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University Handbook

Deakin University

Master of Teaching (Secondary)

2026 Deakin University Handbook

Year	2026 course information
Award granted	Master of Teaching (Secondary)
Course Credit Points	16
Deakin course code	E779
Course version	1
Faculty	Faculty of Arts and Education
Course Information	For students who commenced from 2026 onwards
Campus	Offered at Burwood (Melbourne), Online
Online	Yes
Duration	2 years full-time or part-time equivalent or 18 months full-time accelerated mode*
Course Map - enrolment planning tool	These course maps are for new students commencing from Trimester 1 2026: General Accelerated Course maps for commencement in previous years are available on the Course Maps webpage or please contact a Student Adviser in Student Central.
CRICOS code	118364C Burwood (Melbourne)
Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) recognition	The award conferred upon completion is recognised in the Australian Qualifications Framework at Level 9
Supplementary Information	* An optional accelerated course structure is available in this course, allowing students to complete the course in 1.5 years duration by enrolling into 4 consecutive trimesters. Students undertaking the accelerated course structure are required to enrol in Trimester 3. All students are advised to seek course advice prior to attempting the accelerated course structure from Student Central. Students have until the start of Trimester 2 of Year 1 to decide whether to enrol into the accelerated course structure. International students on a student visa who complete the course earlier than the registered 2-year course duration will have their early completions reported to the Department of Home Affairs, resulting in their CoEs updating to 'Finished' status. International students who complete the course early are required to either enrol into another CRICOS registered course that is of the same AQF level as their visa was granted for or depart Australia within 28 days from the date of their early completion reporting. International students are advised to seek visa advice by contacting a Registered Migration Agent on the MARA website. Deakin splits the academic year into three terms, known as trimesters. Most students usually undertake two trimesters each year (March-June, July-November).

Course sub-headings

Course overview

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.

Ranked #3 in Australia and #13 worldwide for education and educational research*, Deakin is also the only university to embed the Berry Street Education Model into all of our initial teaching degrees. You’ll graduate equipped with practical, trauma-informed strategies to support every learner. You’ll know how to manage safe, healthier and more engaging learning environments and build positive relationships to promote academic success – giving you and your employer confidence.

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.

To be considered for an offer, 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.

* U.S. News & World Report Best Global Universities Subject Rankings 2025-2026

Professional recognition

VIT Accreditation logo

This course is accredited by the Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT) as a nationally accredited course and students are eligible to apply for registration with VIT upon graduation. If you intend to apply for registration in Victoria or interstate you may be required to provide further information.

Applicants are advised to check the registration requirements in their state or territory, carefully.

Career opportunities

Employment in education and training is projected to grow by 12.4% or 150,100 new jobs by 2034 according to Australia Government employment projections.^

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.

^2024 Jobs and Skills Australia, Employment Projections May 2024 to May 2034.

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.

This course includes 60 days of supervised professional experience and requires students to successfully complete the Deakin Teaching Performance Assessment (DTPA) in their final year. If a student does not pass the DTPA, they must seek guidance from the Course Director.

Graduation from the course confirms that students have met the Graduate Teacher Standards and achieved all Core Content learning outcomes outlined in Schedule 2.

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.

Inherent requirements

It is expected that all students will be able to abide by, and ensure their behaviour is in accordance with the Deakin University initial teacher education inherent requirements.

Immunisations

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.

For further information contact the School of Education, Professional Experience Office.

Research information

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 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	Apply culturally responsive, critically reflective and embodied self-knowledge of decolonial praxis in the design, delivery and evaluation of teaching and learning that honours and respects the educational expectations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and diverse learners, families and communities.

Approved at Faculty Board 2025

Course rules

To complete the Master of Teaching (Secondary) you must pass 16 credit points. This includes:

DAI001 Academic Integrity and Respect at Deakin (0-credit-point compulsory unit) in your first study period
ELN010 Australian Literacy Test (0-credit-point compulsory unit)*
ELN011 Australian Numeracy Test (0-credit-point compulsory unit)*
ETI010 Trauma Informed Practice (0-credit-point compulsory unit)^
12 credit points of core units
4 credit points of secondary curriculum study (method) units.

*ELN010 and ELN011, which support the Literacy and Numeracy Test for Initial Teacher Education (LANTITE). You are expected to attempt these tests in your first year; failure to do so may prevent course progression until an attempt is made.

^ETI010 (Trauma Informed Practice), which incorporates the Berry Street Education Model (BSEM).

Most units are equal to one credit point. As a full-time student you will study four credit points per trimester and usually undertake two trimesters per year.

