Clayton campus
Course code: 0074
Contact: Dr John Loughran (course adviser)
For graduates wishing to become teachers, the faculty offers a one-year full-time course leading to the award of the Graduate Diploma in Education. The course combines academic studies of the foundations of education with methods and practice of teaching in subjects appropriate to the student's first degree. The faculty also offers a course suitable for part-time students in which the foundation subjects are time-tabled in the late afternoon.
Students should read carefully the section on enrolments. Details concerning the selection process for the course appear below. Details of subjects and timetables are set out in this handbook and will be supplemented by handouts during the year.
The basic entrance requirements for the GradDipEd course are that (a) the applicant shall have qualified for a degree and (b) the subjects studied in that degree shall be an appropriate foundation for the work of a teacher.
For overseas degrees, the faculty accepts assessments made by the Department of Education, Level 17, South Rialto Towers, Melbourne, 3000.
In general terms `an appropriate foundation for the work of a teacher' means a two-year sequence in relevant tertiary subjects for the method subjects to be studied in the course (for example, English, economics, mathematics etc.) A major sequence in one of these subjects is desirable. Advice on the suitability of undergraduate sequences or other information about the GradDipEd may be obtained from the director of GradDipEd studies at any time.
Application forms can be obtained from the secretary of the Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre, 40 Park Street, South Melbourne, 3205, from the inquiry office of the School of Graduate Studies, Clayton campus (telephone 9905 2819) or from the GradDipEd office in the School of Graduate Studies (room 131, telephone 9905 2777 or 9905 2881). Applications close with VTAC on Friday 27 September, although later applications will be accepted on payment of a late fee. A statement on the rules guiding selection is set out below.
1.1 Admission to the Graduate Diploma in Education course shall be limited to a quota of such size as is determined by the university Council for any year.
1.2 Applicants will normally be selected on the basis of academic merit as evidenced by their undergraduate degree course. However, the selection committee may also take into account the faculty's ability to provide appropriate tutorial assistance, supervision and teaching practice facilities in the various method subjects.
1.3 No notice will be taken for selection purposes of scholarships, studentships, or other forms of award held by any applicant.
1.4 Graduate Diploma in Education regulation 2.1 (incomplete degrees) will only be implemented in favour of any applicant whose progress in undergraduate studies has been of a high standard but who is not yet qualified for the bachelors degree due to special factors acceptable to the faculty. Preference is given to fully qualified applicants. An applicant whose bachelors degree is incomplete pending the determination of results in some supplementary or special (deferred) examination may nevertheless apply for selection. Only if the examination is passed will the student be considered for selection into the Graduate Diploma in Education course in that year.
1.5 Students who in a previous year (a) have been excluded from the course on account of unsatisfactory progress or (b) have withdrawn from studies, shall submit a fresh application for selection and may be selected at the discretion of the committee.
1.6 The selection committee may withhold selection from an applicant who nevertheless satisfies the normal requirements of the regulations for the course for the Graduate Diploma in Education, but who, in the opinion of the committee, is considered unsuitable for training as a teacher.
1.7 Applicants will be expected to enrol in the year in which they are selected. Deferments will not be granted except in cases of extreme hardship. A new application is necessary for selection in a subsequent year.
2.1 All qualified applicants shall be assessed and ranked in order of academic merit.
2.2 Offers will be made to applicants on the basis of academic merit regardless of the institution of origin.
2.3 Offers of up to 10 per cent of the full-time places may be reserved for the following categories of qualified applicants: (a) overseas students who have graduated at institutions other than Monash; (b) mature age applicants irrespective of institution of origin (`mature' defined as a person over thirty-five years of age); (c) any applicants who in normal rank order would not be selected and who have successfully undertaken, subsequent to their degree, additional courses for the purposes of improving their academic rating or have availed themselves of experience appropriate as a background for training as teachers.
3.1 All students who have successfully completed at least one subject of the course and who are eligible to re-enrol shall occupy the first places available in the part-time quota subject to their taking the methods subjects for which they were selected.
3.2 Any student who seeks to re-enrol under the provisions of 3.1 above after the closing day of the university re-enrolments may be refused permission to re-enrol.
3.3 All qualified applicants for selection shall be assessed and ranked in order of academic merit regardless of institution of origin, but the committee may give special consideration to applicants in the same categories as 2.3 (b) and (c) above.
