Handbook : Unit informationEdith Cowan University

School: Education

This unit information may be updated and amended immediately prior to semester. To ensure you have the correct outline, please check it again at the beginning of semester.

• Unit Title

  Visual Arts and Music Education in Early Childhood

• Unit Code

  AED6160

• Year

  2019

• Enrolment Period

  1

• Version

  2

• Credit Points

  15

• Full Year Unit

  N

• Mode of Delivery

  On Campus
  Online

• Unit Coordinator

  Mrs Amelia Keziah RUSCOE

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Description

This unit offers opportunities for the advanced study of contemporary pedagogical design to support young children's learning through the Arts. An emphasis will be on visual arts and music from birth to eight years of age. The unit explores how visual arts and music uniquely transform children's understanding of themselves and their world as they experience it through their senses and express it multi-modally. Children's processes of creative production and aesthetic response will be reflected upon to ascertain appropriate approaches to teaching and learning that nurture and support the development of playful, creative and imaginative behaviours. Further, this unit examines contemporary teaching and assessment strategies, appropriate environments and how to select content in teaching visual art and music to young children.

Prerequisite Rule

Students enrolled in I81 must complete ECE6130

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this unit students should be able to:

1. Investigate the impact of exposure to arts-based experiences upon early brain development.
2. Analyse the impact of socio-cultural influences upon the creative and aesthetic development of a young child.
3. Critically analyse the nature of creative and artistic development in young children through observation of their emerging uses of systems of symbols in visual arts to surface meaning.
4. Design and showcase a range of innovative, resourceful and authentic practices for supporting music and visual arts development, performance and preparing an environment for this to take place.
5. Identify and evaluate responsive teaching methods, appropriate content, strategies and assessment techniques that facilitate music and visual art learning and expression.
6. Advocate for visual arts and music as unique ways in which young children's voices are made audible and their perceptions, feelings and thinking are made visible.
7. Critically reflect upon and develop inquiry methods with which to investigate, research and extend personal artistic and musical skills, techniques and processes.
8. Critique a range of teaching, learning and assessment strategies in the teaching of visual art and music and communicating arts based learning to families.

Unit Content

1. Theoretical perspectives and beliefs about visual arts and music and how this influences teaching and learning in the early years context.
2. Impact of music upon brain and body development during early life.
3. Strategies to support the construction of meaning through the arts in the early years.
4. Multi-modal expression through the use of authentic arts-based experiences.
5. The contemporary context of early years arts education and the pedagogical approaches that influence holistic development.
6. Planning respectful, playful arts-based experiences to promote creativity, innovation and imagination.
7. The teacher's role in planning resourcefully and sustainably, and preparing a responsive, reciprocal learning environment and communicating arts based learning to other staff and families.
8. Specialised strategies for planning, assessing and reflection using the Early Years Learning Framework, Western Australian Curriculum and Kindergarten Curriculum Guidelines.

Learning Experience

ON-CAMPUS

Students will attend on campus classes as well as engage in learning activities through ECU Blackboard.

For more information see the Semester Timetable

ONLINE

Students will engage in learning experiences through ECU Blackboard as well as additional ECU learning technologies.

Additional Learning Experience Information

A combination of lectures, workshops, guest speakers, videos, required readings and group and individually assigned work are used to achieve the unit outcomes. Students are required to become independent learners, who can adapt to the roles of practitioner or learner as they contribute to workshops as competent team members.

Assessment

GS1 GRADING SCHEMA 1 Used for standard coursework units

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant Board of Examiners.

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