Description

TCHR5003: PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES IN EARLY
CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
ASSESSMENT 1: Critical Review
Summary
Title Assessment 1: Critical Review
Due Date Monday 31 March 11:59pm AEDT (Week 4)
Length 1500 words
Weighting 50%
Submission 1 word document submitted to Turnitin
Academic
Integrity
(See below for
limits of use
where GenAI is
permitted)

In this assessment task, the use of GenAI is allowed but limited.
You may only use GenAI to help guide you in the process of completing your
assessment work. Think of it as a tool. A quick way to access information or an AI
tutor to help answer your questions. So, you can use GenAI to help guide your
research, ask questions to help to clarify your understanding, brainstorm preliminary
ideas, get feedback on your ideas and clarify concepts.
Remember, just as if you Googled something, you still need to evaluate the
information to determine its accuracy and relevance. GenAI can produce biased and
false information. You must find scholarly sources to support any of the ideas
generated. This is a requirement for this assessment.
You cannot include content generated AI by in your assessment (even if you have
paraphrased, summarised or quoted the output).
You are also permitted to use Grammarly Premium to help edit and improve the
quality of your written work.
If you opt to use GenAI as defined as acceptable for this assessment, you must keep
evidence of how it was used and acknowledge how you used it in the process of
completing your assessment appropriately. To help understand what to do, consult
the Learning Zone’s resources.
• Quick Guide Acknowledging and Referencing GenAI Use
• Build your skills using GenAI – PAIR Framework
• The SCU Library Guide- GenAI can also help you develop your AI literacy
skills. https://libguides.scu.edu.au/genAI
If you use GenAI tools in your assessment task beyond the acceptable limits, it may
result in an academic integrity breach against you as described in the Student
Academic and Non-Academic Misconduct Rules, Section 3.
Under the Rules – Student Academic and Non-Academic Misconduct Rules (Section 3)
students have the right to Appeal against the Academic Integrity Officers academic
misconduct Determination, to the Executive Dean, with that determination being
final and conclusive, and not subject to further Appeal within the
University. Students are not able to appeal against academic misconduct via the Unit
Assessor or unit staff.

Unit Learning
Outcomes

You will demonstrate the following Unit Learning Outcomes on the successful
completion of this task:
• ULO 1: Describe and apply the key principles and practices of the Early Years
Learning Framework (AGDE, 2022).
• ULO 2: Understand and analyse the importance of relationships and how to
build and foster them with children, families, staff and the community
respecting the diversities of their histories and backgrounds.

2

Assessment Brief
Task Description
You are required to develop a professional response to the three (3) scenarios described below that
have occurred in early childhood settings making reference to the unit materials, the National
Quality Standard [NQS] (ACECQA, 2020) and the Early Years Learning Framework V2.0 [EYLF] (AGDE,
2022).
Rationale
The scenarios are based on real life events in early childhood settings and relate to the early
childhood principles and practices that have been explored over the first three weeks of the unit
(Modules 1-3).
Task Instructions
Develop a professional response to each scenario below (500 words each) to demonstrate your
understanding of the importance of relationships and how to build and foster them with children,
families, staff and the community respecting the diversities of their histories and backgrounds. Refer
to the EYLF, NQS, unit materials, and academic literature to support your points.

Scenario 1:
You are the early childhood teacher in the toddler room. Increasingly, you notice some of your
colleagues have a deficit view of the toddlers in their care. Your colleagues demonstrate behaviours
that suggest the toddlers are not capable of making choices and completing routines on their own.
Critically analyse this learning environment in terms of a) the need for children’s agency and b) the
practices you would implement for improved children’s agency in this setting.
When synthesising your response, justify your analysis with one NQS Quality Area (ACECQA, 2020),
one EYLF Principle and one EYLF Practice (AGDE, 2022) and academic literature.

