Master of Education

Over the course of the degree, you will develop a strong foundation in education theory while being given the tools to apply these learnings in a practical way. This focus on real-world application will assist with progression in your role or promotion to positions of leadership and management in the education field.

Taught by internationally recognised researchers and education leaders, you'll gain the knowledge and skills to:

• Address educational challenges using theoretical understandings, evidence-based research and analysis, evaluation and communication skills
• Understand First Nations knowledges and their contribution to education
• Understand current educational theories, debates, policies and practices
• Apply educational policies and practices in your teaching to promote respect for diversity, inclusion and social justice
• Understand global education perspectives and issues and how education can help address sustainability challenges
• Understand educational research principles and methods
• Explore system-level issues and challenges both in and out of the classroom.

Study Structure

The flexible structure of the Master of Education, with a range of electives and specialisations, will allow you to qualify in your particular area of interest. Entry points to the course are in both semester 1 and 2, designed to suit most schedules.

Depending on your academic background and professional experience, you may be eligible for 100 points of advanced standing. For flexibility around professional or family commitments, we also offer the Master of Education on a part-time or full-time basis.

In your final semester capstone subject, you complete a research-based inquiry project that speaks directly to your interests and priorities in your own professional practice or specialisation. An international travel option is also available in the capstone.

Alternatively, a dedicated research option is available for eligible students who intend to pursue further studies such as a PhD.

Standard program:

• This is the standard offering for those without a teaching qualification or experience
• 200 points of coursework
• To specialise in a particular area, you must successfully complete each of the four specialisation subjects. However, if you wish to complete a general Master of Education without a specialisation, you may choose elective subjects from across a range of specialisation areas.
• Year 1: 4x compulsory subjects (50 points) and 4x foundations subjects (50 points)
• Students must complete the 4 compulsory subjects first in semester 1, before their specialisation subjects or electives
• Year 2: A combination of specialisation/elective subjects, followed by a capstone subject or research subjects in the final semester
• 6x specialisation/elective subjects (75 points) + a 25-point capstone subject (with travel option)
• Alternative option for qualified students (75% minimum WAM requirement): 4x electives/specialisation subjects (50 points) + 2x research subjects (50 points). See below for more information on eligibility criteria for the research option.

Research option:

• This option is designed for students intending to pursue graduate research, such as a PhD
• The two research subjects must be undertaken in the final 50 points of the course, and the following eligibility criteria must be met to qualify for the research option:
• Students must achieve a Weighted Average Mark (WAM) of 75% or above in completed Master of Education studies, calculated at the point of enrolment in the research subjects. Click here for details of WAM calculation

Fast-track program:

• Students with a prior academic background or professional experience in education may be eligible for 100 points of advanced standing.
• Students may complete the course in one year of full-time study, or two years of part-time study.
• These students must complete either the capstone or the research option for the final 100 points.

Specialisation options

Create the course your career needs with our Master of Education specialisation areas. Our ten specialisation options give you the ability to build a flexible course around your own interests, helping further your teaching practice or your work in the education sector. Whether you want to deeply explore one specialisation, or study elective subjects across multiple areas, you’ll be in control of building a bespoke course that will give you the knowledge to accelerate your career in education.

Choose from one of the following:

• Assessment, Data and Evaluation
• Creativity and the Arts
• Digital Futures and Innovative Practices
• Education Policy and Governance
• Educational Leadership
• Equity, Sustainability and Social Change
• Literacies and English
• Mathematics and Science Education
• The Science of Learning
• Wellbeing in Education.

Read on for detailed information about these options.

Please note: The faculty reserves the right to review specialisations available for delivery on offer in any given intake.

Assessment, Data and Evaluation

Harness the power of data to improve learning and education.

In this specialisation, you’ll develop the knowledge and skills to critically examine assessment design, studying issues of validity, reliability, fairness and bias in data. You’ll learn to apply data visualisation tools to identify patterns and trends in qualitative and quantitative data, deploy strategies for reducing bias in data interpretation and use, and learn how to account for uncertainty and limitations when drawing inferences. You’ll be able to gain a deep understanding of students’ progress to ensure the best learning outcomes in a wide range of educational contexts and settings.

The skills you’ll develop in evaluation and data analysis will be applicable to a wide range of employment contexts, including:

• Teaching and school leadership positions
• Tertiary instruction
• Other educational roles
• Government and NGO settings
• Healthcare settings.

Creativity and the Arts

Integrate creativity into your professional practice and become a leader in arts education.

Deepen your expertise in arts-based education and apply it in diverse settings. You’ll have the opportunity to learn and create in our award-winning cross-discipline studio space, studioFive, which is recognised as a UNESCO UNITWIN research site.

Students will gain not only new knowledge, but transformed practices and pedagogies, confidence as creative leaders, and a community of peers and colleagues committed to creative ecologies as a force for educational, cultural, technological and social change.

Graduates go on to become:

• Arts education leaders in schools, museums, galleries, and community organisations
• Specialists in curriculum design, policy, and cultural programming
• Researchers or PhD candidates, with strong pathways into arts-based educational research.

Digital Futures and Innovative Practices

New specialisation option available from 2025 intake onwards.

Explore the impact and utility of new technologies and digital innovations in educational contexts.

