Become one of the inspiring individuals empowering future generations through education. Deakin’s Master of Teaching (Secondary) prepares you for a creative, challenging and truly rewarding career.
Looking for an adaptable teaching qualification that opens doors to a diverse range of industries?
As a graduate of the Master of Teaching (Secondary), your employment opportunities will be vast. You’ll be qualified to teach at secondary level anywhere in Australia, with skills that will also enable you to pivot into a broader range of roles. Learn how to think like a teacher and develop an invaluable mindset that can be applied to almost any sector, including education, youth work, corporate learning and development, NGOs, media and community-based organisations.
Learn from highly experienced, passionate teachers who understand first-hand the importance of recognising all students as people first. You’ll discover how to foster well-balanced relationships in the classroom to ensure students build positive connections with their peers, in turn promoting an environment to thrive.
With the option to undertake a specialisation that includes research elements, you will develop practical classroom skills along with critical thinking and evaluative research skills. To ensure you gain a holistic understanding of how students learn, you will also have the opportunity to study and collaborate with early childhood educators, primary and secondary teachers.
You can also choose to participate in Deakin’s Global Education Program and gain a broader perspective on teaching. Experience teaching in a remote community interstate or overseas and develop your skills in intercultural education while improving your resume.
This, combined with at least 60-days of professional placement and your completion of a Teaching Performance Assessment (TPA), benchmarked against national standards of teaching performance, means you will be set for success in the classroom and beyond.
Professional recognition
The Master of Teaching (Secondary) is accredited by the Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT) as an initial teacher education program that meets the Australian Institute of Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) program standards and the Australian professional standards for graduate teachers.
Career opportunities
As one of the largest growing employment industries in Australia, education and training is projected to grow by 11.2% by May 2023* – that’s 11,300 new jobs or 11,300 career opportunities to explore.
The knowledge and skills you will develop through the Master of Teaching (Secondary) prepare you well for a diverse range of roles, including:
secondary teacher in a public, independent or private school academic adviser
youth worker
museum educator
policy manager in a not-for-profit organisation
education consultant in local or federal government.
For more information go to DeakinTALENT.*Australian Government Department of Jobs and Small Business, 2018 Employment Projections (for five years until May 2023).
Participation requirements
Professional Experience Placements are a compulsory component of the course and a requirement for registration as a graduate teacher. Placement can occur at any time, including during standard holiday breaks. Learn about key dates at Deakin.
Reasonable adjustments to participation and other course requirements will be made for students with a disability. More information available at Disability support services.
Students are required to check the placement calendars published on the Professional Experience Office website each year. Placement takes priority over employment and placement periods are generally block placements of 5 full-time days per week over 2-5 weeks.
Course delivery is blended and students are required to dedicate time to weekly engagement with located or online teaching and learning activities and resources. This is recommended at combined total 8-10 hours per week per unit including active learning/engagement either face to face or online, and independent study.
Some units will require students to attend schools or institutions for site-based learning and teaching experiences. Some units can only be completed face to face at Burwood or as online study. Trimesters where students are likely to be undertaking large blocks of placement might require units to offer intensive study face to face. Some units will require students to attend schools or institutions for site-based learning and teaching experiences. Some units can only be completed face to face at Burwood or as online study.
Mandatory student checks
Students will be required to hold a valid Working with Children (WWC) Check prior to undertaking professional placements as part of this course. Learn more about Working with Children Checks.
Interstate applicants must check the requirements and meet all conditions for undertaking professional experience in schools for their state or territory before undertaking professional experience placements as part of this course.
Immunisation and/or vaccination requirements will be communicated by the Professional Experience Office in line with the Department of Education and Training's directions at the time of placement.
This is a graduate entry teaching course that introduces research based practice throughout the core professional studies units (a total of six credit points), which includes demonstrating their application of knowledge and skills through their 60 days of professional practice in education based contexts e.g. secondary schools. As part of the series of core professional studies units, students are also required to complete a capstone assessment in the final year (2 credit point unit) to demonstrate their evidence based professional practice informed by data analysis and scholarship of teaching and learning.
