This course prepares graduates for a career as a skilled, critical and effective educator in the early childhood sector, primary schools, secondary schools or a combination of these. You will build a high level of expertise in one of eight specialisations:
- Early years education*
- Early years and primary education
- Primary education (studied as a single degree or as part of a double degree course)
- Primary and secondary education
- Primary and secondary health and physical education
- Primary and secondary inclusive education
- Secondary health and physical education
- Secondary education (only studied as part of a double degree course).
The course will prepare you for teaching in an increasingly diverse, complex and changing world. You will engage with contemporary ideas and practices and learn how to foster the learning of children and young people with varied needs. This will enable you to develop your students' creative, intellectual, physical, personal and social capabilities.
While learning to handle the complex nature of teaching, you will develop the specific professional knowledge and teaching skills needed to engage students of various ages and developmental stages with particular school subjects. Depending upon your specialisation, you will develop the skills and knowledge needed to teach in learning areas such as the arts and music, English, mathematics, civics and citizenship, physical education, health and wellbeing, science and humanities. Professional experience offered throughout the course in urban, rural, remote or international locations and education settings will build your knowledge of teaching and learning. As a result, you will become a thoughtful, effective and inclusive educator, able to design learning experiences that ensure your future students have the right balance of challenge and support.
The Bachelor of Education (Honours) prepares professional educators for the global workforce. As a graduate of the course you will have a strong base for decision making about your practice and be in a position to establish yourself as a leader of the future.
Double degrees
The primary education specialisation of the Bachelor of Education (Honours) may be studied in a course leading to a double degree; it can also be taken in a single degree course.
The secondary education specialisation of the Bachelor of Education (Honours) must be studied in a course leading to a double degree; it cannot be taken in a single degree course. You should seek the advice of the Faculty of Education in choosing your majors and specialisations in the partner course, to ensure that you meet the requirements for registration as a specialist teacher.
Each of the above two specialisations can be taken in combination with any of the following courses:
- Bachelor of Arts
- Bachelor of Business
- Bachelor of Commerce
- Bachelor of Fine Art (visual arts specialisation only)
- Bachelor of Information Technology
- Bachelor of Music
- Bachelor of Science
Taking a double degree combination will lead to the award of two degrees; the Bachelor of Education (Honours) in either the primary education or the secondary education specialisation and the degree awarded for the partner course.
In a double degree course, you will need to meet the course requirements for both degrees. Refer to the individual course entries for each course in your double degree.
*This specialisation will not be available in 2018.
Specialisations
Early years education
Availability: Peninsula (this specialisation will not be available in 2018)
This specialisation will prepare you to teach infants and children from birth to five years of age in childcare, kindergartens and preschools. The curriculum spans birth to eight years of age and you will learn how to engage young children in meaningful learning through innovative pedagogical practice and how to effectively support children's transition to school. You will also learn how to help young children develop their creative, physical, personal, intellectual and social capabilities.
Early years and primary education
Availability: Peninsula
This specialisation will prepare you to teach infants and children from birth to 12 years of age in childcare, kindergartens, preschools and primary schools. You will learn how to engage young children in meaningful learning through innovative pedagogical practice and you will learn how to help them develop their creative, physical, personal, intellectual and social capabilities. You will learn how to support children's transition to school and their progress through the primary years. You will actively engage with contemporary theories, concepts and practices of early years and primary education, developing inclusive practices to meet a diversity of children's needs and building a repertoire of strategies to manage children's learning in classroom settings. You will also develop an understanding of how primary school aged children learn and how they can be effectively and creatively taught across all primary curriculum areas such as: English and literacies, mathematics, arts education, humanities and social education, science, health and physical education, and studies of the environment and sustainability. You will develop a deep understanding of the social and cultural contexts of early years provision for children, develop skills to work with families and communities and learn to identify the range of local and international early years services available to practitioners.