The Graduate Diploma in Education offers a one-year full-time course of training to graduates that will allow them to take employment as a teacher.
There will be two courses for intending secondary teachers, one for full-time students, and one for part-time students. Part-time students who wish to take day-time classes will be permitted to take some subjects in the full-time course as credit towards subjects in the part-time course. Students wishing to do this should obtain permission from the director of GradDipEd studies, Dr John Loughran. There will also be a full-time course for intending primary teachers at the Peninsula campus.
Intending students should be aware that late commencement of coursework could jeopardise their eligibility to sit for examinations and complete a course under the conditions laid out in the regulations for the Graduate Diploma in Education (see regulation 3.1). Students will not normally be admitted to classes more than one week after the commencement of any subject or unit. A candidate who fails to complete a course satisfactorily in the year in which the candidate was enrolled will be informed by the board of examiners as to what further work the candidate should complete in a subsequent year to satisfy requirements. This extra work will normally comprise enrolling for GED0041 (Special subject), one-sixth of one year's work or GED0042 (Special subject), two-sixths of one year's work. The nature of the work involved in such an enrolment will be prescribed for each student requiring this by the board of examiners when it considers the student's failure in the full-time course and, except with the permission of the faculty obtained through the director of GradDipEd studies, the student would be expected to complete the prescribed special subject in the year following the student's failure in the full-time course.
Students enrolled in the full-time course who successfully complete the required foundation subjects plus two methods and practice of teaching subjects will be awarded a pass in the Graduate Diploma in Education.
Students enrolled in the full-time course may seek permission from the faculty to enrol concurrently for a subject in another faculty to the value of not more than one-quarter of a year of full-time study.
Upon successful completion of the course students should have developed knowledge and understanding of:
The full-time course consists basically of two methods and practice of teaching subjects and contributions from four foundation areas: psychological studies, social and comparative studies, historical and philosophical studies, and research and evaluation in curriculum and teaching. The supervised teaching practice component of the methods and practice of teaching subjects is conducted in blocks with a series of preliminary visits before each block round.
In addition service units must be undertaken in educational technology-media, computers across the curriculum, and occupational health and safety. Students also have the opportunity to participate in a range of short units, which are multidisciplinary in nature and address recent developments in school curricula, eg technological studies, health education, Asian studies, psychology and counselling. Assistance is also available in aspects of speech and verbal communication in the classroom. Students taking a science method as one of their two methods and practice of teaching subjects will be allocated to a program in which much of the contribution from the foundations and methods areas is treated in an interdisciplinary manner. All full-time students are required to attend sessions at a residential camp before the first teaching round. Brief details of the foundation subjects are given below.
A precondition for a pass in this course is that a satisfactory level of achievement is required for each assessment task in each subject.
4 hours per week
* Full-year subject
* Clayton
The subject presents psychology and principles of teaching in a number of themes to do with knowing about yourself, your students, planning and control, learning and teaching, and student progress. The whole year's program is designed to enable you to establish principles that will make your teaching a purposeful, rational, and rewarding experience, both for yourself and for your pupils.
Within the themes the subject will cover matters such as learning theories and their application in classrooms; physical, personality and social development; knowledge and the curriculum; the nature of abilities; approaches to classroom control; questioning techniques; lesson structure; and the purposes and methods of assessment. Running through all themes is the general theme of integration, issues concerned with the presence in the one classroom of wide ranges of abilities, interests, and ethnic and social backgrounds.
Assessment is based on assignments, regular attendance and active participation in classes. A certain amount of content is presented through lectures, and a very substantial proportion of the learning must result from reflection on practical activities and discussions in tutorial groups.
Recommended texts
Cole P G and Chan L K S Teaching principles and practice 2nd edn, Prentice-Hall, 1994
Oser F K, Dick A and Patry J-L Effective and responsible teaching Jossey-Bass, 1992
White R T Learning science Blackwell, 1988
White R T and Gunstone R F Probing understanding Falmer, 1992
4 hours per week
* Full-year subject
* Clayton
This subject examines contemporary schooling in its social and historical context. The nature of our work as teachers, what we teach, how we teach and how children learn are all influenced by the way society and education are structured. The subject examines contemporary issues in education and how these have emerged over time. Factors such as ethnicity and gender, and major issues such as the integration of students with disabilities, developments in educational policy and governance, changes in teachers' work and pay, and the development of the Victorian Curriculum and Standards Framework series and the Victorian Certificate of Education are considered. Attention is also given to assumptions underlying contemporary educational thinking, current educational debates, and to various innovations and alternatives that are relevant to Australian schooling.
