EDFD467: Wellbeing and the Development of a Whole Person

Assessment Task 2: Lesson Plans & Rationale

Siobhan Kerr (S00201999)

Assessment Task 2
Section Two: Rationale
Rationale: PROSPER Pathways

Pathway Explanation:

Within this unit of work there has been positive classroom environment established so all
POSITVITY learners feel a sense of support, respect and inclusiveness. Through the teaching
strategy of collaboration, students are able to form stronger relationships with the teacher
and peers, thus further develops their emotional and social wellbeing. Implementing
partner or group tasks within the lessons enables students to learn through others,
enhance personal skills, abilities and communication which further improves their
academic success. More importantly, through collaboration students feel a sense of
belonging and acceptance at school (Noble & McGarth, 2015) which enhance positive
wellbeing and learning. Positivity within students stems from student’s feeling more
accepted and connected to the classroom. By allowing opportunities for students to foster
meaningful interactions with others through learning, prompts positivity and healthy
wellbeing.

Another strategy used to enhance positivity within students is the use of feedback from
peers or the teacher. It is essential to give quick, accurate, and detailed feedback in a
constructive and encouraging way (Ridley & Walther, 1995), so the student can feel a
sense of accomplishment in their work. From feedback given, it also provides the teacher
with evidence on where the student needs assistance in order to be a successful learner.
Including 2 Stars and 1 wish feedback strategy, it allows students to receive 2 positive
comments and 1 thing to work towards on a positive note. This enables the student to still
feel accepted by others and empowered to further their learning to enhance their

1
 EDFD467: Wellbeing and the Development of a Whole Person
Assessment Task 2: Lesson Plans & Rationale
Siobhan Kerr (S00201999)
wellbeing.
Relationships are a critical component in young children’s lives, development and
RELATIONSHIPS wellbeing as it allows them to feel a sense of self-worth and connectedness to the world
around them. The inclusion of collaborative activities and facilitated group discussions
strategies within the lessons provide students with the opportunities to foster new
relationships with others. It is found the use of cooperative learning activities aim to foster
socialization, networking and connection among all students (Ridley & Walther, 1995),
enhances student’s learning performance, academic success and wellbeing. Through
positive interactions and class discussions, students have a higher chance of creating
meaningful relationships which benefits their overall mental health. According to
research, relationships drawn from social awareness and positive engagement with
others can have a direct impact on the child’s emotional status, physical wellbeing and
overall capacity to function in any learning environment (Churchill, 2016).

With the inclusion of discussions and collaborative work in lessons, each child is provided
with the opportunities to learn and practise using prosocial values that emphasise
harmony and concern for others such as respect, cooperation, acceptance of differences,
compassion, friendliness and inclusion (Noble & McGarth, 2015). Through the practice of
these values, students are able to feel more open to sharing and contributing within class
discussions and in group work with others, by maintaining healthy relationships.
Establishing these relationships in class through the strategies of collaboration and
discussions, all students enhance their social, emotional, physical and cognitive
wellbeing.

Outcomes are an essential component of student’s academic and learning success

OUTCOMES within the classroom as it contributes significantly to their sense of mastery, competence
and accomplishment (Noble & McGarth, 2015). With student’s feeling this sense of
accomplishment and satisfaction with their ability to engage in their learning, it provides
the student to enhance their emotional, social and cognitive wellbeing. In order to provide
each student with a positive sense of wellbeing, including strategies of brainstorming,
worked examples and explicit teaching enables a student to reach their full potential as a
learner. By demonstrating, modelling and providing worked examples it supports skill

2
 EDFD467: Wellbeing and the Development of a Whole Person
Assessment Task 2: Lesson Plans & Rationale
Siobhan Kerr (S00201999)
acquisition and reduce a learner’s cognitive load (High Impact Teaching Strategies,
2017) enabling the student to feel less stress, anxious and overwhelmed when learning a
new skill or knowledge. With the inclusion of this strategy, it allows student’s emotional
and cognitive wellbeing to be supported through scaffolding practices. The strategy of
including brainstorms into the lessons, enables the teacher to assess what knowledge
and understandings students have on the topic. With gathering this information, the
teacher is able to make reasonable adjustments for each individual student to ensure
they successfully complete a learning outcome. One of the biggest learning outcomes for
students is their participation in learning tasks or activities. It is essential to provide
meaningful ways for students to get actively involved in the tasks (Ridley & Walther,
1995). This will stimulate engagement within their learning, development of learning skills
or abilities, and enhance their emotional, social and cognitive wellbeing.

