All teachers are teachers of literacy and numeracy: Literacies and Numeracies in Context

Abstract

The Unit ‘Literacies and Numeracies in Context’ is taught to all pre-service teachers as a requirement from the Department of Education in NSW. The unit examines the literacy and numeracy demands across all subject areas. The subject areas are also referred to as ‘disciplines’. The unit is hence ‘interdisciplinary’ in nature. The first part of the unit is theoretical in nature arming students with a theoretical framework guiding the unit so that they are equipped with the metalanguage to use in the unit. Part 2 of the unit challenges the students to translate the theory into practice. Students are required to use student work samples from their subjects (disciplines) and analyse the work samples for literacy and numeracy.
In the unit, we use ‘topic notes’, lecture slides, lecture recordings and live tutorials.

Interactions with students happen in the Learning Area Discussion Forums created to cover the various disciplines in the unit. Peer discussions and interactions with the lecturers take place in Forums created to address issues that students may have in the unit. There are three assessments in the unit. Assessment 1 covers the theoretical bit of the unit. Assessment 2 addresses forum discussions and online quizzes. Assessment 3 is a teaching portfolio.