Bachelor of Education (Primary)
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Overview
Course duration: 4 years, full time
Assumed knowledge: 2 units of mathematics and 2 units of English at HSC level or equivalent (bridging courses are available).
2009 UAI: 86.25
UAC Code: 511600
This degree gives students a professional qualification to teach in a primary school and other contexts with young children (aged 5–12 years) in Years K–6. Students undertake generalist units in education and professional studies as well as units of study in the sciences, social sciences and humanities offered by the faculties of Arts, Science and Economics and Business.
Why Study at Sydney University?
The Bachelor of Education (Primary Education) covers all the Key Learning Areas (primary-school subject areas) with special attention to the mandatory areas of Indigenous education, teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL), and special education. Professional experience (practice teaching) is integral to the program and commences in the first year. During their fourth year, students can specialise in one of a number of year-long elective units, including creative arts, special education, TESOL and Aboriginal education.
Course structure
"Foundation" units of study examine education as a social science and explore issues of policy and social theory. "Professional" units of study provide specialist expertise in areas of the primary curriculum. Courses undertaken outside the faculty enable students to engage, at a tertiary level, in subjects that interest them personally. In the first year students also undertake a science-foundations unit, which provides a grounding in the four major science areas (physics, chemistry, biology and geology).
Honours is awarded on the basis of achievement in the second, third and fourth years of the course.
Year 1
- Education 1018 and 1019
- Science Foundations 1 and 2
- Creative Arts 1
- Teaching and Learning: Literacy (including eight days in-school experience)
- 2 junior (Level 100) units of study chosen from those offered by the faculties of Arts, Science, and Economics and Business, for example, history, English, anthropology, religious studies, philosophy and government.
Year 2
- foundation units of study: Educational Psychology, and Social Perspectives on Education
- professional units of study: English, Mathematics, Physical Education, Indigenous Education, and Professional Experiences 1 (15 days' practice teaching
- two senior (Level 200) units of study, chosen from units offered by the faculties of Arts, Science, and Economics and Business. (Usually these are the units that progress from the junior units studied in Year 1).
Year 3
- foundation units of study: two Level 300 one-semester units including – for students wishing to later be employed by the NSW Department of School Education – Positive Approaches to Special Education
- professional units of study: Professional Experiences 2 (20 days' practice teaching)
- one-semester courses in Language, Mathematics, Human Society and its Environment, Drama, Personal Development and Health, Science and Technology Education, and TESOL.
Year 4
- foundation units of study: each student to elect to study one unit from the list of those offered
- professional units of study: Professional Experiences 3 (20 days' practice teaching) in Semester One and, in Semester Two, a 40-day internship with the same class as for Professional Experiences 3
- Reading and Writing Research (the honours-qualifying course)
- one-semester courses in Multiliteracies, Mathematics, Teaching English to Students of non-English Speaking Backgrounds, Teaching Children with Special Needs, Teaching and Curriculum, Creative Arts, PE (Gym and Dance) Personal Development and Health, Science and Technology, and Human Society and its Environment
- a special unit, each student to choose one unit from the list of those offerred. Examples of special units are: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, Information Technology, Languages Other Than English (LOTE), Special Education, and Aboriginal Studies.
Course outcomes
The Bachelor of Education (Primary) prepares graduates who have:
- a broad general education with in-depth knowledge in at least one area
- an evolving personal theory of education, based on an understanding of contemporary society, children's development, the variety of roles of teachers, and the purposes and functions of schooling
- the necessary knowledge, attitudes and attributes for the effective performance of the complex tasks and responsibilities of primary teachers
- a capacity to construct, implement and evaluate appropriate programs of learning experiences for primary-school children
- the maturity and humanity necessary for professional teaching
- an ability to maintain, enquire into, and evaluate their own professional development
- the ability to analyse critically new professional and policy developments.
Career opportunities
Graduates of this program are qualified to teach in government and non-government schools in NSW and are in high demand as teachers of primary-school students in other states, territories and countries. They have also found employment in government departments, recruitment and human-resource management, health and welfare organisations and in private academies and agencies.