Bachelor of Education (Primary)
2023 Deakin University Handbook
| Year | 2023 course information |
|---|---|
| Award granted | Bachelor of Education (Primary) |
| Campus | Offered at Burwood (Melbourne), Waurn Ponds (Geelong), Warrnambool For students who commenced prior to 2021 only |
| Duration | 4 years full-time or part-time equivalent |
| CRICOS course code | 015204J |
| Deakin course code | E359 |
| Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) recognition | The award conferred upon completion is recognised in the Australian Qualifications Framework at Level 7. |
The final intake to this course was in Trimester 1 2020. Students should contact a Student Adviser in Student Central for course and enrolment information. Further course structure information can be found in the Handbook archive. | |
Course sub-headings
- Course overview
- Professional recognition
- Career opportunities
- Participation requirements
- Mandatory student checks
- Course Learning Outcomes
- Course rules
- Course structure
- Other learning experiences
Course overview
Build a solid foundation in primary curriculum and discover what it takes to teach and lead young people. Deakin’s accredited Bachelor of Education (Primary) equips you with the essential knowledge and skills required to guide children through their primary learning years. From mathematics to science, visual arts to technology; you’ll learn how to teach across a wide range of subjects and specialisations.
Through our Professional Experience Program you’ll not only gain key practical skills, but invaluable insight into the classroom environment. With the option to combine your personal interests with a range of curriculum areas, you’ll undertake placements that enrich and solidify your studies. As a result, you’ll graduate qualified to teach from prep to Year 6, with the confidence and ability to demonstrate classroom readiness and make a difference to students’ learning.
Keen to inspire the next generation and make a real difference as a primary school educator?
Deakin maintains close links with the education sector to ensure our courses are developed and reviewed with professional educators’ input. You’ll be taught by staff who have teaching experience and who are recognised as leaders and innovators in their fields. This means you can be confident that what you learn with us will be relevant to your future teaching career.
The Professional Experience Program is a key part of every Deakin teaching student’s course experience. Working with more than 1400 schools across Australia, we’ll arrange at least 80-days of placements for you in schools where you’ll learn from experienced teachers. Students also have access to specialised teaching spaces on campus to help you prepare for classroom teaching.
Choose a specialisation and develop advanced skills in a priority area of the primary curriculum, such as:
- health and physical education
- humanities
- languages
- language and literacy
- mathematics and numeracy
- science
- special education needs
- visual arts.
You can select the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (IBPYP) option and complete some of your placements in IBPYP schools, differentiating yourself from other graduates. This Deakin course is the only undergraduate teacher education program in Victoria to be accredited with the International Baccalaureate Organisation and to offer a recognised pathway for teaching in the IB Primary Years Programme.
Give your studies a different perspective and take part in our Global Education Program. You’ll get to experience remote communities in Australia and abroad, while gaining credit towards your degree. Learn about Aboriginal culture while teaching in remote communities in the Northern Territory, or head to countries including Vietnam and Switzerland to learn about intercultural education.
Before beginning your studies, prospective teaching students need to successfully complete the Casper test – an online, video scenario-based test that lets you demonstrate your suitability for a teaching career.
Professional recognition
Deakin’s Bachelor of Education (Primary) is accredited with the Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT) as a nationally accredited course. Upon graduation, you’ll be prepared to register with VIT as a registered educator.
Career opportunities
Studying a Bachelor of Education (Primary) will equip you with the skills and knowledge for a successful career in education. Upon graduation you’ll be ready to teach in primary schools within the private, independent, IB schools or public education sectors.
Graduates may also find work in other fields including:
- community services
- government agencies
- not-for-profit organisations
- IB accredited primary schools.
For more information go to DeakinTALENT
Participation requirements
Placement can occur at any time, including during the standard holiday breaks listed here: https://www.deakin.edu.au/courses/key-dates.
Reasonable adjustments to participation and other course requirements will be made for students with a disability. More information available at Disability support services.
Mandatory student checks
Professional Experience Placement
Students are required to apply for a Working with Children Check. Apply online as a volunteer.
For further information contact the School of Education, Professional Experience office.
Course duration - additional information
Course duration may be affected by delays in completing course requirements, such as accessing or completing work placements.
Contact Hours
For each unit of study, you are expected to participate in at least three hours of formal contact each week of trimester. A minimum of 6-hours of study time in addition to the formal contact is also expected for each unit each week.
You will complete a minimum of 80-days supervised school experience over the duration of the course, providing hands-on experience in a primary school setting.
