Graduate Diploma in Education (Secondary) (NSW, ACT and QLD)
ObjectivesThis course is designed to prepare secondary teachers who meet the requirements to teach in Catholic, independent and government schools. The course aims to produce teachers who continue to think deeply and critically about the ends and means of education, the social, political and cultural contexts that shape schools and the ways to continue to grow professionally, and who are committed to working justly and collaboratively to make a positive difference in the lives of their students and to shape a more just and equitable society.
Entry requirementsPrerequisites Bachelor degree or equivalent that meets the required prerequisites for entry into the relevant teaching subject methods in the state/territory concerned.
Academic titleGraduate Diploma in Education (Secondary) (NSW, ACT and QLD)
Course descriptionProfessional Experience
Students must complete professional experience units during which time they are required to be available full-time.
Professional Experience covers all school and community-based experience designed to help students develop professional competence and personal commitment, in accordance with the expressed Catholic philosophy of the University. The Professional Experience units apply skills, techniques and processes taught in the Foundations Studies and Professional Studies units.
Professional Experience units are mandatory zero-credit point units. Professional Experience units are planned as a specific sequence allowing for progressive development of both classroom-based proficiency and an understanding of the relevance of theory to practice and practice to theory. The practicum will be supported by other forms of in-school experiences, such as school-based tutorials and workshops.
Certain prerequisite or co requisite units are required before students are placed in schools. For example, EDFD448 and the two or three teaching methods (Curriculum and Teaching units) must be either completed before undertaking a teaching round or are concurrent units with the teaching round unit.
Employment Screening / Police Check
Students accepting a place in this course are required to participate in a number of professional placements throughout their program. In order to participate in professional experience it is the responsibility of each student to ensure that they are able to successfully complete the child protection screening required in their state. Students, who are not cleared for working with children, and therefore not be able to be placed in a compulsory professional placement, will not be able to complete their course.
Education Studies
In the Education Studies strand, an integrated approach is taken to what has traditionally been described as foundation studies (for example, Psychology, Philosophy, Sociology, Catholic Schooling) and aspects of teaching, (for example, classroom management, planning, teaching in diverse settings, literacy and numeracy across the curriculum, adolescent health and well being).
The limited number of Education Studies units available that is, four rather than eight in the four year undergraduate secondary program. In particular, the units 'Effective Teaching and Professional Practice' and 'Social and Cultural Contexts of Education' will have a field-based and technology component associated with them.
Curriculum Studies
Normally, two curriculum units are selected from areas such as English, Mathematics, Science, Personal Development and Physical Education, Creative and Performing Arts, Economics, Geography, History, Accounting/Business, Computing, Technology, Religious Studies, Legal Studies, Social Sciences, Languages Other than English and Religious Education. Please note that in some states, curriculum areas (e.g. Science, Mathematics, Personal Development Health, Physical Education, Religious Education, LOTE, Music and Visual Arts) may have 'double majors' where students study four curriculum units in the one specialisation.
There are different pathways to qualify to teach Religious Education:
1. Those students with previous studies in Theology are able to enrol in two units of Religious Education as part of the Graduate Diploma in Education (Secondary).
2. Students without previous studies in Theology seeking to teach Religious Education as their second teaching method take the two Theology units from the Graduate Certificate in Religious Education and undertake the two Religious Education units from the Graduate Diploma in Education (Secondary). (Awards: Graduate Diploma in Education (Secondary)/Graduate Certificate in Religious Education).
3. Students seeking to have Religious Education as a third teaching method are able to enrol in the four units of the Graduate Certificate in Religious Education (two Theology and two Religious Education units). (Awards: Graduate Diploma in Education (Secondary)/Graduate Certificate in Religious Education).
English Language Requirements
Applicants who do not have a pass in English (any) in Australia, may fulfil the English requirement with an IELTS (Academic) Test score of 7.0, with no less than 7.0 in any individual band.
GradDipEd
80 cp
Minimum duration: 1 year full-time or equivalent part-time.
Course available at:
Ballarat, including Notre Dame College in Shepparton, Victoria
Brisbane, Queensland
Canberra, ACT
Melbourne, Victoria
Sydney (Strathfield), NSW
EFTSL value of units: All 10 cp units in this course have an EFTSL value of 0.125. Units with a cp value of a multiple of 10 have corresponding EFTSL values.
1. Requirements for Completion of the Graduate Diploma53 54
To qualify for the Graduate Diploma, a student must complete:
1. 80 cp from the Schedule of Unit Offerings consisting of:
1. 40 cp from Education Studies;
2. 40 cp from Curriculum Studies;
and
2. 2 Professional Experience units consisting of a minimum of 45 days supervised teaching days and 20 days of community engagement.
Schedule of Unit Offerings
Prerequisite (Pre), co-requisite (Co) and incompatible (Inc) units are indicated in parentheses where applicable.
