Coursework
Master of Education
- CRICOS Code: 095802B
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What will I study?
Overview
Over the course of the degree, you will develop a strong foundation in education theory whilst 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, through the course you will connect with the latest developments and research in the field, and gain the expertise to move beyond the classroom to explore system-level issues and challenges.
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. There are different offerings which you can take to complete the Master of Education, depending on your professional experience. For flexibility around professional or family commitments, we also offer the Master of Education on a part-time or full-time basis.
Standard program:
- This is the standard offering for those without a teaching qualification or experience
- 200 points of coursework
- Year 1: 4 x compulsory subjects and 4 x specialisation subjects/electives. Students must complete the 4 compulsory subjects first in semester 1, before their specialisation subjects or electives.
- Year 2: 6 x electives/specialisation subjects and 1 x capstone professional project subject
- Students in the full program may complete more than one specialisation.
Fast-track program:
- Students who hold a four-year education degree (or equivalent) or an undergraduate degree in any discipline and at least 100 credit points (or equivalent) of graduate study in education can apply for this fast-tracked version of the course
- 100 points of coursework with advanced standing
- Year 2: 4 x core specialisation subjects, 2 x compulsory subjects and 2 x electives.
To specialise in a particular area, you must successfully complete each of the four specialisation core subjects. Students in the full program may complete more than one specialisation. However, if you wish to complete a general Master of Education without a specialisation, you may choose subjects from across the range of elective and specialisation subjects.
Research pathway:
- This pathway is designed for students intending to pursue further research, such as a PhD.
- The two research pathway subjects must be undertaken in the final semester of the course, and the following eligibility criteria must be met to enrol in the subjects:
- Students in the 200-point program must achieve an average of at least H2A (75%) in the first 150 points of the course;
- Students in the 100-point program must achieve an average of at least H2A (75%) in their first 50 points of their course.
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.
Sample course plan
View some sample course plans to help you select subjects that will meet the requirements for this degree.
Students with 100 points of advanced standing enter in year two.
Year 1
100 pts
- Semester 1 50 pts
- Semester 2 50 pts
specialisation core or elective
12.5 pts
specialisation core or elective
12.5 pts
specialisation core or elective
12.5 pts
specialisation core or elective
12.5 pts
Year 2
100 pts
- Semester 1 50 pts
specialisation core or elective
12.5 pts
specialisation core or elective
12.5 pts
specialisation core or elective
12.5 pts
specialisation core or elective
12.5 pts
- Semester 2 50 pts
specialisation core or elective
12.5 pts
specialisation core or elective
12.5 pts
Students with 100 points of advanced standing enter in year two.
Year 1
100 pts
- Semester 1 50 pts
- Semester 2 50 pts
specialisation core or elective
12.5 pts
specialisation core or elective
12.5 pts
specialisation core or elective
12.5 pts
specialisation core or elective
12.5 pts
Year 2
100 pts
- Semester 1 75 pts
- Semester 2 25 pts
specialisation core or elective
12.5 pts
specialisation core or elective
12.5 pts
Explore this course
Explore the subjects you could choose as part of this degree.
Compulsory
Complete all four compulsory subjects
- Understanding Education in Context 12.5 pts
This subject examines education policy and practice in social and historical context. The subject will provide students with an opportunity to examine key national and international debates in education policy and practice in relation to shifting social, political, economic and political relations. Through this subject students will analyse current education reforms, and the debates that surround them, through careful examination of the relevant research literature. Students will develop key professional skills in policy critical analysis. Through studying different case studies of debates and reform students will consider the variety of issues that underpin education practice, research and policies. This will include engaging with key debates surrounding education and equity, global competitiveness, indigenous rights, sexuality, gender, notions of deficit, and disability and ability.
- Local Literacies in Global Contexts 12.5 pts
This subject will introduce students to the ways in which literacy supports and empowers learning and social change in global contexts, and will explore the impact of literacy practices on learning in real world and virtual communities. Students will be introduced to key theories and approaches to 21 st century literacies and have the opportunity to draw on these to explore their own understanding of literacy and the impact of their personal literacies on their learning experiences. This subject will introduce students to the role of oral language in learning in different cultural traditions and understandings of education, and support them to build on these understandings in practice. Approaches to literacy which support diversity, inclusion and acknowledgement of place will be explored, and the application of these approaches to early childhood contexts, schools, workplaces and social settings will be investigated.
