Professional Practice: Being a Teacher

All forms of cheating and dishonest practice are taken seriously and penalties will result. Students should refer to Regulation J of the General Course and Examination Regulations. Work submitted may be analysed by the software Turnitin, to check for plagiarism. Where there is evidence that cheating or plagiarism has occurred students will be awarded an X grade and the matter will be referred to the year level coordinator, and/or the Head of the School of Teacher Education.

Assessment procedures will follow the policies of the Te Kaupeka Ako | Faculty of Education Assessment Guidelines. The final grade will be calculated and reported using the UC Pass / Fail.

An examiner's meeting will be held at the end of the course to confirm final grades and to ensure fairness and consistency.

Students will be expected to conduct at least one pre-placement visit at their allocated school. Full attendance in school for the duration of the practicum, from at least 8.00am - 5.00pm each day, is a requirement.

A student seeking credit in any course must attend such lectures, and perform satisfactorily such oral, practical, written and other work as the Head of Department/School concerned may require. (University of Canterbury Calendar 2021)

Students are expected to attend all scheduled course sessions, actively engage with course content and actively participate in course activities in order to meet the learning outcomes of the course. Students are expected to notify both their Associate Teachers (AT) and Professional Practice Lecturer (PPL) via email and text where appropriate prior to their absence with an explanation. Extended absences must be accompanied by a medical certificate or similar (as for aegrotat provisions).

Formal and informal evaluation will take place in accordance with the relevant Course Evaluation policy, to provide feedback to teaching staff about the relevance  and validity of what has been learned as well as the quality of course delivery.

The courses will be internally moderated in accordance with the processes adopted by the Te Kaupeka Ako | Faculty of Education.  An examiners’ meeting will be held at the end of the course to determine the final grades and to ensure fairness and consistency.

Work handed in after the due date with no extension granted is considered late. Late work will be accepted up to one week after the due date. If, for any reason, you are having difficulty in keeping to the deadline for assignments, you must make contact via email with one of the course lecturers so that we can work with you as to what is possible and reasonable. Marks will be deducted for lateness. Lecturers reserve the right not to mark late work.

Tertiary literacy standard

Assignments that do not meet a tertiary literacy standard will be marked but that mark will be sanctioned. The student will be given one opportunity to correct the assignment so that it demonstrates tertiary technical writing skills. These skills include the correct use of spelling (including the appropriate use of macrons when spelling Māori words), sentence structure, punctuation, paragraphing and the appropriate use of APA referencing. The corrected work must be resubmitted within seven calendar days.

Once the work is at an appropriate tertiary literacy standard the sanction on the mark will be removed.

Under exceptional circumstances (eg illness, accident, bereavement or critical personal circumstances) individual students may be granted an extension of the due date for an assignment.  There is, however, a limit to the length of time that an extension can be granted and this should be negotiated with the course co-ordinator in the first instance.  Extensions will not normally be given for longer than one week from the due date, unless exceptional circumstances prevail. Extensions are not granted automatically to students. Requests for extensions should be emailed to the course co-ordinator at least two working days prior to the due date for the assignment. Relevant evidence such as a medical certificate or a letter from a counsellor may be required in order for the course co-ordinator to make a decision about whether or not to grant an extension. A copy of the course co-ordinator's email confirming the extension (if granted) and any supporting documentation must be attached to and submitted with the assignment. Extensions will not normally be granted because of pressure of University study, eg several pieces of work being due at the same time. Students are encouraged to plan their work in a realistic manner and in advance so they can meet their assessment deadlines.

Resubmissions are restricted to work that is originally submitted on or before the due date. Late assignments are not normally considered for resubmission unless there are exceptional circumstances. If the student’s assignment work meets most of the criteria required to pass, they may be given the opportunity to resubmit the assignment to bring it to a passing standard. Only one resubmission is possible within the course. Students will have one week from the return of an assignment, to resubmit their work. A resubmitted assignment that meets requirements will be awarded a minimum passing grade. A resubmitted assignment that does not meet the passing standard will be awarded a ‘D’.

Assignments are graded according to the UC assessment policy and common grading scale. Aegrotats are not available for this course and the assignments must be completed.

Assessment procedures will follow the policies of the UC College of Education, Health and Human Development Assessment Guidelines. The final grade will be calculated and reported using the UC Pass / Fail.

Students are required to maintain a collection (e-repository) of digital artefacts relating to their practice and learning. An e-repository is a simple collection of items that have been created and collected by students before, during and after their placement. The e-repository is to be made available to their Associate Teacher, Principal and PPL at all times.  The collection of artefacts will be stored digitally in UC cloud storage (e.g. locally hosted OneDrive). Guidelines for setting up and managing a TEPP321 e-repository will be provided prior to placement. Students will use the artefacts within the e-repository to evidence meeting the criteria of He Poutama: Ngā Pae Akoranga for TEPP321.

Once a placement has started, if for reasons beyond their control, students are prevented from completing a placement or suffer significant impairment, they may apply for what is known as “special consideration”. University of Canterbury Special Consideration provisions for this course will apply only to late discontinuation (withdrawal) from a course.

A detailed description of special consideration and materials to support the applications process are available at: Special Considerations Process.  

This information replaces any previous references to special consideration, Aegrotat or Backdated (Late) Withdrawal in the Course Information System, Learn or Course Outlines.

If you are unclear about the implications or process please discuss with your Course Coordinator or contact the Student Advice team for assistance.

The practice report document will record and evaluate student progress over the duration of the 5 week practice. When completing the report it is essential that they provide evidence of meeting the criteria within each of the four key values of He Poutama: Ngā Pae Akoranga for TEPP321: Kia Matau level.  Evidence of meeting these criteria will be your responsibility and will be documented through the use of the e-repository.  Students will follow guidelines to complete the TEPP321 Kia Matau evidence template.
Providing evidence
Items of practice documentation that must be used as evidence will include;
• planning for learning – learning plans, assessment tasks
• learning plan reflections and evaluations
• written lesson observations and ongoing feedback from the Associate Teacher and UC Mentor
• ākonga work (samples or marked work)

Self-reflection
Students will be required to complete the self-reflection on learning on the final report prior to the mid-practice review with their Associate Teacher. During the mid-practice review meeting they will be expected to share the evidence that they have collected so far and discuss how this evidence demonstrates their progress towards meeting He Poutama: Ngā Pae Akoranga for TEPP321.

Final/End of Practice Self Reflection will be in the week 5 critical reflection, plus Kia Matau evidence template.

Confirmation of evidence and final grade recommendation is provided by the PPL at their end of review meeting with the student.

As well as attending classes, it is essential that all students regularly access the course Learn site. All course information such as the course kaupapa, notices, assessment information, required and recommended readings, audio recordings of some lectures, and other teaching resources etc. will be available on this site.

All students are required to submit their completed Practice Report via dropbox on the TEPP321 Learn site.

Normally, assignments will be submitted and returned via the Learn site. It is the responsibility of the students to check their emails at least twice a week and ensure Internet access and ability to submit their work via the online system is functioning. Any technical difficulties should be notified well in advance of the due date so that assistance can be provided or alternative arrangements can be negotiated.

For ICT help call our free call number 0508 UC IT HELP (0508 824 843) or on 03 369 5000. Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm (excluding public and university holidays)

It is a student’s responsibility to uplift marked work and feedback in a timely manner. It is strongly recommended that students retain a back-up copy of all submitted work. Marks for assignments will be communicated electronically, through Gradebook. Turnitin (plagiarism checking software) may be used to check for plagiarism