Developing strengths in students requires a variety of strategies such a collaborative

STRENGTHS work, developing student voice within discussions and knowing the students chosen way
of learning. With the strategy of collaborative learning, it helps to strengthen the
characteristics of the student by fostering new skills, knowledges and understandings
through others. Along with providing the student with support system needed to
strengthen their learning outcomes and goals. In order to strengthen the student’s
wellbeing and learning there needs to be a variety of learning activities that move
students a safe distance out of their intellectual and emotional hiding places (Ridley &
Walther, 1995), to further develop their capabilities. Group or pair work enable students
to voice their ideas, thoughts, knowledges and understandings to others, thus enhancing
their social, emotional and cognitive wellbeing. With strengthening their confidence within
social networking, students are more capable in voicing their opinions and knowledge
within tasks or activities in the classroom. As a teacher, it is important to make decisions
in the learners’ best interest (The Victorian Teaching Profession Code of Conduct, 2016),
by catering their abilities and chosen style of learning. The inclusion of ICT within the unit
provides students who are challenged with written components of learning the
opportunity to have positive learning experiences through technology. Technology
provides those students the confidence to complete tasks successfully as their learning

3
 EDFD467: Wellbeing and the Development of a Whole Person
Assessment Task 2: Lesson Plans & Rationale
Siobhan Kerr (S00201999)
needs and wellbeing are recognised.

It is found that our need for purpose is the need for our lives to stand for something, or to
PURPOSE
be meaningful (Porter, 2016). Ensuring that students feel a sense of purpose and having
meaningful learning experiences which can be achieved through a variety of teaching
strategies. This includes independent student learning, collaborative learning, peer
feedback and student voice. The strategy of independent student learning allows
students to have the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge, skills and
understanding by successfully completing a task to the best of their ability. With students
aiming to achieve an outcome or goal successfully, the student is able to feel proud of
their efforts, thus providing the student a sense of purpose in their learning. For students
to find their purpose, they need to be motivated to reach their full potential (Barr, et. al,
2008), by creating lessons which foster engagement and positive sense of wellbeing
students are able to form their identity and purpose. Within collaborative learning
students start reflecting on their own thoughts, feelings, goals and actions related to
learning (Ridley & Walther, 1995) in light of interactions with others to form a sense of
self-concept and wellbeing. It is found that positive well-being and satisfaction with life
are both states of being that may influence a student’s enjoyment of and effort in his or
her (Moran, 2001) learning experiences and personal development. Therefore, it is
critical to provide students with opportunities to have meaningful learning experiences
through a range of strategies that prompt positive wellbeing and interpersonal
development.

Student engagement can be defined as student's willingness, need, desire and

4
 EDFD467: Wellbeing and the Development of a Whole Person
Assessment Task 2: Lesson Plans & Rationale
Siobhan Kerr (S00201999)
ENGAGEMENT compulsion to participate in, and be successful in, the learning process promoting higher
level thinking for enduring understanding (Saeed & Zyngier, 2012). Through the
combination of discussions, cooperative learning, questioning and incorporation of ICT
into the lessons, students are able to become actively involved in their learning
experiences and development. The strategy of questioning allows opportunities for
students to discuss, argue, and express opinions and alternative points of views (High
Impact Teaching Strategies, 2017), thus furthering their personal, emotional and social
wellbeing through communication with others. Furthermore, with questioning it allows
questions to be asked which intrigues students and make them want to think (Ridley &
Walther, 1995) about the topic or issue, thus engaging them in their learning. Considering
this unit and lessons requires student to explore their family’s history, it creates a
personal connection for students which in turn prompts active engagement. All lessons or
unit of work must be relevant, engaging and, importantly, challenging for learners, that is
both ‘hands on’ and ‘minds on’ (Churchill, 2016). With incorporating the element of ICT
into the lesson it invites students to become more engaged through the hands on and
use their creative or critical thinking to complete an activity. The use of collaborative
learning enables students to enhance their social capabilities and wellbeing, as working
in a group or pair is highly engaging for children’s learning. Engagement plays a critical
role in promoting positive wellbeing for students as it caters for their emotional, social,
cognitive and behavioural wellbeing and personal development.