Scenario 2
As the early childhood teacher responsible for the Preschool room at a long day care service, you are
eager to introduce a healthier eating program. Your goal is to involve both families and the
community in this initiative. Your service caters to a diverse range of family backgrounds, each with
unique cultural influences and dietary requirements and preferences.
How can you effectively implement a healthier eating program, considering the diverse backgrounds
and preferences? Additionally, how can you ensure participation and support from both families and
the broader community in this initiative?
When constructing your response, justify your answer with one NQS Quality Area (ACECQA, 2020),
one EYLF Principle and one EYLF Practice (AGDE, 2022) and academic literature.

Scenario 3
You are the educator in the 0–2-year-old room. You have a number of new families who are
concerned about their children who become very upset at drop-off time. You are to construct a

3

Assessment Brief
response to families that will a) reassure the new families that their children’s behaviour is common,
and b) explain the strategies you use to settle the children each morning and build trust.
When detailing the response use one NQS Quality Area (ACECQA, 2020), one EYLF Principle and one
EYLF Practice (AGDE, 2022) and academic literature to justify your decisions, and the importance of
these for the child and family.
Follow the steps below to complete this task:
• Create a new Word Document and save it with your surname and initial and the assessment
task’s name. E.g: MillsA_TCHR5003_criticalreview
• Create a cover page with the following details (use the cover page provided on the unit site)
o Student name
o Student ID
o Unit code
o Unit Assessor and Tutor names
o Date submitted
o GenAI acknowledgement
• Complete one reference list for the entire assessment task.
• Once complete, submit task via the Turnitin link in the Assessment and Submission section
of the unit site.
• Adhere to APA7 formatting guidelines
Referencing
APA7th referencing format is required with a minimum of 10 references. Sources should include
relevant early childhood policy and peer-reviewed literature. Link to SCU Libguide here: APA 7
Referencing.
Task Submission
Assessments should be submitted using the Turnitin activity titled “Assessment 1: Critical Review” in
the Assessments Tasks & Submission section on the Blackboard site. Only Microsoft Word
documents submitted via the Turnitin portal on Blackboard will be accepted.
Special Consideration
Students wishing to request special consideration to extend the due date of an assessment task
must submit a Request for Special Consideration form via their MyEnrolment page as early as
possible and prior to the original due date for that assessment task, along with any accompanying
documents, such as medical certificates.
Late Submissions & Penalties
Except when special consideration is awarded, late submission of assessment tasks will lead
automatically to the imposition of a penalty. Penalties will be incurred as soon as the deadline is
reached.
• a penalty of 5% of the available marks will be deducted from the actual mark at one
minute after the time listed in the due date
• a further penalty of 5% of the available mark will be deducted from the actual mark
achieved on each subsequent calendar day until the mark reaches zero.

4

Assessment Brief
Grades & Feedback
Assignments that have been submitted by the due date will receive an SCU grade and written
feedback. Grades and feedback will be posted to “Grades & Feedback” section on the Blackboard
unit site. Please allow 7-10 days for marks to be posted.
Academic Integrity
At Southern Cross University academic integrity means behaving with the values of honesty,
fairness, trustworthiness, courage, responsibility, and respect in relation to academic work.
The Southern Cross University Academic Integrity Framework aims to develop a holistic, systematic,
and consistent approach to addressing academic integrity across the entire University. For more
information see the SCU Academic Integrity Framework
NOTE: Academic Integrity breaches include the use of generative artificial intelligence tools when
not permitted, poor referencing, not identifying direct quotations correctly, close paraphrasing,
plagiarism, recycling, misrepresentation, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, fabricating
information.
GenAI is allowed – but limited
You may only use GenAI to help guide you in the process of completing your assessment work. Think
of it as a tool. A quick way to access information or an AI tutor to help answer your questions. So,
you can use GenAI to help guide your research, research, ask questions to help to clarify your
understanding, brainstorm preliminary ideas, get feedback on your ideas and clarify concepts. You
must find scholarly sources to support any of the ideas generated. This is a requirement for this
assessment. Please see the Student Academic and Non-Academic Misconduct Rules, Section 3.