Master of Teaching (Early Childhood)
2025 Deakin University Handbook
| Year | 2026 course information |
|---|---|
| Award granted | Master of Teaching (Early Childhood) |
| Deakin course code | E761 |
| Course Credit Points | 16 |
| Course version | 2 |
| Faculty | |
| Course Information | For students who commenced from 2020 to 2023 |
| Final Intake | Offered to continuing students only. The final intake to this course was in teaching period 2, 2023. Students should contact Student Central for course, course map and enrolment information. |
| Duration | 2 years full-time or part time equivalent |
| CRICOS code | 088430F Burwood (Melbourne) |
Course sub-headings
Professional recognition
This course is accredited with the Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) and recognised as an early childhood teaching qualification in Australia. Graduates are eligible to register with the Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT) as an early childhood teacher. Other states and territories may also require early childhood teachers to hold teacher registration or accreditation. Prospective students are strongly advised to check with teacher registration and accreditation authorities as to the requirement and eligibility to register and work as early childhood teachers in other states, territories or internationally with a Master of Teaching (Early Childhood) birth to five qualification.
Course Learning Outcomes
| Deakin Graduate Learning Outcomes | Course Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|
| Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities | Contribute to critical, professional debates about education theory; local, national and global trends; curriculum; Indigenous and intercultural perspectives; and legal, professional and ethical codes and standards, and critique and apply these understandings to inform their own practice. |
| Communication | Apply critical thinking, pedagogical knowledge and effective interpersonal, oral, written and multimodal communication skills to demonstrate empathy, foster learner agency, establish positive and inclusive learning-friendly environments, and build effective professional partnerships and trust with families/caregivers, teaching colleagues and other stakeholders. |
| Digital literacy | Act in accordance with the ethical and legal frameworks and policy that inform responsible and ethical practice in digital environments, and critically discuss, evaluate and employ a range of appropriate digital literacies, resources and technologies for professional/community/learner engagement and agency. |
| Critical thinking | Contribute to critical and professional debates about education trends, theory, policy and research and use these understandings to critically reflect on and evaluate own teaching practices and diverse learning data sets to make informed evidence-based judgements for enhancements and innovations to improve learner agency and outcomes. |
| Problem solving | Collaboratively and independently use evidence and research to identify, prioritise and creatively respond to problems that arise in professional learning and practice. |
| Self-management | Engage autonomously and responsibly with critical self-reflection, self-assessment and feedback from others, to inform their own learning, plan for professional development and to balance academic demands with self-care /self-management. |
| Teamwork | Actively and collaboratively participate in, and/or lead learning communities, involving learners, families, community members, colleagues and the broader profession to deepen understandings of education and to optimise learning and learner well-being. |
| Global citizenship | Engage in research, and with the legal and ethical obligations of the teaching profession, to develop informed positions on and approaches to educational transformation as applied to learner agency and citizenship; Indigenous and intercultural issues; global education trends and issues; and, social justice and sustainability. |
Approved at Faculty Board 2019
Course rules
The Master of Teaching (Early Childhood) is typically 16 credit points.
The exact number of credit points you study depends on how much credit you receive as recognition of prior learning (RPL) – your professional experience and previous qualifications – which can save you time and money
To qualify for the award of Master of Teaching (Early Childhood), students must complete the following:
- DAI001 Academic Integrity and Respect at Deakin (0-credit-point compulsory unit) to be completed in the first year of study
- 11 core units (12 credit points)
- A further 4 credit points in one of the following specialisations:
- Early Childhood Education Inquiry
- Research
- International Baccalaureate Early Years (Primary Years Programme (PYP))
This course includes 70-days of supervised professional experience, and students must successfully complete the Deakin Teaching Performance Assessment. This must be complete in the final year of study. Successful completion of this course indicates that a student has met the expected standard of performance for each of the Graduate Teacher Standards.
All students are required to meet the University's academic progress and conduct requirements.
Course structure
Core units
| EEE754 | Language, Literacies and Learning |
| EEE755 | Numeracy, Social Justice and New Pedagogies |
| EEE756 | Health, Wellbeing and Inclusive Education |
| ECE703 | Integrative Curriculum Concepts in Play-Based Contexts: Language and Literacy |
| ECE704 | Learning in and Through the Arts in Early Years |
| ECE705 | Integrative Curriculum Concepts in Play-Based Contexts: Mathematics and Science |
ECE761 Early Childhood Pedagogy, Curricula and Contexts [no longer available for enrolment]
Professional Experience Placement Units*
(*please note unit rules for order in which these must be completed)
| EPR781 | Orientation to the Teaching Profession (replaces EPR761) |
| EPR782 | Building Capacity in Professional Experience (replaces EPR712) |
| EPR714 | Curriculum, Pedagogies and Practices for Infants and Toddlers |
EPR785 Reflecting on Practice in Professional Experience (2 credit points) [No longer available for enrolment, replacement units EPR786 and EPR787]
Specialisations
Students complete the remaining four credit points from one of following specialisations
Early Childhood Education Inquiry
| EDX701 | Research Design Development and Method |
| EIB702 | The Inquiring Child: the Role of Play in Children's Learning |
| EIB703 | Assessing and Documenting Learning in the Global Early Years Context |
| EDX707 | Independent Research Project for Professional Practice |
Research
| EDX701 | Research Design Development and Method |
| EDX712 | Theory and Methodology in Education Research |
| EDX703 | Research Paper A |
| EDX704 | Research Paper B |
International Baccalaureate Early Years (Primary Years Programme (PYP))
| EIB702 | The Inquiring Child: the Role of Play in Children's Learning |
| EIB703 | Assessing and Documenting Learning in the Global Early Years Context |
EIB701 Inquiry Learning Through the International Baccalaureate (PYP) [No longer available for enrolment]
EIB704 Planning for Inquiry Learning: Professional Practice and Portfolio [No longer available for enrolment]
Internship*
EPR704 Internship [No longer available for enrolment]
* Internship specialisation only available to students who commenced prior to 2022
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.
Commonwealth Prac Payment - Domestic students only
The Australian Government has introduced the Commonwealth Prac Payment (CPP) to help eligible domestic students enrolled in a Commonwealth supported place studying teaching, nursing, midwifery, and social work cover the costs associated with mandatory placements. For more information on the eligibility criteria and application process please visit our Commonwealth Prac Payment (CPP) website.