Resilience is defined as the ability to persist, cope adaptively and bounce back after
RESILIENCE
encountering change, challenges, setback, disappointments, difficult situations or adversity
and to bounce back to a reasonable level of wellbeing (Noble & McGarth, 2015). In order
to ensure students, build a sense of resilience there is a need to focus on their strengths
to increase positive self-esteem, and maintain high, realistic expectations for academic
performance (Downey, 2008) and wellbeing. Providing activities that require decision
making enables each individual student to reflect on their own personal values and

5
 EDFD467: Wellbeing and the Development of a Whole Person
Assessment Task 2: Lesson Plans & Rationale
Siobhan Kerr (S00201999)
beliefs to make a decision despite what others say or think. This prompts students to
voice their opinions and develop a sense of confidence in themselves to stand up for
their thoughts, ideas or opinions which can be disagreed with. Through the strategy of
peer feedback, students learn to take on board constructive feedback in a positive light.
The feedback approach of ‘Two Stars and One Wish’, provide students with 2 positive
outcomes from their completed work and one thing to work on or towards. Taking
feedback from peers using this certain approach, maintains the supportive classroom
environment and positive learning experiences. Through building resilience in a
supportive classroom atmosphere, it enables the students to manage their emotional,
mental, cognitive and physical wellbeing.

6
 EDFD467: Wellbeing and the Development of a Whole Person
Assessment Task 2: Lesson Plans & Rationale
Siobhan Kerr (S00201999)
References:
 Barr, A., Gillard, J., Firth, V., Scrymgour, M., Welford, R., & Lomax-Smith, J. et al. (2008). Melbourne Declaration on Educational
Goals for Young Australians. Melbourne, Australia: Distributed by ERIC Clearinghouse.

 Churchill, R., Godinho, S., Johnson, N., Keddie, A., Letts, W., Mackay, J., . . . Lowe, K. (2015). Teaching : Making a difference
(Third ed.).

 Downey, J. A. (2008). Recommendations for fostering educational resilience in the classroom. Preventing School Failure:
Alternative Education for Children and Youth, 53(1), 56-64.

 High Impact Teaching Strategies: Excellence in Teaching and Learning. (2017). Retrieved 27 September 2019, from
https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/school/teachers/support/Expired/0000highimpactteachstrat-expired.pdf

 Moran, C. D. (2001). Purpose in life, student development, and well-being: Recommendations for student affairs
practitioners. NASPA journal, 38(3), 269-279.

 Noble, T., & McGrath, H. (2015). PROSPER: A New Framework for Positive Education. Psychology Of Well-Being, 5(2). doi:
10.1186/s13612-015-0030-2

 Porter, L. (2016). Young Children's Behaviour: Guidance Approaches for Early Childhood Educators (4th ed.). Sydney: Allen &
Unwin.

 Ridley, D., & Walther, B. (1995). Creating responsible learners : The role of a positive classroom environment (Psychology in the
classroom). Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.

 Saeed, S., & Zyngier, D. (2012). How Motivation Influences Student Engagement: A Qualitative Case Study. Journal of Education
and Learning, 1(2), 252-267.

 The Victorian Teaching Profession Code of Conduct. (2016). Victorian Institute of Teaching Retrieved from
https://www.vit.vic.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/35604/Code-of-Conduct-2016.pdf