Assessment is based on assignments, regular attendance and active participation in classes. A certain amount of content is presented through lectures, and a very substantial proportion of the learning must result from reflection on practical activities and discussions in tutorial groups.
References
Connell R W and others Making the difference Allen and Unwin, 1982
Connell R W Teachers' work Allen and Unwin, 1985
Hatton E (ed.) Understanding teaching: Curriculum and the social context of schooling Harcourt Brace, 1994
Each student must choose two methods and practice of teaching subjects. For example, students with a major sequence in English and a minor sequence in history might choose English and history as their methods and practice of teaching subjects. Students are advised to consult the following list of teaching subjects together with the outlines for each subject and its prerequisites. This information should then be used to choose two methods and practice of teaching subjects.
The prerequisites for entry to these subjects are determined by the faculty and do not necessarily meet the requirements of particular employers in specific subject fields. Students in doubt about the suitability of their qualifications for employment with the Victorian Department of Education are invited to check with the department's recruitment unit.
The availability of any of the methods and practice of teaching subjects from year to year is dependent on the faculty's ability to provide appropriate tutorial assistance, supervision and teaching practice facilities. Where numbers of applicants are small arrangements may be made between training institutions to combine classes. The following method and practice of teaching subjects are available in 1997:
The school experience program extends beyond the expected minimum requirements for employment in Victoria. More detailed information about teaching practice times and requirements are available in the GradDipEd information booklet, the information sessions (3 September 1996, 4.30 pm or 7 pm, Rotunda (R5)) and at the orientation meetings. Details of orientation meetings will be available at enrolment. Three blocks of time have been set aside throughout the year for school experience:
Basic instruction in educational technology (AV) is a small but significant part of the GradDipEd program. This experience encompasses:
All students undertake a unit in wordprocessing, importing and editing graphics and an introduction to spreadsheets. Assessment tasks are based on practical applications of the above in classroom teaching. Courses are graded according to students' experience with microcomputers. Workshop sessions are held in both the Macintosh and the IBM microcomputer laboratories and this is followed by further work in methods classes.
The part-time course offers subjects in late afternoon classes. This afternoon course is intended to serve the needs of the part-time student. Full-time students intending to take this course must first obtain the permission of the faculty. Those wishing to take daytime classes will be permitted to take subjects in the full-time course as credit towards subjects in the part-time course.
The course comprises GED0101 (Educational psychology), GED0201 (Education in society), GED0301 (Social history of schooling), GED0401 (Principles of teaching) and two methods and practice of teaching subjects. The four foundation subjects are timetabled on the same evenings each year, but most method subjects will only be available for study during the day. The course is basically designed to be taken over two years with GED0101, GED0201 and GED0301 taken in one year and GED0401 and the two methods and practice of teaching subjects in the other year. During 1997 GED0201 and GED0301 will be taken on Tuesday evening at 4.30. GED0201 will run from the week beginning 10 February and GED0301 will commence at the beginning of second semester. The assessment requirements of GED0401 are such that they are normally met during the teaching practice periods.
Some students currently employed as teachers may be eligible to apply for partial exemption from teaching practice requirements. Partial exemption from teaching practice requirements may be granted to a student who is currently employed as a secondary teacher and who either has had a period of satisfactory teaching experience approved by the dean or holds an approved certificate of teaching training. An applicant for exemption must teach in the subjects for which the applicant is claiming partial exemption. Applicants will be required to attend at least one teaching round in a school other than the one in which they normally teach; the time and place for this supervised teaching will be as specified by the faculty. A student should consider this requirement carefully before making an application. All applicants for partial exemption will be visited in their schools early in the school year. They will be informed of the result of their application as early as practicable. Students applying for partial exemption should complete an application form which is available from and returnable to the GradDipEd administrative officer (telephone 9905 2777 or 9905 2881) before the course begins.
On successfully passing the six subjects of the course, a candidate will be awarded a pass in the Graduate Diploma in Education.
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