Master of Teaching (Primary)

This subject is designed to help prospective teachers develop the dispositions and critical skills to create learning communities that are academically challenging and developmentally responsive. Also, socially equitable and promote social and emotional well-being.

You will explore the interaction between biology and environment, and how that plays out in child development within an education context, and by turn influences teaching strategies.

More specifically, this subject examines a body of classic – as well as current – theories, research and practice relating to the cognitive, physiological, and social/affective needs of children and focuses on the relevance of these for classroom practice.

This subject focuses on the socio-political, economic and cultural environment that shapes teacher and student subjectivities.

Teachers are required to understand a variety of discourses and ideologies that affect schooling, teaching and learning, in an increasingly globalised world.

Within this framework, you will gain a greater understanding of the diversity of individuals and the broader Australian community, as a lens to help you promote equitable practices in schooling.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and their relationship to schooling will also be explored in this subject, providing pre-service teachers with deeper understandings of Australia’s First Nations people.

Developing understandings of society, culture and the formation of subjectivities will promote an enhanced awareness of equity issues as well as crucial analytical and critical tools to address the needs of diverse students, their families, teachers, and the broader school community.

This subject builds the capacity of students to work in culturally competent and sensitive ways in relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education in primary schools.

You will enhance your understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups including culture, histories, languages and identity. In doing so, you will also examine the social and cultural contexts that influence engagement by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, families and communities in schooling.

You will also explore ways of improving engagement through effective school culture, curriculum and community approaches. This includes an investigation into the protocols for successfully working with Aboriginal children, families and communities in educational settings to maximise learning outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.

In this subject you will focus on History, Geography and three cross-curriculum priority areas in: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures; Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia; and Sustainability.

As a key learning area in the K-6 curriculum, this subject provides opportunities for students to develop knowledge, understanding and skills in the subject matter, as well as proficiency in teaching inquiry learning approaches.

In History, key concepts of changes in family history and local history are explored and Australia’s history and understanding Australia as a Nation are explored through the relationships between the individual and the state, and the values and mutual responsibilities, and obligations for civil, political and social participation in Australian society.

In Geography, concepts that develop a sense of curiosity about environments, peoples, cultures and place, in both Australia and the world are a priority.

This subject is designed to prepare students for their role as active, thoughtful leaders of learning environments for primary students.

You will come to an understanding of their trajectory as professional learners as they develop a deeper understanding of who they are as teachers. The portfolio you begin in this subject will be a vehicle for you to reflect deeply on emerging skills and understandings, and will form an important part of your development of a critical perspective of their practice as a teacher.

Building on previous understanding about how children learn, you will plan lesson sequences using a range of teaching strategies. By doing so you will familiarise yourself with the processes needed to implement the mandated national and state curriculums in diverse classrooms.

A study of techniques to create safe and well managed learning environments where school students feel a sense of ownership of their learning will aid successful completion of the associated practicum subject. The practice of continuous assessment, planning, implementation and reflection that is the curriculum cycle will provide an organising principle around which the understandings gained in the curriculum subjects can be built.

This is the first Professional Experience subject, incorporating a 30-day full-time placement in a NSW school.

This subject is designed to introduce you to the philosophical, ethical, practical and pedagogical perspectives of becoming a teacher in diverse, contemporary educational settings.

The aim of this subject is to enable you to proactively engage in real-life educational settings to learn and enhance your professional development as a future teacher. This subject gives you the opportunity to explore the relationship between practical and theoretical knowledge of teaching.

You will have the opportunity to explore a range of learning activities that occur inside and outside the classroom, and the roles of the teaching and non-teaching staff within the school. Through ongoing observation, supervised teaching and contribution in the wider school community, the subject ensures you work towards the achievement of the national standards for a graduate teacher.

Note: to fulfil accreditation requirements by NESA and AITSL, the two Professional Experience subjects require that you attend placement in person full time for 30 consecutive days. Schools are allocated by WSU through their network of partner schools. You will also be required to attend a day-long preparation workshop held at one of the university campuses on a weekend prior to placement. Some adjustments may be possible if you are on an Assisted Integrated Plan (AIP) as you may be entitled to a Placement Integration Plan (PIP).

This subject is designed to explore key concepts associated with the teaching of the English Key Learning Area in the K-6 years, set in the broader context of a contemporary new literacies environment.

You will examine the processes involved in the teaching of oracy and reading with a focus on traditional print-based literacies and multiliteracies. Likewise, you will investigate the teaching and learning of oracy and reading of a range of factual and literary texts, involving every day and specialised knowledge for a range of readers/viewers.

You will also learn to use children’s literature and authentic texts for the development of students’ reading skills and abilities, in order to further develop skills in pedagogy and practice within the area of K-6 English. 

The subject will develop students’ understandings of children’s construction of mathematical and numeracy concepts during the years from Kindergarten to Year 3.

You will develop your ability to assess young children’s mathematical understandings and numeracy development, and to provide learning experiences for a diversity of learners. It will also include investigation and the use of digital technologies, to enhance the growth of children’s mathematical thinking.

You will also study the NSW K-10 Syllabus in all of its strands, with a particular emphasis on the Working Mathematically strand.