- Understanding the Student as Learner 12.5 pts
This subject focuses on the theoretical frameworks and evidence bases that educators use in understanding the development of their learners and in planning suitable instructional sequences that are responsive to the inherent variability of learners. It covers foundational concepts related to learning environments, learning processes and development across individual’s lifespans. It also provides opportunities to explore and discuss implications for teaching that are related to the consideration of learners’ profiles of capabilities and how teachers facilitate the quality, depth and active nature of their learning.
- Research in Educational Relationships 12.5 pts
The subject will support participants to explore the development of educational policy and practice with regards to wellbeing. Students will learn to critically analyse research about creating supportive and safe learning environments at a classroom, institutional and systemic level. Current research is analysed to identify methods and trends in the study of wellbeing approaches such as social and emotional learning and positive education. Comparative and Evaluative tools are used to explore different contextual responses, including those developing in virtual and digital spaces, for fostering resilience and relationships across all partners in the education process.
Compulsory
- Capstone Professional Project 25 pts
This subject involves students undertaking a substantial project requiring an independent investigation of a topic that they regard as directly related to their own professional practice and/or within their area of specialisation. Students will draw on theory, knowledge and skills developed through their degree to design and complete their professional capstone project. The project can be a:
- workplace investigation negotiated by the student with the relevant host organisation;
- theoretical or explorative study; or
- research project involving secondary data analyses.
Note that students will not be allowed to undertake any project that involves the collection of primary data that requires Human Research Ethics Approval.
Students will demonstrate their ability to define a problem, review relevant theoretical and practical literature, design an approach and apply it to their defined problem. Students will present their scholarly findings in a conference presentation format (designed for the subject) that facilitates peer learning and fosters professional alliances and networks.
Education Level 3 Electives
- Ethics, gender and the family 12.5 pts
The family continues to be regarded as a private institution that should be immune to public scrutiny, despite the increasing intervention in the family by public institutions - notably, the law, education, medicine and social services. Towards the end of the 20th century, feminist thinkers challenged the view that the family is a private domain and there is now a growing tradition of using alternative perspectives, such as gender studies and childhood studies to examine the family as a site of contestation over members’ rights and responsibilities.
An indicative list of topics in this subject is as follows: the public/private divide; feminist perspectives on families; men’s contemporary roles and power in families in diverse cultural contexts; the roles and power in families of the ‘helping professions’; globalization, family diversity and the normalization of family life; the state regulation of families; the compatibility of parents’ and children’s rights.
- Expertise and Your Professional Career 12.5 pts
This subject provides insights into professional knowledge, learning and expertise that will enhance students’ development in their chosen professions. The subject explores meta-frameworks for learning in all professions by distinguishing between different forms of knowledge, the relationships these have to practice across a broad array of fields, and the implications this has for learning. The focus is on the structures of knowledge and the way knowledge is produced in professions generally, rather than the content of knowledge in specific professions. It asks students to consider whether learning in academic disciplines and professions is the same, or whether differences in the structures of knowledge and the nature of practice require different approaches to learning. It distinguishes between professions that have emerged in the last fifty years and those that have an older lineage and queries whether they are different, and if so, how they are different. The subject considers debates about the relationship between theory and practice in the development of expertise in work by comparing and contrasting those that emphasise process and experiential accounts of learning with those that emphasise the intrinsic role knowledge plays in the development of expertise. The implications for debates about professional education are considered and students are asked to contemplate the significance of these debates for their own future career development.
- Sport, Leadership and the Community 12.5 pts
This subject aims to engage students in the process of designing a proposal to lead change in a ‘real world’ problem. It looks at the role sport plays within society as an agency for change at the grassroots level. Students will have an opportunity to visit a range of sporting facilities and see first-hand how community programs are adapting to change and meeting the needs of an increasingly diverse population. They will hear from a range of speakers who are experts in their respective fields, discussing the wider role of sport as a tool for change. The subject will explore sport in community settings and examine the educative role it plays dealing with issues such as disability, homophobia and social inequity. Students will investigate what community sport facilities and programs are currently doing to address these issues, and the leadership roles they have taken on.
Areas covered include leadership, community development, teamwork, the design process and reflective practice. Processes include planning, reflective writing, teamwork and personal development.
