Graduate Certificate of Education (Specialist Inclusive Education)
2026 Deakin University Handbook
| Year | 2026 course information |
|---|---|
| Award granted | Graduate Certificate of Education (Specialist Inclusive Education) |
| Course Credit Points | 4 |
| Deakin course code | E568 |
| Course version | 1 |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts and Education |
| Course Information | For students who commenced from 2025 onwards |
| Campus | This course is only offered Online |
| Duration | 1 year part-time |
| Course Map - enrolment planning tool | This course map is for new students commencing from Trimester 1 2026 This course map is for new students commencing from Trimester 2 2026 Course maps for commencement in previous years are available on the Course Maps webpage or please contact a Student Adviser in Student Central. |
| Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) recognition | The award conferred upon completion is recognised in the Australian Qualifications Framework at Level 8 |
Course sub-headings
- Course overview
- Career opportunities
- Course Learning Outcomes
- Course rules
- Course structure
- Fees and charges
Course overview
If you’re passionate about creating a more inclusive tomorrow, the Graduate Certificate of Education (Specialist Inclusive Education) is perfect for you. This specialist course will introduce you to the tools teachers use to make learning accessible to students of all backgrounds and abilities, while bringing you up to speed on current industry challenges. Gain the knowledge and skills required to secure support roles in inclusive education, where you will help effect important and much-needed progress to make education across the sectors inclusive for all.
Change starts in the classroom. Are you ready to lead the charge?
This course responds to a growing demand for a more inclusive education system by providing those who work in education with the skills to foster more supportive and accessible environments. It focuses on building your capacities to support teaching and encourages you to reflect on each student’s unique strengths.
Key study areas include:
- engaging with and understanding what diversity and intersectionality means
- analysing the goals, purpose and challenges of a heterogenous classroom
- creating positive learning environments aligned with strong social justice principles.
You will also choose from a range of electives designed to complement your specialist knowledge and skills, such as in supporting gifted individuals, arts-based practices, or in education governance and policy.
Deakin maintains close links with the education sector – including the Victorian Department of Education and Training (DET) and Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT) – to ensure our courses are developed and reviewed with industry and professional input. You’ll be taught by staff with experience in the sector who are recognised as leaders and innovators in their fields, so you can be confident that the skills and expertise you learn at Deakin reflect the cutting edge of industry practice and will be highly valued by employers.
In addition, the course is delivered entirely via Deakin’s premium online learning platform, meaning you can further your knowledge while you work, and simultaneously put your learning into practice by exploring a digitally accessible environment.
Career opportunities
Graduate with the skills to help foster inclusivity across a range of educational settings, including in roles such as a:
- disability inclusion facilitator
- educational assistant (integration aid)
- Koorie engagement support officer
- diverse learner hub coach
For more information go to DeakinTALENT.
Course Learning Outcomes
| Deakin Graduate Learning Outcomes | Course Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|
| Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities | Review, analyse, consolidate and synthesise inclusive education theoretical foundations and practices, and create and apply specialist pedagogies, curriculum and assessments across a range of educational contexts. |
| Communication | Critically evaluate and apply a range of accessible communication strategies that effectively supports inclusive partnerships between specialist and non-specialist stakeholders across a range of educational contexts. |
| Critical thinking | Understand the interrelationship between philosophies, theories and practices of inclusive education to inform strategies that advance equitable access and positive learning outcomes for students and complex learning partnerships. |
| Problem solving | Identify and apply professional and ethical judgement to implement inclusive solutions to complex teaching and learning problems across a range of learning partnerships. |
| Self-management | Demonstrate critically reflective practice and ongoing professional learning to support the development of inclusive communities of practice, cross-disciplinary dialogue and scholarship. |
| Teamwork | Collaborate and contribute to learning partnerships and multidisciplinary teams across a range of diverse contexts to advance the inclusive learning and development of all learners. |
| Global citizenship | Review national and international inclusive education scholarship relating to legal, ethical and policy frameworks to support the inclusion of First Nations knowledge and perspectives and address issues of equity and social justice across diverse communities in a global context. |
Approved at Faculty Board 2023
Course rules
To complete the Graduate Certificate of Education (Specialist Inclusive Education) you must pass 4 credit points. This includes:
- DAI001 Academic Integrity and Respect at Deakin (0-credit-point compulsory unit) in your first study period
- 3 credit points of core units
- 1 credit point course elective.
Most units are equal to one credit point. Students are required to meet the University's academic progress and conduct requirements.
Course structure
Core units
Compulsory 0-credit point units
To be completed in the first trimester of study:
| DAI001 | Academic Integrity and Respect at Deakin |
Units
| EIE702 | Teaching and Learning in the Inclusive Classroom |
| EIE704 | Supporting Communication in Inclusive Classrooms |
| EEI715 | Effective Classroom Management: Positive Learning Environments |
Electives
| ECP703 | Protective Education and Children's Wellbeing |
| EMP700 | The Arts and the Art of Teaching (replaces ECP711) |
| ESP701 | Education and Development of Exceptional Learners |
| ETR701 | Refugee Trauma and Education |
| ETR703 | Trauma and Learning |
| IND730 | Decolonising Teaching and Learning: Recognition, Relationships, and Reconciliation on Unceded Land |
ECP711 Creativity and the Arts [No longer available for enrolment, replacement unit EMP700]
Course duration
Course duration may be affected by delays in completing course requirements, such as failing of units or accessing or completing placements.
Fees and charges
Tuition fees will vary depending on the type of fee place you hold, your course, your commencement year, the units you choose to study, your study load and/or unit discipline.
Your tuition fees will increase annually at the start of each calendar year. All fees quoted are in Australian dollars ($AUD) and do not include additional costs such as textbooks, computer equipment or software, other equipment, mandatory checks, travel, consumables and other costs.
For further information regarding tuition fees, other fees and charges, invoice due dates, withdrawal dates, payment methods visit our Current students website.
Further information
Contact Student Central for assistance in course planning, choosing the right units and explaining course rules and requirements. Student Central can also provide information for a wide range of services at Deakin. To help you understand the University vocabulary, please refer to our Enrolment codes and terminology page.