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:

Academic Integrity and Respect at Deakin (zero (0) credit points)

To be completed in the first year of study:

Australian Literacy Test (zero (0) credit points)

Australian Numeracy Test (zero (0) credit points)

Trauma Informed Practice (zero (0) credit points)

Units

The Brain and Learning

Pedagogy in Action: Research and Design Foundations

Literacy, Numeracy and Multi-Tier Systems of Supports (MTSS) Across the Curriculum

Relational Pedagogies for Collaborative Engagement: Independent Research Project

Youth Identities - Diversity and Inclusion

Decolonising Teaching and Learning: Recognition, Relationships, and Reconciliation on Unceded Land

Research Design Development and Method

Independent Research Project for Professional Practice

Professional experience placement units*

(*please note unit rules for order in which these must be completed)

Orientation to the Teaching Profession

Building Capacity in Professional Experience

Transition to the Profession 1

Transition to the Profession 2

Plus

4 credit points of Secondary Curriculum Studies units

Secondary curriculum study units

English

Teaching English: Middle Years

Teaching English: Senior Years

Mathematics

Teaching Mathematics: Middle Years

Teaching Mathematics: Senior Years

Single Science Method one of:

Biology

Teaching Science: Middle Years

Teaching Biology: Senior Years

Science Education Lab Safety Induction (zero (0) credit points)

Chemistry

Teaching Science: Middle Years

Teaching Chemistry: Senior Years

Science Education Lab Safety Induction (zero (0) credit points)

Environmental Science

Teaching Science: Middle Years

Teaching Environmental Science: Senior Years

Science Education Lab Safety Induction (zero (0) credit points)

Physics

Teaching Science: Middle Years

Teaching Physics: Senior Years

Science Education Lab Safety Induction (zero (0) credit points)

Second Science Method:

Biology

Teaching Strategies for the Middle Years

Teaching Biology: Senior Years

Chemistry

Teaching Strategies for the Middle Years

Teaching Chemistry: Senior Years

Environmental Science

Teaching Strategies for the Middle Years

Teaching Environmental Science: Senior Years

Physics

Teaching Strategies for the Middle Years

Teaching Physics: Senior Years

Humanities*

Teaching Humanities: Middle Years

Teaching Humanities: Senior Years

History*

Teaching Humanities: Middle Years

Teaching History: Senior Years

A student who has Humanities and History would replace the second offering of EHU701 with EMM743 Teaching Strategies for the Middle Years

Language Other Than English (LOTE)

Theory and Practice of Languages Teaching

CLIL Pedagogy

Teaching English to Speakers of other Languages (TESOL)

Pedagogy for TESOL and EAL Learners

Pedagogic Grammar

Health

Teaching Health and Human Development: Middle Years

Teaching Health and Human Development: Senior Years

Food Studies

Teaching Food Studies: Middle Years

Teaching Food Studies: Senior Years

Physical Education

Teaching Physical Education: Middle Years

Teaching Physical Education: Senior Years

Psychology

Teaching Strategies for the Middle Years

Teaching Psychology: Senior Years

The Arts

Single Method one of: Dance, Drama, Media, Music or Visual Arts

Teaching Arts Education: Middle Years

Teaching Arts Education: Senior Years

Second Arts method: One of Dance, Drama, Media, Music or Visual Arts

Teaching Arts Education 2: Middle Years

Teaching Arts Education 2: Senior Years

Vocational Education and Training (VET)

Vocational Education and Training (VET) 1

Vocational Education and Training (VET) 2

Vocational Major

Vocational Major (VM) 1

Vocational Major (VM) 2

Method areas not listed above

Accounting*, business management*, commerce and business studies*, earth science, economics*, geography*, information technology, legal studies*, outdoor education, philosophy*, politics*, religious education, student welfare, technology

Single Method:

Introduction to Teaching in the Middle Years

Introduction to Teaching in the Senior Years

Second Method:

Teaching Strategies for the Middle Years

Teaching Strategies for the Senior Years

* Within the Victorian Curriculum 2, Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) and the Australian curriculum (V.9) these disciplines fall under the broader Learning Area of 'Humanities'. As such your professional experience placement in the middle years may be across these disciplines (mirroring the experience of teaching in Australian schools).

Course duration

You may be able to study available units in the optional third trimester to fast-track your degree, however your course duration may be extended if there are delays in meeting course requirements, such as completing a placement.

Other learning experiences

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

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.

Estimate your fees

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.

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.

Contact Student Central