Education Studies
Unit Code Credit Points Unit Name
EDFD446 10 Development and Learning
EDFD453 10 Social and Cultural Contexts of Education
EDFD527 10 Diversity in the Inclusive Classroom
EDFD529 10 Effective Teaching and Professional Practice
Curriculum Studies
Ballarat Campus
Rural and Regional Partnerships
Unit Code Credit Points Unit Name
EDLA438 10 English Curriculum and Teaching 1
EDLA439 10 English Curriculum and Teaching 2
EDRE527 10 Religious Education Curriculum and Teaching Studies 1
EDRE528 10 Religious Education Curriculum and Teaching Studies 2
EDSS422 10 Humanities Curriculum and Teaching 1
EDSS423 10 Humanities Curriculum and Teaching 2
EDST443 10 Science Curriculum and Teaching 1 (Inc: EDST433, EDST451)
EDST444 10 Science Curriculum and Teaching 2 (Inc: EDST433, EDST452)
Other Curriculum Studies units approved by the Course Co-ordinator.
Brisbane Campus
Unit Code Credit Points Unit Name
EDCU413 10 Teaching and Curriculum 1A
EDCU414 10 Teaching and Curriculum 1B
EDCU415 10 Teaching and Curriculum 2A
EDCU416 10 Teaching and Curriculum 2B
Canberra Campus
Unit Code Credit Points Unit Name
EDAR416 10 Visual Arts Curriculum and Teaching 1
EDAR417 10 Visual Arts Curriculum and Teaching 2
EDDA400 10 Dance Curriculum and Teaching 1
EDDA401 10 Dance Curriculum and Teaching 2
EDDR401 10 Drama Curriculum and Teaching 1
EDDR402 10 Drama Curriculum and Teaching 2
EDLA438 10 English Curriculum and Teaching 1
EDLA439 10 English Curriculum and Teaching 2
EDLO409 10 LOTE Curriculum and Teaching 1
EDLO411 10 LOTE Curriculum and Teaching 2
EDMA417 10 Mathematics Curriculum and Teaching 1
EDMA418 10 Mathematics Curriculum and Teaching 2
EDMU408 10 Music Curriculum and Teaching 1
EDMU410 10 Music Curriculum and Teaching 2
EDRE527 10 Religious Education Curriculum and Teaching Studies 1
EDRE528 10 Religious Education Curriculum and Teaching Studies 2
EDSS416 10 Commerce and Business Studies Curriculum and Teaching 1
EDSS417 10 Commerce and Business Studies Curriculum and Teaching 2
EDSS434 10 Studies of Society and Environment (SOSE) Curriculum and Teaching Studies 1
EDSS435 10 Studies of Society and Environment (SOSE) Curriculum and Teaching Studies 2
EDST441 10 ICT Curriculum and Teaching 1
EDST442 10 ICT Curriculum and Teaching 2
EDST443 10 Science Curriculum and Teaching 1
EDST444 10 Science Curriculum and Teaching 2
EDST447 10 Technology Curriculum and Teaching 1
EDST448 10 Technology Curriculum and Teaching 2
Melbourne Campus
Unit Code Credit Points Unit Name
EDAR416 10 Visual Arts Curriculum and Teaching 1 (Inc: EDAR415, EDAR420)
EDAR417 10 Visual Arts Curriculum and Teaching 2 (Inc: EDAR415, EDAR421)
EDAR418 10 Visual Arts Curriculum and Teaching 3
EDAR419 10 Visual Arts Curriculum and Teaching 4
EDLA438 10 English Curriculum and Teaching 1
EDLA439 10 English Curriculum and Teaching 2
EDLA440 10 ESL Curriculum and Teaching 1
EDLA441 10 ESL Curriculum and Teaching 2
EDLO409 10 LOTE Curriculum and Teaching 1 (Inc: EDLO407, EDLO413)
EDLO411 10 LOTE Curriculum and Teaching 2 (Inc: EDLO407, EDLO414)
EDLO410 10 LOTE Curriculum and Teaching 3 (Inc: EDLO408, EDLO415)
EDLO412 10 LOTE Curriculum and Teaching 4 (Inc: EDLO408, EDLO416)
EDMA417 10 Mathematics Curriculum and Teaching 1 (Inc: EDMA415, EDMA421)
EDMA418 10 Mathematics Curriculum and Teaching 2 (Inc: EDMA415, EDMA422)
EDMA419 10 Mathematics Curriculum and Teaching 3
EDMA420 10 Mathematics Curriculum and Teaching 4
EDMU408 10 Music Curriculum and Teaching 1 (Inc: EDMU406, EDMU412)
EDMU410 10 Music Curriculum and Teaching 2 (Inc: EDMU406, EDMU413)
EDMU409 10 Music Curriculum and Teaching 3 (Inc: EDMU407, EDMU414)
EDMU411 10 Music Curriculum and Teaching 4 (Inc: EDMU407, EDMU415)
EDPH414 10 Physical Education Curriculum and Teaching 1 (Inc: EDPH413, EDPH416)
EDPH415 10 Physical Education Curriculum and Teaching 2 (Inc: EDPH413, EDPH417)
EDRE527 10 Religious Education Curriculum and Teaching Studies 1 (Inc: EDRE425, EDRE432)
EDRE528 10 Religious Education Curriculum and Teaching Studies 2 (Inc: EDRE425, EDRE433)