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
To complete the Master of Teaching (Secondary) students must pass 16 credit points and meet the following course rules to be eligible to graduate:
DAI001 Academic Integrity and Respect at Deakin (0-credit-point compulsory unit) in their first study period
ELN010 Australian Literacy Test (0-credit-point compulsory unit)
ELN011 Australian Numeracy Test (0-credit-point compulsory unit)
8 credit points of core units
2 credit points of curriculum study units in a first teaching method area
2 credit points of curriculum study units in a second teaching method area
4 credit points in one of the following specialisations:
Inclusive Education
Languages Teaching
Research
Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)
This course includes 60-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.
Students are also required to complete 2 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.
Students are expected to attempt the tests within the first year of their course. Students who do not attempt the tests within their first year may be unable to progress with their studies until an attempt has been made.
Specialisations
Students complete the remaining four credit points from one of the following specialisaitons:
Inclusive Education
Languages Teaching
Research
Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)
Knowledge for Teaching Mathematics 7-10: Algebraic Thinking and Function *
ESM704 Problem Solving and Modelling [no longer available for enrolment]
ESM733 Exploring Space and Number [no longer available for enrolment]
ETM710 Knowledge for Teaching Mathematics 7-10: Geometry and Measurement [no longer available for enrolment]
ETM711 Knowledge for Teaching Mathematics 7-10: Statistics and Probability [no longer available for enrolment]
*ETM709 and ETM712 have compulsory face to face intensive requirements that may be taught outside the normal trimester schedule. Please contact the Unit Chair prior to enrolling to ensure you are able to meet the unit requirements.
Learning Area 3: Science
Single Method: One of Science, Biology, Chemistry, Env. Science, Physics or Psychology
Single Method: Humanities - Geography, Philosophy, Sociology, Anthropology, Economics, Business, Legal Studies, Global Politics, Indigenous Studies, Middle East Studies or International Relations
Dual Method: Humanities/SOSE with History - one of Geography, Philosophy, Sociology, Anthropology, Economics, Business, Legal Studies, Global Politics, Indigenous Studies, Middle East Studies or International Relations- plus History
Dual Method: Humanities/SOSE - two of Geography, Philosophy, Sociology, Anthropology, Economics, Business, Legal Studies, Global Politics, Indigenous Studies, Middle East Studies or International Relations - without History
^ Enrolment in Trimester 3 in Year 1 is required for students who select the Research specialisation in order to complete units in the required sequence and complete the course within the full-time duration.
Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages
To complete a specialisation in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages complete the four (4) units as specified below
Experiences in community and school or early childhood settings are embedded in some curriculum units beyond the professional experience placements. Students are also encouraged to volunteer in these settings. Wherever possible, academic staff work alongside education professionals and preservice teachers in these authentic learning experiences.
Research and research-related study
Independent research and practitioner research and training components are embedded across a number of units. Preservice teachers are expected to apply an integrated, critical and advanced understanding of complex bodies of knowledge and research skills in education in their practice.
Fees and charges
Fees and charges vary depending on the type of fee place you hold, your course, your commencement year, the units you choose to study, and their study discipline or your study load.
Tuition fees increase at the beginning of each calendar year and all fees quoted are in Australian dollars ($AUD). Tuition fees do not include textbooks, computer equipment or software, other equipment or costs such as mandatory checks, travel and stationery.
For further information regarding tuition fees, other fees and charges, invoice due dates, withdrawal dates, payment methods visit our Current students website.
In 2023, the Victorian Government announced a range of government-administered scholarships for eligible domestic students commencing a secondary school teaching degree in 2024 and 2025. These scholarships are not automatic, and you will need to apply.
Deakin does not administer these scholarships. For more information about the eligibility, application process and opening and closing dates, please visit the Victorian Government website.