This specialisation takes a reflective and forward-looking approach, engaging with new technologies and innovations not merely as tools for efficiency, but as complex, socially embedded, and ethically charged forces shaping learning and society.

You’ll engage with big, provocative questions like “Can digital futures and innovative practices be decolonised?”, “What is the difference between a human and a machine?” and “How can technologies create the conditions for bringing joy and community into our lives?”. These questions challenge dominant narratives and open up new possibilities for education.

This specialisation will be particularly valuable for:

• Current leaders in digital innovation seeking formal recognition and theoretical grounding for their work
• Aspiring leaders aiming to take on roles in technology-enhanced or design-based educational innovation
• Learning designers and educational developers
• Professionals working in Education Technology (EdTech) who want to broaden their expertise, strengthen their critical perspective, and expand their capacity to influence meaningful change.

Education Policy and Governance

Understand and shape education policy and governance, both in Australia and globally.

You’ll learn about how policy approaches develop and spread, and look at the challenges and successes of policy enactment. You’ll examine case study examples, and you’ll have the opportunity to visit a range of educational policy settings, where you’ll engage in discussion with policy makers and those affected by policy change.

This specialisation is a good fit for current or aspiring policy makers, those wanting to better understand and inform policy change, and those otherwise interested in education policy and governance.

Career pathways include:

• Policy making
• Educational leadership
• Policy research
• A range of other education-related work.

Educational Leadership

Learn leadership practices that work for all educational contexts and settings.

Discover how to influence teaching and learning, gauge organisational success, and develop future-focused improvement plans to deepen your impact as an educational leader.

This specialisation is for anyone who wants to develop their leadership skills in education, such as:

• Middle or senior educational leaders looking to enhance their knowledge and effectiveness
• Teacher leaders and middle leaders in any education-focused organisation (early childhood, school, post-school and university)
• System or policy workers interested in learning about educational leadership work and how systems can better support it, while also improving their own leadership skills.

Equity, Sustainability and Social Change

Harness your passion for social change and discover how to build a more equitable and sustainable future through education.

This specialisation offers a unique combined focus on social and environmental issues. You’ll also be able to tailor your learning to your interests, including the relationship of education to race and racism, class, gender, sexuality, colonialism, climate justice and Indigenous sovereignty. You’ll emerge ready to use education to become an agent of change.

The knowledge you’ll develop will be applicable to a wide range of professional contexts, including:

• Schools and early childhood settings
• Further and higher education
• Policy contexts
• Other public institutions.

Literacies and English

Gain a comprehensive understanding of English and literacies education through a global, plurilingual, and technologically informed perspective.

You'll examine literacies as social phenomena, explore the diverse global manifestations of English, consider First Nations perspectives, and discover how emerging technologies such as generative AI are reshaping the landscape of reading and writing. This specialisation positions students at the forefront of debates and innovations in English and literacy education, preparing them to be adaptable and insightful practitioners in an increasingly complex educational landscape.

Careers that will benefit from the specialisation include:

• Literacy specialists in schools
• Educational policy development
• Educational technology
• A diverse array of other career pathways, in educational settings and beyond.

Mathematics and Science Education

Expand your knowledge in science, environmental, mathematics and numeracy education.

Learn innovative, culturally sensitive teaching approaches to lift engagement and performance in maths and science subjects while contributing to social change. You’ll explore interdisciplinary perspectives from around the world and learn how to strengthen connections between different study areas across the curriculum.

Students who complete this specialisation are well-positioned to work in:

• School settings
• Museums
• Science or STEM centres
• Other professional settings that focus on communication of the STEM disciplines.

The Science of Learning

New specialisation option available from 2025 intake onwards.

Explore the psychological and neurological mechanisms of learning and development.

Drawing from scientific research in psychology, neuroscience and education, you’ll discover the processes that underpin learning and apply that knowledge to inform and improve pedagogical practice and learning outcomes.

You’ll complete practical assessment tasks that can be applied across a wide range of learning contexts, such as children learning how to read, hands-on interactive learning at a museum, online learning in a tertiary setting, or on-the-job training. Since learning is integral to all human endeavours, the knowledge and skills you gain in this specialisation will be well-suited to a wide variety of career pathways in education and beyond.

A deep understanding of how people learn and the ability to assess adn design educational practice will support current professionals including:

• Teachers
• Tertiary lecturers and instructors
• Medical or allied health educators
• Learning designers
• Trainers in organisations.

Wellbeing in Education

Learn how to support students’ wellbeing from early childhood through to higher education.

You’ll examine wellbeing perspectives across different fields including critical education studies, philosophy of education, positive psychology, sociology, public health, and more. You’ll discover how to strengthen relationships and promote wellbeing in your role as an educator.

This specialisation will prepare you for:

• Moving into wellbeing-focused roles in schools
• Building capacity for effective leadership in educational settings through a deeper understanding of the ethics of care, epistemic justice and a systems approach to wellbeing in organisations
• Specialising in staff or learner wellbeing roles, or health leadership roles, in organisations
• Further academic and social research pathways.

How will I study?

The Master of Education has been designed around the lives of working professionals. The delivery mode of our course is face-to-face classes on the Parkville campus, running evenings and weekends.

For more detailed information on course structure and subjects, refer to the handbook.

University Handbook: Master of Education