This post isn't specifically about any HSIE subject, but rather relates to ideas, concepts and requirements that you need to take into consideration in your teaching and programming.

The Commonwealth Disability Standards for Education 2005 sets out our responsibilities to all students, and covers issues such as enrolment, access, participation, curriculum development and delivery and support services. It also specifies the way in which schools should address issues such as harassment and victimisation.

Schools are required to treat students with disabilities on the same basis as students without. Reasonable adjustments must be made to accommodate students. Students and their parents should be consulted on the type of adjustments made.

The principles outlined in the Every Student, Every School policy reinforce the Disability Standards. Professional Learning and Development of classroom teachers will target improvements in knowledge and skills in providing quality education and resources for student with special needs.
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Learning Support
Learning Support is the responsibility of the whole school and every teacher. It includes understanding the needs of students and making appropriate adjustments. Learning Support at Epping involves accessing specialist teachers such as LAST, ESL, and support personnel such as the SLSO, (School Learning & Support Officer) or teachers
aides.

The Learning Support Team
The Learning Support Team will liaise with faculties to disseminate information and report feedback from faculties back to the team. The Learning Support team member that will liaise with each faculty is below.

The Learning and Support Teacher
The LAST provides direct timely specialist assistance to students in regular classes with additional learning and support needs and their teachers. The LAST role will reflect the needs of individual students, school priorities and programs. The LAST will work using a collaborative and consultative approach to actively involve parents and students and will  support classroom teachers.

Relevant documents:
Disability for Students 2005
Every Student, Every School
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BOSTES: Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards
AITSL: Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership

Click to view the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers.

The standards can be used to :
- assist professional discussions
- planning for professional learning
- performance development
- Certification (accreditation)

Click to read about Graduate Teachers.
Click to read about Proficient Teachers.
Click to read about Highly Accomplished Teachers.
Click to read about Lead Teachers.
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To assist you in understanding what each of the standards means and looks like, AITSL has provided videos, called "Illustrations of Practice". Click to view the Illustrations of Practice.

To gain accreditation you will need to provide evidence of each of the standards. Click to read about Certification Evidence.

 There are two self assessment tools available to try to assess where you fit within the accreditation process. One is offered by the BOSTES but it has a cost. The other is offered by AITSL and is free. Click on the link to use AITSL's tool: AITSL Self Assessment Tool.

Click to read about Accreditation and Teaching Interstate.

I've recently completed a week or so of Problem-based learning with my Year 11 Geography class. We had been learning about river regulation of the Mekong River as part of the Biophysical Interactions topic. The students were required to read a series of articles, concentrating only on the descriptions of environmental issues that were discussed. They had to list as many of these problems as they could and then categorise them. Students then had to find a way to incorporate as many of these problems into one general problem. They then had to think about the way the problems that they had originally thought of were all interconnected.

Students had to work collaboratively to come up with a range of solutions or management strategies to address their main problem. After exploring these solutions they had to develop a management strategy for the Mekong River incorporating local, regional, national and bilateral strategies.

The aim of this activity will be to identify a range of environmental problems affecting the Mekong River, and to explore possible solutions to some of these problems. Below is a very brief overview of the lesson sequence. The attached file contains much more detail including scaffolding of the activities.

Overview
Lesson 1
Begin reading through the booklet of readings that you have been provided with. The readings all relate to issues impacting on the Mekong region. Summarise the articles in the table provided. 
 
Lesson 2
Continue reading and summarising the articles provided.
Pair work - Determine one underlying issue affecting the Mekong Region.

Lesson 3
Create a flow chart which explores how your problem impacts on the biophysical environment. 
Individual work - Write a summary of how the Mekong Region is sensitive to change.

Lesson 4
In pairs, suggest a range of solutions or management strategies to address your underlying problem.
Design a management strategy that can be applied across countries, up and downstream to address the issues in the Mekong
Region.
Identify a range of professionals that you will need to employ to put your management plans into place. 
 
Lesson 5
Mekong overview and presentation of management plans.