precious resource. They believe that you should live off the land and care for it.
It is vital that we do not look at a culture just from our own perspective but we take the time to
understand and values the different customs and ideas of other cultures. We need to grow our
knowledge of cultural practices by researching, in order to begin to understand the many perceptions
of life. Reading permits individuals to deepen their understanding of other critical domains of
knowledge and allows them to experience feelings of pleasure, beauty, excitement, and more (Reed
& Schallert as cited in Alexander, 2005, p.414).

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References
Alexander, P.A, (2005). The Path to Competence: A Lifespan Developmental Perspective on Reading,
Journal of Literacy Research, 37, 413-436. Doi: 10.1207/s15548430jlr3704_1

Arthur, L., Beecher, B., Death, E., Dockett, S., & Farmer, S. (2012). Programming and planning in early
childhood settings (5th Ed.). South Melbourne, Victoria: Cengage.

Martin, K. (2005). Childhood, lifehood and relatedness: Aboriginal ways of being,

knowing and doing. In J. Phillips & J. Lampert (Eds.), Introductory Indigenous
Studies in Education. Retrieved from http://leo.acu.edu.au/mod/url/view.php?
id=355803

McCrae, R., Costa, P., Ostendorf, F., Angleitner, A., Hrebickova, M., Avia, M., Sanz, J., SanchezBernardos, M., Kusdil, M., Woodfield, R., Saunders, P., Smith, Peter B., (2000). Nature over
nurture: Temperament, personality, and life span development. Journal of Personality & Social
Psychology, 78(1), 173186. Retrieved from http://sfx.unilinc.edu.au/acu?ctx_ver=Z39.882004&ctx_enc=info:ofi/enc:UTF-8&ctx_tim=2013-03-13T18:01:44IST&url_ver=Z39.882004&url_ctx_fmt=infofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ct&xrfr_id=info:sid/primo.exlibrisgroup.com:primo3-Articleapa_articles&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Nature Over
Nurture&rft.jtitle=Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology&rft.btitle=&rft.aulast=McCrae&rft.auinit=&rft.auinit1=&rft.auinitm=&rft.ausuffix=&rft.au=
McCrae, Robert
R&rft.aucorp=&rft.date=200001&rft.volume=78&rft.issue=1&rft.part=&rft.quarter=&rft.ssn=&rft.spa
ge=173&rft.epage=186&rft.pages=&rft.artnum=&rft.issn=0022-3514&rft.eissn=1939Last updated:
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1315&rft.isbn=&rft.sici=&rft.coden=&rft_id=info:doi/10.1037/00223514.78.1.173&rft.object_id=&svc_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:sch_svc&svc.fulltext=yes&rft_dat=
psp_78_1_173&rft.eisbn=&rft_id=info:oai/

MacNaughton, G., & Davis, K. (2009). "Race" and early childhood education. New York: Palgrave
Macmillan.(pp.113 125) DOI: 10.1057/9780230623750

Rogoff, B. (2003). The cultural nature of human development. New York: Oxford University Press.
(Chapter 1: orienting concepts and ways of understanding the cultural nature of human
development)

Roopnarine, J. L., Lasker, J., Sacks, M., & Stores, M. (1998). The Cultural Contexts of Childrens Play.
In O.N. Saracho & B. Spodeck (Eds.), Multiple Perspectives on Play in Early Childhood Education
(pp. 148 166). Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. Retrieved from
http://site.ebrary.com.ezproxy1.acu.edu.au/lib/australia ncathu/docDetail.action?
docID=10064654&adv.x=1&p00=race&f00=all&p01=early+childhood&f01=all&p02=education&f02

=all
Santos, A. J., & Winegar, L. T. (1999). Child social ethology and peer relations: a developmental
review of methodology and findings. acta ethologica, 2(1), 1-11. doi: 10.1007/PL00012226

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EDFD167: Rubric for Assessment Task 1: Critical reflection on own sites of learning (40%)
Tutors Name and Tutorial Group: Jo Bird Thursday 1-3pm
Student Name: Melissa Binks

Aspects of
Assessment

High Distinction

Distinction

Credit

Pass

Unsatisfactory

Five critical
reflections on own
sites of learning in
relation to key ideas
and concepts
introduced during
weeks 1 - 5

Five responses
included. Each
response is approx
320 words.