Primary education
Availability: Single degree Peninsula; Double degree Clayton
This specialisation will prepare you to teach children from five to 12 years of age in primary schools from Foundation to Year 6. You will develop an understanding of how primary school aged children learn and how they can be effectively and creatively taught across all primary curriculum areas. In doing so, you will develop your personal knowledge of the curriculum areas you will teach, such as: English and literacies, mathematics, arts education, humanities and social education, science, health and physical education, and studies of the environment and sustainability. In the single degree course, you will complete additional discipline studies in English and literacy, or mathematics and numeracy, or languages.
Primary and secondary education
Availability: Clayton
This specialisation will prepare you to teach children and adolescents from five to 18 years of age in primary and secondary schools from Foundation to Year 12. You will develop a knowledge and understanding of learning as a developmental continuum and will learn to employ a diverse pedagogical toolbox to meet the differentiated learning needs of students. At the primary level, you will develop an understanding of how primary school aged children learn and how they can be effectively and creatively taught across all primary curriculum areas. In doing so, you will develop your personal knowledge of the curriculum areas you will teach, such as: English and literacies, mathematics, geography, history, civics and citizenship, science, health and physical education, and the creative arts. At the secondary level, your unit choices within your discipline studies sequence will determine in which area you become a specialist secondary teacher. You will focus on adolescent learning and the nature of secondary education including areas such as: classroom teaching and practice in schools, curriculum planning, implementation and evaluation, and education and its relationship to society.
Primary and secondary inclusive education
Availability: Clayton
This specialisation will prepare you to teach children and adolescents from five to 18 years of age in primary and secondary schools from Foundation to Year 12 and will equip you with specialist knowledge and skills for working in inclusive and special education settings. You will develop a knowledge and understanding of learning as a developmental continuum and will learn to employ a diverse pedagogical toolbox to meet the differentiated learning needs of students across the learning spectrum. At the primary level, you will develop an understanding of how primary school aged children learn, including those with special needs, and how they can be effectively and creatively taught across all primary curriculum areas such as: English and literacies, mathematics, geography, history, civics and citizenship, science, health and physical education, and the creative arts. At the secondary level, your unit choices within your discipline studies sequence will determine in which area you become a specialist secondary teacher. You will focus on adolescent learning and the nature of secondary education, especially for students with special needs, including areas such as: classroom teaching and practice in schools, curriculum planning, implementation and evaluation, education and its relationship to society.
Primary and secondary health and physical education
Availability: Peninsula
This specialisation will prepare you to teach children and adolescents from five to 18 years of age in primary and secondary schools from Foundation to Year 12 and enable you to work more broadly in community, recreational and sporting settings. You will qualify as a generalist primary school teacher, specialist health and physical education primary school teacher and a secondary school teacher with health and physical education as your specialist teaching areas. At the primary level, you will develop an understanding of how primary school aged children learn and how they can be effectively and creatively taught across all primary curriculum areas such as: English and literacies, mathematics, humanities and social education, science, health and physical education, and the creative arts. At the secondary level you will focus on adolescent learning and the nature of secondary education including areas such as: classroom teaching and practice in schools, curriculum planning, implementation and evaluation, and education and its relationship to society.
Secondary health and physical education
Availability: Peninsula
This specialisation will prepare you to teach adolescents from 12 to 18 years of age in secondary schools from Year 7 to Year 12 as a specialist teacher of health and physical education, health and human development and a third subject area of your choice, such as: outdoor education and environmental studies. It will also prepare you to work more broadly in community, recreational and sporting settings. You will develop an understanding of adolescent learning and the nature of secondary education including areas such as: classroom teaching and practice in schools, curriculum planning, implementation and evaluation, and education and its relationship to society.
Secondary education
Availability: Clayton
This specialisation will prepare you to teach adolescents from 12 to 18 years of age in secondary schools from Year 7 to Year 12 as a specialist teacher in two specialist teaching areas. Your unit choices within the partner degree course will determine your specialist teaching areas. You will develop an understanding of adolescent learning and the nature of secondary education including areas such as: classroom teaching and practice in schools, curriculum planning, implementation and evaluation, and education and its relationship to society.