Secondary Education

Outline Outline

This initial teacher education degree prepares you for a rewarding career in secondary school teaching, and enables you to pursue specialist interests. You will develop the critical knowledge and skills of best practice in education to meet the needs of 21st-century learners.

You can specialise in one or two curriculum areas, studying units that provide specialist discipline knowledge and units that develop your pedagogical knowledge.

You will also study units that establish your understanding of teaching practice, such as educational psychology, Indigenous education and teaching students with diverse learning needs.

As part of the course you will complete four professional work experience placements in schools. These placements are undertaken in full-time blocks, regardless of your study mode. You may have the opportunity to undertake a rural, interstate or overseas placement.

Teaching placements

You will complete 720 hours of supervised teaching practice during the course, which includes:

• Year 2: a two-week full-time block and three-week full-time block
• Year 3: a three-week full-time block
• Year 4: a block of one full school term (typically 10 weeks).

Build your degree STEP 1: Choose your major

Your major prepares you with the content and pedagogical knowledge you will need to teach across your chosen curriculum area from Years 7 to 12, as well as in your specialist subject area in Years 11 and 12.

Choose your major from:

• English
• HASS* (Geography)
• HASS* (History)
• HASS* (Economics)
• HASS* (Politics and Law)
• Health and Physical Education
• Mathematics
• Science (Biology)
• Science (Chemistry)
• Science (Human Biology)
• Science (Psychology)
• Science (Physics)
• The Arts (Drama)
• The Arts (Media Productions and Analysis)
• The Arts (Visual Arts)

* Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS)

STEP 2: Complete your degree structure

Complement your major with one of the three options below. This step happens after you accept Curtin's offer for your chosen major, however your choice of second specialisation is dependent upon the education major you select.

Refer to the specific majors for more information about available second specialisations.

Option 1: A minor teaching area
Expand your scope as an educator by supplementing your major teaching area with a minor teaching specialisation from a different area of the school curriculum.

Option 2: Extend your major teaching area
With this option you will deepen or broaden your understanding of your specialist subject area by studying additional discipline-specific units. You will also extend your curriculum and pedagogical knowledge in your chosen major.

Option 3: An education specialty
Extend your curriculum and pedagogical knowledge in your chosen major, while furthering your studies by choosing from a selection of education units.

Before you apply

To be considered for admission to this course, you must submit a non-academic statement with your application.

How this course will make you industry ready

• All units are mapped to the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers, ensuring you graduate with the relevant competencies required to teach successfully.
• You will build a professional digital portfolio that showcases your teaching abilities to potential employers.
• You will complete 18 weeks of teaching practice over the course of your studies, including a 10-week internship where you will have responsibility for students' learning, under the mentorship of a qualified teacher.
  
  

What you'll learn

• apply discipline knowledge, principles and concepts associated with effective teaching of secondary school students.
• critically evaluate and synthesise theory, research and practice to apply knowledge of the needs of students from diverse backgrounds and across the full range of abilities to enhance learning.
• assess student learning and analyse diverse sources of data to support valid judgements of student learning.
• plan and deliver effective teaching and learning experiences with demonstrated impact.
• select, curate, use and create a range of digital resources and technologies to support learning and teaching.
• demonstrate responsibility and accountability for being a life-long learner, identify and engage in professional learning; demonstrate personal literacy and numeracy competencies to the required accreditation standard.
• engage in a continual cycle of improvement through critical and reflective practices including those based on local, national and global research and evidence-based practices.
• create, lead and maintain positive learning environments for all students, including those from diverse cultural backgrounds.
• communicate professionally and engage collaboratively with colleagues, students, parent/carers, and the community.