- Wakanda: African Futures in Education 12.5 pts
Wakanda is a subject concentrated on pressing issues of our time and the future including Afrofuturisms and resilience, Black migration and/in education, living in diasporic spaces, memories and histories, surviving race and racism, African philosophies and modes of social engagement. The subject offers ways to build your knowledge capacity to understand, responsibly engage, act, and create within spaces of Blackness in schools, neighbourhoods, industries, and communities. Through its intensive delivery and conceptual and experiential depth of knowledge, you will have the opportunity to draw paths of action whether you are an undergraduate (e.g. planning on working alongside African Australian members of our society), an educator (e.g. through thinking or designing curriculum), or a community leader and organizer (e.g. intending to enrich your work and practice).
This dynamically designed subject will move through four portals of knowledge creation, 1) reading conceptually grounded texts and watching popular culture materials, 2) the oral tradition in the form of lectures delivered by world renown scholars/elders from the Americas, the Caribbean, Africa and Australia, 3) meditations, conversations, and discussion with local African Australian youth from our very communities, and 4) creating and making spaces for planning and producing action relevant to your degree, circumstances, and experiences.
This subject is designed for graduate and undergraduate students. It is available to study abroad/exchanges students, and members of the community can also take the subject as a Community Access Program enrolment.
General electives
- Youth and Popular Culture 12.5 pts
This subject explores how children and young people construct and reconstruct their sense of selves against the backdrop of pervasive contemporary popular cultures. It examines contrasting approaches to identity (e.g. developmental, sociological, feminist, post-structuralist) and contemporary debates about the place of popular culture and the media and entertainment industries in children and young people's lives.
The subject analyses the ways in which children and young people appropriate and colonise symbols, meanings, images and styles from different popular cultural media. Popular cultures provide resources for identity construction, for meaning-making and for political uses. The subject explores the ways in which popular cultures draw on global images in local settings.
An indicative list of topics in this subject is: the uses of cultural commodities in children and young people's construction of gendered, classed and racialised identity/ies; childhoods, global capital and multinational companies; the role of the Internet; children and young people as cultural consumers and as cultural producers.
- Critical Thinking and Curriculum 12.5 pts
This subject examines the role of thinking in teaching and learning. The aim is for students to gain both a theoretical understanding of the methods and strategies, as well as the practical ability to apply them. The subject aims to examine how thinking in schools articulates with the general capabilities in the curriculum, as well as asking how such capabilities affect educational equity and social justice. The background of a variety of educational approaches will be explored to clarify what teaching and learning thinking might mean. The approaches examined will be applicable across the disciplines and in different educational contexts. Beginning with the view that we teach thinking by teaching the skills and tools from various thinking skills programs the exploration moves on to more sophisticated and complex theories and approaches. Students will have the opportunity to participate in lessons based on these approaches and to apply them to individual educational contexts and interests. Students will leave with a deeper understanding of thinking, teaching and the education of thinking.
- Curriculum Design and Evaluation 12.5 pts
This subject develops understandings of the intentions and principles of curriculum and investigates specifics of curriculum design and implementation to improve and refine curriculum. The subject will focus on curriculum design and evaluation principles, as well as providing the tools for students to analyse and critique curriculum principles, policies and practices. This subject also creates opportunities for students to focus on a negotiated area of curriculum. For example: curriculum structures; new learning theories about ways of knowing and implications for curriculum; transition stages within schooling; innovative learning technologies; gender; indigenous studies; multiculturalism and Australia's role in a global environment; sustainability and environmental issues and/or another curriculum dimension that is of concern to the student within their own context. Students will explore their negotiated focus through presentation and assignment work.
- Education Randomised Controlled Trials 12.5 pts
The aim of this subject is to enable students to understand and apply the principles of design and analysis of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) within the educational context. The subject provides a comprehensive introduction to trial design features used to limit bias, essential aspects of trial design, conduct, analysis and reporting, and challenges and solutions for conducting RCTs within the education context. At the end of the subject, it is expected that students will be able to contribute effectively to the planning, conduct and reporting of an RCT within an education context.
Throughout the subject, the emphasis will be on practical issues faced by researchers in the conduct of RCTs in education, and participants will be provided with skills to design and conduct rigorous RCTs in this research area. This subject covers: when is an RCT design appropriate, ethical considerations, principles and methods of randomisation in controlled trials, types of RCTs, allocation to groups, outcome measurements, understanding implementation and process measures, cost-analysis, statistical approaches, data interpretation and reporting.