Course Learning Outcomes
| Deakin Graduate Learning Outcomes | Course Learning Outcomes |
| Discipline specific knowledge and capabilities | Acquire broad and coherent theoretical knowledge and understanding of education and the application of this knowledge and skills in teaching and learning, particularly for primary school contexts |
| Communication | Engage in appropriately diverse effective interpersonal, oral, written, digital and non-verbal communication with students, their parents or caregivers, colleagues and other stakeholders to demonstrate empathy, develop rapport and build professional teacher/ student/ parent/ caregiver relationships with trust for quality learning and teaching. |
| Digital literacy | Select, collect, use and create a range of digital teaching and learning resources and technologies to support student engagement and learning. |
| Critical thinking | Critically evaluate and synthesise contemporary research and theoretical perspectives relating to teaching, student learning, and using diverse assessment data to make judgments about the use of appropriate teaching, learning and assessment strategies. |
| Problem solving | Critically reflect on professional practice to generate creative, innovative and authentic solutions to a range of real-world problems encountered in the learning and teaching contexts and professional learning communities. |
| Self-management | Actively work and learn independently with responsibility taken for professional actions and judgements |
| Teamwork | Work and learn collaboratively with colleagues, other professionals, families and members of the wider community who share responsibility for student learning and their wellbeing. |
| Global citizenship | Engage in professional, intercultural and ethical approaches that addresses social justice, equity, diversity, and sustainability issues. |
| Approved by Faculty Board | |
Course rules
To qualify for the award of Bachelor of Education (Primary), students must complete 32 credit points of study as follows:
- 26 core units;
- 4 credit points of primary subject specialisation
- 2 credit points of electives
- AAI018 Academic Integrity (0-credit-point compulsory unit)
- No more than 10 credit points of units at level 1
This course includes 80 days of supervised professional experience, and students must successfully complete the Deakin Teaching Performance Assessment (DTPA)*. This must be complete in the final year of study.
Students are also required to complete two zero (0) credit point units ELN010 and ELN011 as part of the Literacy and Numeracy Test for Initial Teacher Education (LANTITE) in order to graduate from their course.
Contact Student Services for further unit enrolment advice.
* Students who do not pass the DTPA must seek advice from the course director.
Course structure
Core Units
Year 1
| ELN010 | Australian Literacy Test (zero (0) credit points) |
| ELN011 | Australian Numeracy Test (zero (0) credit points) |
AIA105 Visions of Australia: Time and Space from 1700 to 2010 [No longer available for enrolment]
| ECL101 | Understanding Early Reading Development (Replaces ALL153 Literature for Children and Young Adults) |
| ETP101 | Perspectives On Learning and Teachers' Work |
| ETP102 | Social Contexts of Education |
| EES102 | Foundations of Science Knowledge and Practice (Replaces SLE103 Ecology and the Environment) |
| SIT106 | Fundamental Concepts of Mathematics |
| ECA100 | Engaging and Exploring Arts Education |
| EEH116 | Primary Physical Education |
Year 2
| ECL210 | Multiliterate Learners in Early Years Environments |
| EEH217 | Student Health and Wellbeing |
| ESM211 | Children and Mathematics: Developing Mathematical Concepts |
| ETP200 | Classroom Relationships |
EEO211 Contextualising Primary Humanities Education [No longer available for enrolment, alternate unit EEO101]
| EES245 | Primary Science Education 1 |
2 credit points of specialisation units from the table below;
Year 3
| ESM310 | Teachers and Mathematics: Creating An Effective Classroom |
| ETP300 | Educating Students with Additional Needs |
| ETP303 | Curriculum and Pedagogy |
| ECL310 | Multiliterate Learners in Middle Years Environments |
| EEA311 | Primary Arts Education: Focussed Study |
2 x 1 credit point elective units (IB PYP pathway students take specific elective units)
1 credit point specialisation unit from the table below;
Year 4
| EEO410 | Humanities Inquiry Pedagogy |
| ECL410 | Literacy Teacher - Researchers in New Times |
| EES440 | Primary Science Education 2 |
| ESM410 | Professional Practice and Mathematics: Designing An Inclusive Program |
| EST400 | Primary Technology Education: Creativity and Design |
| ETP400 | Assessment: Ways of Knowing Learners |
| ETP403 | University-To-Work Transition |
1 credit point specialisation unit:
| ECP400 | Building Leadership Capacity in the School and Wider Community |
Electives
In your course you have two electives. These can be made up by completing the IB PYP option OR a combination of two units from the recommended electives listed below.
You will be able to deepen your studies in your chosen specialisation or develop breadth through pursuing studies in other area(s) of interest. However you are not limited to this list for your electives.
IB PYP Teaching and Learning Certificate
If you would like to be eligible to apply for the IB PYP Teaching and Learning Certificate from the IBO, in addition to your core coursework you will need to successfully complete
- two elective units:
| EEG402 | Teaching in a Global World |
| ECL307 | Introduction to the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (IBPYP) |
- your two x Yr 3 Professional Experience placements in IB PYP schools.