EDRE427 10 Religious Education Curriculum and Teaching Studies 3
EDRE428 10 Religious Education Curriculum and Teaching Studies 4
EDSS416 10 Commerce and Business Studies Curriculum and Teaching 1 (Inc: EDSS424, EDSS425)
EDSS417 10 Commerce and Business Studies and Curriculum and Teaching 2 (Inc: EDSS424, EDSS425)
EDSS418 10 Commerce and Business Studies and Curriculum and Teaching 3
EDSS419 10 Commerce and Business Studies and Curriculum and Teaching 4
EDSS420 10 History Curriculum and Teaching 1 (Inc: EDSS426)
EDSS421 10 History Curriculum and Teaching 2 (Inc: EDSS427)
EDSS422 10 Humanities Curriculum and Teaching 1 (Inc: EDSS415, EDSS426)
EDSS423 10 Humanities Curriculum and Teaching 2 (Inc: EDSS415, EDSS427)
EDST441 10 ICT Curriculum and Teaching 1 (Inc: EDST432, EDST449)
EDST442 10 ICT Curriculum and Teaching 2 (Inc: EDST432, EDST450)
EDST443 10 Science Curriculum and Teaching 1 (Inc: EDST433, EDST451)
EDST444 10 Science Curriculum and Teaching 2 (Inc: EDST433, EDST452)
EDST445 10 Science Curriculum and Teaching 3
EDST446 10 Science Curriculum and Teaching 4
EDST447 10 Technology Curriculum and Teaching 1 (Inc: EDST434, EDST453)
EDST448 10 Technology Curriculum and Teaching 2 (Inc: EDST434, EDST454)
Strathfield Campus
Unit Code Credit Points Unit Name
EDAR416 10 Visual Arts Curriculum and Teaching 1
EDAR417 10 Visual Arts Curriculum and Teaching 2
EDAR418 10 Visual Arts Curriculum and Teaching 3
EDAR419 10 Visual Arts Curriculum and Teaching 4
EDLA438 10 English Curriculum and Teaching 1
EDLA439 10 English Curriculum and Teaching 2
EDMA417 10 Mathematics Curriculum and Teaching 1
EDMA418 10 Mathematics Curriculum and Teaching 2
EDPH419 10 Personal Development, Health & Physical Education C & T 1
EDPH420 10 Personal Development, Health & Physical Education C & T 2
EDPH401 10 Personal Development, Health & Physical Education C & T 3
EDPH412 10 Personal Development, Health & Physical Education C & T 4
EDRE527 10 Religious Education Curriculum and Teaching Studies 1
EDRE528 10 Religious Education Curriculum and Teaching Studies 2
EDSS420 10 History Curriculum and Teaching 1
EDSS421 10 History Curriculum and Teaching 2
EDSS430 10 Economics and Business Studies Curriculum and Teaching 1
EDSS431 10 Economics and Business Studies Curriculum and Teaching 2
EDSS432 10 Geography Curriculum and Teaching 1
EDSS433 10 Geography Curriculum and Teaching 2
EDST441 10 ICT Curriculum and Teaching 1
EDST442 10 ICT Curriculum and Teaching 2
EDST443 10 Science Curriculum and Teaching 1
EDST444 10 Science Curriculum and Teaching 2
EDST447 10 Technology Curriculum and Teaching 1
EDST448 10 Technology Curriculum and Teaching 2
EDST455 10 Biology Curriculum and Teaching 1
EDST456 10 Chemistry Curriculum and Teaching 1
EDST457 10 Physics Curriculum and Teaching 1
Professional Experience
Unit Code Credit Points Unit Name
EDFX503 0 Graduate Professional Experience Secondary 1
EDFX504 0 Graduate Professional Experience Secondary 2
53 Religious Education and Theology Units: Completion of the Graduate Diploma in Education (Secondary) and the Graduate Certificate in Religious Education courses, in addition to giving full State accreditation, allows teachers to satisfy requirements for teaching in Catholic or Lutheran schools or State schools.
Lutheran Strand: Students who wish to complete the requirements for teaching in Lutheran schools must register and enrol with Australian Lutheran College. The Lutheran units will replace units in the normal Graduate Certificate in Religious Education course and Australian Catholic University will credit the units towards the completion of the Graduate Diploma.
54 Requirements for working with children: All students enrolled must have the appropriate approvals before they may enter a classroom. These are: Blue Card (Queensland), Working with Children Check (ACT, Victoria, NSW). International students should check this with the Course Co-ordinator and may need to bring documentation from their own country.