Program Overview

The four-year Bachelor of Primary Education is a rigorous course which will prepare you to teach national literacy and numeracy at a primary school level, from Kindergarten to Year 6. You’ll develop a sound understanding of the educational theories and teaching skills required in today’s classrooms, largely by regularly observing them in a primary school environment and putting your academic learnings into practice during one of the many teaching placement opportunities you’ll undertake.

The course’s Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) units across years two, three and four are taught on-site in schools, providing you with regular occasions to interact with children of all primary school age ranges. You’ll become proficient in teaching subjects including English, maths, science, health and PE, humanities and social sciences, and technologies, and will graduate confident, motivated and classroom-ready, eager to make an inspirational difference to the lives of children aged 5 to 12.

Study a Bachelor of Primary Education at UC and you will:

• Gain appropriate scientific, literacy and numeracy knowledge
• Learn the theories and principles that are the foundation for educational practice in primary settings
• Demonstrate an understanding of student needs and differences, and the relevance of these to learning in inclusive, indigenous, English as an Additional Language or Dialect (EALD) and mainstream settings
• Plan and develop appropriate teaching activities for students from a diverse range of backgrounds
• Develop and implement effective assessment strategies and carry out evaluation of teaching programs, resources and your own teaching
• Apply the required content knowledge for all primary school curriculum areas to teaching, assessment and reporting methods, alternate/enhanced literacy and numeracy strategies, and the effective use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in teaching and learning
• Reflect on your practice and experiences, and engage in a process of continual improvement.

Work Integrated Learning

A teaching degree, by its very nature, is the embodiment of Work Integrated Learning (WIL), with its focus on compulsory professional teaching practice. During this course, you’ll undertake a minimum of 80 days of practical placement across a range of different primary school levels and settings, culminating in a 30-day teaching placement in your final year.

In addition to this, the course content is developed by primary education professionals, and kept relevant and up-to-date through consistent monitoring of, and engagement with, the industry. You’ll undertake authentic assessment tasks which are highly relevant to the day-to-day practice of teaching, and will take part in regular professional development activities, field trips to educational sites, lectures hosted by guest speakers from a range of education and teaching backgrounds, and more.

Major: Literacy and Numeracy Education
This major addresses issues relevant to today's educational environment. It is critical that teachers have a well-regarded set of skills in, and an understanding of, essential literacy and numeracy. Primary teachers also need to be well-equipped with a working knowledge of basic statistics (given the huge range of amassed data with which teachers are now presented) along with good IT skills. In particular, such teachers need enough of an understanding in these areas to be able to prepare for, and conduct classes where-in students are having difficulties with, and have developed misconceptions of, the basic skills in Literacy and Numeracy.