Recommended Electives
These recommended electives have been clustered in discipline areas but you may select from two different disciplines.
| Health and Physical Education | EEH301Nutrition, Growth and Development for Health Educators EEH315Teaching Sexuality and Relationship Education |
| Humanities | EEG302Place, Culture and Teaching in a Global Context EEG402Teaching in a Global World ASP216Ethics in Global Society |
| Languages | Concurrent enrolment in a Diploma of Languages with up to two credit points given for two electives on evidence of completion. |
| Language and Literacy | ECL350Teaching EAL/D Students ALC104 Media Genres: Negotiating Textual forms and Pleasures [No longer available for enrolment] ACF213Contemporary Asian Cinema: Texts, Contexts and Experiences (replaces ALC104) ALL154Power and Politics in Children's Literature |
| Mathematics and Numeracy | SIT190Introduction to Functions, Relations and Graphs SIT191Introduction to Statistics and Data Analysis SIT192Discrete Mathematics SIT194Introduction to Mathematical Modelling |
| Science | EES301Digital Technologies: Programming and Robotics |
| Special Educational Needs | EDU201Educational Psychology EEI302Introduction to Creative Arts Therapy Approaches and Practices |
| Music and Visual Arts | EEI302Introduction to Creative Arts Therapy Approaches and Practices ECA210 Music Studies: Earth, Wind and Fire [No longer available for enrolment] EEA211 Navigating The Visual World [No longer available for enrolment] |
Specialisations
| Primary Specialisation | Specialisation Unit 1 | Specialisation Unit 2 | Specialisation Unit 3 | Specialisation Unit 4 (commencing 2020) |
| Health and Physical Education SP-E359007 (quotas apply) | EEH203Sport and Exercise Practice | HBS110Health Psychology (Behaviour Change) | EEH302Health and Physical Education in the Curriculum | ECP400Building Leadership Capacity in the School and Wider Community |
| Humanities SP-E359004 | AIG103 People, Place and Environment: Introduction to Human Geography [No longer available for enrolment] OR AIH267 Conflict and It's Legacies in Modern Asia [No longer available for enrolment] OR AIH238Australia in the Age of Total War 1914-1945 | AIH288Colonial Encounters: From Invasion to Federation | EEO301 Sustainability, Inquiry and Action- a Humanities Perspective [No longer available for enrolment] OR EEG402Teaching in a Global World OR SLE121Environmental Sustainability OR HSH202Creating Sustainable Futures OR ASC233 International Migration and Multicultural Societies [No longer available for enrolment] | ECP400Building Leadership Capacity in the School and Wider Community |
| Languages SP-E359008 | Diploma of Languages units^ | Diploma of Languages units^ | ECL306Teaching and Learning Languages in Primary Contexts | ECP400Building Leadership Capacity in the School and Wider Community |
| Language and Literacy SP-E359002 | ALM101Making Social Media | ALL230Adapting Children's Texts Across Media | ECL351Diversity, Language and Literacy | ECP400Building Leadership Capacity in the School and Wider Community |
| Mathematics and Numeracy SP-E359001 | SIT176Mathematical Reasoning and Investigation | ESM215Problem Solving, Modelling and Mathematical Applications | ESM303Primary Mathematics Lesson Study | ECP400Building Leadership Capacity in the School and Wider Community |
| Science SP-E359003 | SLE111Cells and Genes OR SLE133Chemistry in Our World | SLE123Physics for the Life Sciences | EES300Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education | ECP400Building Leadership Capacity in the School and Wider Community |
| Special Educational Needs SP-E359006 (quotas apply) | EEI202Communication and Diverse Learners | HDS106Diversity, Disability and Social Inclusion | EEI302Introduction to Creative Arts Therapy Approaches and Practices * | ECP400Building Leadership Capacity in the School and Wider Community |
| Visual Arts SP-E359005 | ACV115Drawing and the Body in Visual Arts | ACV101Painting in the Visual Arts | EEI302Introduction to Creative Arts Therapy Approaches and Practices * | ECP400Building Leadership Capacity in the School and Wider Community |
^ Deakin has four options for languages study: Arabic, Chinese, Indonesian, Spanish:
Concurrent enrolments in A221 Diploma of Arabic or A222 Diploma of Chinese, or A223 Diploma of Indonesian, or A224 Diploma of Spanish or equivalent with up to 4 credit points of RPL are given upon the completion. Completion of 3 units from any of A221 or A222 or A223 or A224 and enrolment in one further unit of A221, A222, A223 or A224 or equivalent are pre-requisite for ECL306. The Diploma can be undertaken concurrently with another course and is of 3 years part time duration with eight credit points. There are two options for each Diploma: i) for students with no background in the language; or ii) an advanced study for those with Year 12 level (or equivalent) in the language.
* EEI302 replaces ECA304 Arts Education Specialisation Study and EEI301 Personalising Learning: A Transdisciplinary Approach from 2021
Professional Experience Placement
Students are required to apply for a Working with Children Check. Apply online as a volunteer at https://www.workingwithchildren.vic.gov.au/.
For further information contact the School of Education, Professional Experience office.
Course duration - additional information
Course duration may be affected by delays in completing course requirements, such as accessing or completing work placements.
Other learning experiences
Pre-service teachers from the Bachelor of Education (Primary) have opportunities to complete their third year placement or a component in the elective unit EEG302 – Place, Culture and Teaching in a Global Context. Eligibility for a GEP is restricted to students who have successfully completed a local practicum and are in at least the third year of their four year degree.