Teaching and Learning
Underpinning Principles
The Northern Territory Department of Education and Training's vision for teaching and learning Middle Years of Schooling is underpinned by the principles described in the NT Curriculum Framework.
These principles are supported by a fundamental belief that students in the Middle Years of Schooling are at a unique stage in their development and require teaching and learning opportunities appropriate to their current and future learning pathways.
The specific ways these principles are interpreted and applied will depend on the school and the context. Each school will need to determine how the principles apply to their particular context. However, these principles are fundamental and will be at the core of every decision.
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| Principles
of teaching and learning (jpg 33Kb) |
Focus on Learning
Middle Schooling places learning as the central pillar of all areas of school life, and there is continuous consolidation and refinement of teaching and learning through which teachers, school leaders and para-professional staff regularly ask of themselves
- “What do we value and believe about educating young adolescents?
- How well are we achieving what we value and believe?
- How do the practices we use help us to achieve what we say we value?
- How do our practices aid learning based on what we know about how children learn and
- How well do our current practices match our vision of what is possible?”
Reference: Atkin. J, 1996
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| From values and beliefs to principles and practices (gif 11Kb) |
Pathway to Middle Schooling
By 2010, middle schooling will have seamlessly and effectively merged into the education landscape in the Northern Territory. To determine how schools might work towards implementing Middle Schooling approaches, it is necessary to deeply reflect upon and challenge existing practices, and ensure that any changes are supported and aligned through planning, implementing and evaluating processes in the classroom and at the school, local area and system levels. As schools and teachers progress towards middle schooling, it is recognised that school communities and teaching staff will progress through four key phases.
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| The four key phases of progress to Middle Schooling (pdf 29Kb) |
The following reflective tools to assist schools and teachers to examine their current practices and to plan for future improvement.
- Middle Years Strategic Framework for Cultural Years
Further Readings and Resources
- From Visions and Beliefs to Principles and Practices by Julia Atkin (pdf 190Kb)
- Teaching and Learning in a Community of Thinking by Harpaz (pdf 124Kb)
- Middle Years of Schooling - Getting Started (ppt 1.4Mb))