Five responses
included. Each
response is approx
320 words.

Five responses
included. Each
response is approx
320 words.

Five responses
included. Each
response is approx
320 words.

Each response
engages critically
with key ideas and
concepts presented
each week.
Demonstrates a
very high degree of
analytical thinking.

Each response
engages critically
with key ideas and
concepts presented
each week.
Demonstrates a
high degree of
analytical thinking.

Each response
engages with some
of the key ideas
and concepts
presented each
week.
Demonstrates good
analytical thinking.

Each response
engages with some
of the key ideas
and concepts
presented each
week. Evidence of
developing
analytical thinking
skills.

Less than five

responses included.
Each response is
not within approx
word limit.

Incorporates the
literature showing a
highly advanced
ability to
comprehend and
synthesise complex
ideas presented in
relation to the
ideas/thoughts/refle
ctions being
discussed.

Incorporates the
literature showing
advanced ability to
comprehend and
synthesise complex
ideas presented in
relation to the
ideas/thoughts/refle
ctions being
discussed.

Incorporates the
literature showing
sound ability to
comprehend
complex ideas
presented in
relation to the
ideas/thoughts/refle
ctions being
discussed.

Incorporates the
literature showing
an ability to
comprehend the
ideas presented in
relation to the
ideas/thoughts/refle
ctions being
discussed.

Imprecise or no use
of the literature in
responses to
support
ideas/thoughts/refle
ctions

Draws on key
experiences to
support discussion
showing a
sophisticated
understanding of
the relationship
between the
experience and the
concept/idea being
discussed.

Draws on key
experiences to
support discussion
showing a strong
understanding of
the relationship
between the
experience and the
concept/idea being
discussed.

Draws on
experiences to
support discussion
showing a sound
understanding of
the relationship
between the
experience and the
concept/idea being
discussed.

Draws on key
experiences to
support discussion
showing an
understanding of
the relationship
between the
experience and the
concept/idea being
discussed.

Does not draw on

key experiences to
support discussion.

10 marks

Reference to the
literature to support
ideas/thoughts/refle
ctions
10 marks

Specific detail
about challenges
and opportunities
provided to support
claims made about
reflections on sites
of learning
10 marks

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Responses have
limited engagement
with key ideas and
concepts presented
each week. Limited
degree of analytical
thinking.

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Structure, grammar,
spelling &
referencing
10 marks

APA referencing is
used correctly in
text and reference
list.
Two or more peerreviewed readings
cited in each
response. One or
more is
independently
sourced.
Language is clear,
concise and on
topic. Use of
advanced
vocabulary.
Grammatically and
syntactically strong.

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APA referencing is
used and almost
always correct in
text and reference
list.
Two or more peerreviewed readings
cited in each
response. One is
independently
sourced.
Language is clear,
concise, on topic.
Suitable
vocabulary,
grammatically and
syntactically strong.

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APA referencing is
used and mostly
correct in text and
reference list.
Two peer-reviewed
readings cited in
each response.
One is
independently
sourced.

Language is clear
and on topic,
grammatically and
syntactically
correct.

APA referencing is
used but
inconsistently in
text or reference
list.
Two peer-reviewed
readings cited in
each response.
One is
independently
sourced.
Language is mostly
clear, grammatically
and syntactically
correct.

APA referencing not

used or used
incorrectly in text
and reference list.
No reference to
peer-reviewed
readings.
Language is at
times difficult to
understand.
Grammar and
syntax errors.