Learning Area Legal Studies 1 (EDUC90961)

This subject develops Teacher Candidates’ understanding of the place of Legal Studies education in the Australian secondary curriculum and the various factors that impact upon its implementation in school contexts. Curriculum frameworks such as the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE), the Victorian Curriculum and the Australian Curriculum will be examined to enhance Teacher Candidates’ appreciation of the disciplinary knowledge and skills required to teach, and learn, Legal Studies in a secondary school setting.

Subject specific literacy and numeracy demands of Legal Studies will be examined and a range of pedagogical approaches will be discussed to provide learning experiences and opportunities for Teacher Candidates to analyse and demonstrate how students’ subject specific literacy and numeracy might be developed in Legal Studies. Contemporary digital technologies will be incorporated, where appropriate, to support Teacher Candidates to enhance their knowledge, skills and capabilities to use such technologies to support student learning in Legal Studies, as well as their own professional practice.

Teacher Candidates will develop their knowledge of how to plan Legal Studies lessons and units of work that take into account context, curriculum, pedagogy and assessment to support diverse students to meet specific learning outcomes. They will have an opportunity to implement a Legal Studies lesson and to use a variety of data as evidence of the effectiveness of their teaching practice on student learning. Reflection on teaching practice will be facilitated through collegiate interaction and self-evaluation to identify areas for future professional growth and development as a Legal Studies educator.