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

    Building Partnerships in Early Childhood Settings
  • Unit Code

    ECS4315
  • Year

    2025
  • Enrolment Period

    1
  • Version

    2
  • Credit Points

    15
  • Full Year Unit

    N
  • Mode of Delivery

    On Campus
    Online
  • Unit Coordinator

    Mrs Leonie MENZEL

Description

This unit examines a framework for interdisciplinary practice and service coordination to build a Team Around the Child. An integral part of the Team Around the Child is family centred practice, in which family is empowered to participate as equal members of the child's team. Pre-service teachers will formulate strategies for connecting, communicating and working with diverse families, community and other stakeholders to improve outcomes for children with complex needs. They will explore notions of cultural competence when considering diversity in parenting, families and issues of social justice.

Prerequisite Rule

Students must pass ECS2240, ECS1265 and ECS1245 to enrol in this unit

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this unit students should be able to:

  1. Justify the importance of forming partnerships with families and communities in establishing a Team Around the Child.
  2. Determine varied approaches, strategies, benefits and barriers in establishing and maintaining collaborative partnerships in early childhood settings.
  3. Examine the role of cultural competence in supporting the multiple roles of parents, their parenting beliefs, and cultural constructions of families and communities.
  4. Use knowledge of cultural competence as a lens to critically examine own values, prejudices and perspectives on the roles of families and working with diverse groups.
  5. Formulate ways to support families with diverse needs at times of stress, including families with children with special needs.
  6. Examine collaborative/integrated care and education models as integral to the Team Around the Child.

Unit Content

  1. Importance of establishing a Team Around the Child.
  2. Strategies for engaging families and communities in establishing a Team Around the Child.
  3. Cultural competence and roles of parents, diversity of parenting beliefs, and cultural constructions of families and communities.
  4. Early Years Learning Framework; National Quality Standard and Early Childhood Australia Code of Ethics and social policy documents.

Learning Experience

ON-CAMPUS

Students will attend on campus classes as well as engage in learning activities through ECU's LMS

JoondalupMount LawleySouth West (Bunbury)
Semester 28 x 4 hour seminarNot OfferedNot Offered

For more information see the Semester Timetable

ONLINE

Students will engage in learning experiences via ECU’s LMS as well as additional ECU learning technologies

WIL - Project

Students undertake an activity in collaboration or consultation with an industry partner but do not spend any time or only a very small amount of time  (e.g. 1-2 short visits) in an actual workplace.

Additional Learning Experience Information

Lectures, Workshops, Online and video.

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 School Progression Panel.

ON CAMPUS
TypeDescriptionValue
Literature ReviewAssisted literature review50%
Case StudyPerspectives of partnerships50%
ONLINE
TypeDescriptionValue
Literature ReviewAssisted literature review50%
Case StudyPerspectives of partnerships50%

Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005)

For the purposes of considering a request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005), inherent requirements for this subject are articulated in the Unit Description, Learning Outcomes and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the support for students with disabilities or medical conditions can be found at the Access and Inclusion website.

Assessment

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. Informal vivas may be conducted as part of an assessment task, where staff require further information to confirm the learning outcomes have been met. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant School Progression Panel.

Academic Integrity

Integrity is a core value at Edith Cowan University, and it is expected that ECU students complete their assessment tasks honestly and with acknowledgement of other people's work as well as any generative artificial intelligence tools that may have been used. This means that assessment tasks must be completed individually (unless it is an authorised group assessment task) and any sources used must be referenced.

Breaches of academic integrity can include:

Plagiarism

Copying the words, ideas or creative works of other people or generative artificial intelligence tools, without referencing in accordance with stated University requirements. Students need to seek approval from the Unit Coordinator within the first week of study if they intend to use some of their previous work in an assessment task (self-plagiarism).

Unauthorised collaboration (collusion)

Working with other students and submitting the same or substantially similar work or portions of work when an individual submission was required. This includes students knowingly providing others with copies of their own work to use in the same or similar assessment task(s).

Contract cheating

Organising a friend, a family member, another student or an external person or organisation (e.g. through an online website) to complete or substantially edit or refine part or all of an assessment task(s) on their behalf.

Cheating in an exam

Using or having access to unauthorised materials in an exam or test.

Serious outcomes may be imposed if a student is found to have committed one of these breaches, up to and including expulsion from the University for repeated or serious acts.

ECU's policies and more information about academic integrity can be found on the student academic integrity website.

All commencing ECU students are required to complete the Academic Integrity Module.

Assessment Extension

In some circumstances, Students may apply to their Unit Coordinator to extend the due date of their Assessment Task(s) in accordance with ECU's Assessment, Examination and Moderation Procedures - for more information visit https://askus2.ecu.edu.au/s/article/000001386.

Special Consideration

Students may apply for Special Consideration in respect of a final unit grade, where their achievement was affected by Exceptional Circumstances as set out in the Assessment, Examination and Moderation Procedures - for more information visit https://askus2.ecu.edu.au/s/article/000003318.

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