As an early childhood educator, it is important that you have a good understanding of theory, Early Childhood curriculum framework (EYLF), National Quality Standard (NQF), and Australian

Assignment Task

Unit Learning Outcomes

This assessment task maps to the following ULOs:

ULO1: describe and justify curriculum in early childhood education and care services

ULO2: understand and demonstrate conceptual knowledge related to key learning areas for children from birth to five years

ULO3: argue, with reference to the literature, how curriculum key learning areas can be applied to support children’s learning

ULO4: create and analyse learning environments of curriculum key learning areas for children’s development and learning explain the role of the early childhood educator

Rationale

This unit develops conceptual knowledge of the holistic and integrated approach to curriculum in the early childhood setting for children aged from birth to five years. Students learn about the importance of play, the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) (2022), National Quality Standard (ACECQA, 2020) and use an integrated approach of the learning areas (Australian Curriculum Foundation Year; English, Humanities and Social Sciences, Health and Physical Education, Languages, Mathematics, Science, Technologies, and The Arts).

Task Description

As an early childhood educator, it is important that you have a good understanding of theory, Early Childhood curriculum framework (EYLF), National Quality Standard (NQF), and Australian Curriculum Foundation year) and to be able to justify how early childhood educators use play to plan and implement curriculum for young children in early childhood settings. Assessment 1 requires you define curriculum in early childhood education, discuss how educators use play to implement the curriculum and critically reflect on teacher and children’s interactions during an early childhood activity with relevant links to EYLF, NQS Quality Areas (QA), and Australian Curriculum Learning Areas (Foundation Year). This assessment task will enable you to demonstrate a good working knowledge and understanding of early childhood education curriculum, frameworks, theory, and concepts. Note: For this unit, the terms educator and teacher are interchangeable.

Task Instructions

Write a critical response to the following three points to demonstrate a good working knowledge and understanding of early childhood education curriculum, frameworks, theory, and concepts.

1. Define what curriculum means in early childhood education and provide a rationale for your statement using the unit content and readings to support your discussion.

2. Discuss how educators use children’s play to plan and implement curriculum in early childhood education settings. Justify your response by using theory, EYLF, NQS QA, using the unit content and readings to support your discussion.

3. Observe the teacher and children's interactions during an early childhood activity in the video provided in the Assessment 1 folder.

• a) Identify and discuss relevant EYLF Principles and Practices the educator is using to promote children’s learning and make relevant links to the NQS Quality Areas.
• b) Identify 2 relevant EYLF Learning Outcomes the children are learning during the activity. Describe a relevant example of what you see in the video that demonstrates the EYLF Learning Outcomes.
• c) Identify 2 relevant Learning Areas (Australian Curriculum, Foundation Year, English, Humanities and Social Sciences, Health and Physical Education, Languages, Mathematics, Science, Technologies, and The Arts) this activity may be covering and describe an example from the video, for each of your selected Learning Areas.