- Environmental Education 12.5 pts
Students will learn the theoretical underpinnings of environmental education through a study of the concept of environmentalism. The subject will combine an introduction to theory and practice in the field of environmental education. A particular focus will be on different understandings of nature and the environment and the implications of these for education. This will include the role that science has played and continues to play in our understanding of both the environment and education. The subject will provide students with some of the important strategies for the development of environmental education in a variety of sectors. It will also provide ideas for educational activities. In addition, the subject will deal with ways of actualising individuals or groups who wish to learn how to become involved in action for the environment and social change.
- Evaluation in Education 12.5 pts
This subject will introduce students entering, or already in, the education sector to the many ways that evaluation is used in education. The subject will begin with an introduction to the origins and the political and social contexts of evaluation as well as the nature and logic of evaluation. Subsequent weeks will focus on the applied fields of evaluation set in the context of education. There are six applied fields of evaluation that will be covered: 1) performance evaluation (student assessment; teacher reflective practice); 2) product evaluation (curriculum effectiveness); 3) program evaluation (school accreditation; organisational/systems-level evaluation); 4) personnel evaluation (teacher performance appraisal; principal performance appraisal); 5) policy evaluation (policy to practice and practice to policy studies); 6) proposal evaluation (assessing grant-making applications for funding). The subject will culminate with a look at meta-evaluation (evaluating evaluations).
- Foundations of Evaluation 12.5 pts
This subject provides students with an introduction to evaluation fundamentals, including: the nature and purposes of evaluation, the logic of evaluation, types of evaluations, values, and professional standards.
- Learners and Learning Difficulties 12.5 pts
In this subject we examine the variability of human development and learning through theoretical perspectives and research evidence. We will explore the cultural, social, cognitive and emotional processes that support learning and factors that are associated with learning and learning difficulties. We will examine the implications for teaching learners experiencing learning difficulties.
- International Issues in Arts Education 12.5 pts
International Issues in Arts Education is an online community based subject that provides an introduction and foundation to current issues in arts education. As a researcher, and collaborative and multidisciplinary educator, you will explore and examine contemporary issues that are explored to inform and develop a foundation for research in arts practice, learning and perception. The subject provides flexibility for students to investigate more deeply their areas of interest, including issues pertaining to art forms and disciplinary based learning. This online community is positioned in the arts pathway to allow flexibility to pursue your areas of professional interest and self-direct creative independent research.
- Literacy Practices and Diverse Learners 12.5 pts
This subject focuses on the importance of planning effective literacy approaches and strategies to meet the needs of diverse learners. It will highlight how teachers cater for diversity through drawing on clinical approaches to meeting the literacy learning needs of diverse learners. Informing this subject will be an examination of the interface between literacy and social context, taking into account considerations of gender, EAL/D, socio-economic status, Indigenous status. Attention will be given to interventionist approaches that address the needs of exceptional learners. Turn around pedagogies and the need to counter deficit discourses in relation to diverse learners will be addressed in this subject.
- Mathematics Across the Curriculum 12.5 pts
This subject will focus on educational research and practical issues related to the teaching and learning of mathematics through other school subjects in primary and secondary classrooms. In the current world we live in, to be numerate is no longer just about the ability to apply algorithms and procedures in mathematics classrooms; mathematical knowledge and skills are being applied in an increasingly wide range of familiar and unfamiliar situations.
Through engagement in learning activities, participants will experience the role that mathematics plays in STEM and HASS subjects in schools. Acknowledging and incorporating mathematics across the curriculum both enrich the study of other school subjects and contribute to the development of a broader and deeper understanding of mathematics itself. Through the provision of research-guided and practice-informed knowledge, skills, dispositions and mindsets, this subject helps participants and their non-mathematics teaching colleagues to:
- Identify the specific mathematical knowledge and skills embedded in different school subjects
- Provide learning experiences and opportunities that support the application of participants’ general mathematical knowledge and skills
- Use the language of mathematics in their teaching as appropriate.
- Promoting Positive Learning 12.5 pts
This subject explores strategies for promoting positive learning for students, particularly those with disability, enrolled in early intervention and school settings. Structured online learning experiences, along with face-to-face sessions, focus on research-validated approaches for effective teaching and learning. Whole school curriculum approaches will be examined, alongside targeted interventions for students requiring intensive support for their learning.
