Sitting and listening

A pre-service teacher recognises that she must use a range of teaching strategies to respond to the age and learning characteristics of her students. She plans her lesson in short spans to take account of their cognitive and physical characteristics, realising that too much sitting and listening would be inappropriate. She also anticipates classroom management issues in positioning students in the room, by using clapping to gain and regain their attention, and through songs. On reflection with her teacher mentor, she comes to an understanding that a less teacher centred approach may been more engaging for all students and have improved the students' learning outcomes.

Ross Park is the oldest government primary school in Alice Springs. It has almost 400 students of which 25 per cent are Indigenous. At the school, a pre-service teacher from Charles Darwin University is in her final round of teaching practice. During this period, she has been able to teach a group of younger students a literacy unit using a text based on the story of the gingerbread man.