Engagement in all face-to-face lectures is required.
- Promoting Positive Behaviour 12.5 pts
This subject explores strategies for promoting positive behaviour for students, particularly those with disability, enrolled in early intervention and school settings. Structured online learning experiences, along with face-to-face sessions, focus on research-validated approaches for effective behaviour management. Whole school approaches will be examined, alongside targeted interventions for students requiring intensive interventions.
Engagement in all face-to-face lectures and online modules is required.
- 50 pts
Overview
Gain the knowledge and skills to play a leading role in fostering creativity through this specialisation designed for creative practitioners and arts education professionals.
Led by the largest school of arts education specialists in the country, the Arts Education specialisation involves a critical inquiry into arts-based engagement, learning, pedagogy and practice. You will engage with issues, practices and theories about learning in and through the arts in diverse settings.
Art meets technology
This specialisation utilises the University’s state-of-the-art arts education space studioFive. Comprising specialist studios for drama, music and visual art, studioFive is a multi-purpose technology-rich facility that can be tailored to teaching styles in each artistic discipline from media to dance.
Please note: this specialisation is available within the Master of Education, and is not a separate course. The regular Master of Education CRICOS code applies.
- 50 pts
Overview
Strengthen your skills as a practitioner in any learning environment and become a leader in designing learning, assessment and related pedagogy.
Enhance your teaching
Through the four assessment and pedagogy core subjects, you’ll learn how to use assessment results to inform your teaching and improve student learning.
Internationally recognised academics
We're home to a number of internationally recognised education experts, and at the cutting edge of teaching and research.
Please note: this specialisation is available within the Master of Education, and is not a separate course. The regular Master of Education CRICOS code applies.
- 50 pts
Overview
Harness your passion for social change and build the knowledge and expertise required to foster equity and diversity in educational contexts.
Engage and drive positive change
The future of education lies in the management of equity, diversity and social change issues both in schools and within the community. This specialisation gives you the opportunity to broaden and enhance your own practice, no matter what educational or professional context you are in. You will be presented with opportunities to engage with major equity debates, developing deep understanding of key concerns in contemporary policy and practice.
Internationally recognised lecturers
We're home to a number of internationally recognised education experts, and at the cutting edge of teaching and research.
Please note: this specialisation is available within the Master of Education, and is not a separate course. The regular Master of Education CRICOS code applies.
- 50 pts
Enhance your understanding of leadership and management theories and practice across the education sectors and systems. Learn how to integrate practical knowledge, conceptual frameworks and state-of-the-art research with a global perspective.
Promotion opportunities
If you're seeking specialist qualifications for advancement into middle and senior positions, the Leadership and Management specialisation is for you.
Internationally recognised academics
We're home to a number of internationally recognised education experts, and at the cutting edge of teaching and research.
#1 in Australia for Education
The Melbourne Graduate School of Education is number one in Australia for education and top six in the world.
(QS World University Rankings by Subject 2018)Please note: this specialisation is available within the Master of Education, and is not a separate course. The regular Master of Education CRICOS code applies.
- 50 pts
Giving you contemporary in-depth knowledge of literacy policy, theory and curriculum, this specialisation prepares you to lead schools and students in all facets of literacy development, from early years to adulthood.
New perspectives
You’ll gain a multifaceted view of contemporary literacy in schools and society through the study of subjects focused on policy, multimodal texts, reading, viewing and writing. With a comprehensive understanding of literacy as social practice, you’ll be equipped with the latest evidence-based research in language and literacy teaching to support a diverse range of learner abilities and needs.
Balance work, life and study
The flexible delivery mode of the subjects, which includes on-campus workshops and online participation, makes it easier to study while working or caring for family. In addition, blended learning options make it easier for regional students to participate.
Please note: this specialisation is available within the Master of Education, and is not a separate course. The regular Master of Education CRICOS code applies.
- 50 pts
The need is greater than ever for critical, innovative and culturally sensitive science, mathematics and numeracy learning. This Master of Education specialisation will help you develop the understanding, skills and confidence to lead science, mathematics and numeracy learning and learn innovative approaches to teaching and communicating these subjects in ways that lift engagement and performance. Also, you will explore interdisciplinary perspectives from across the world and discover how to strengthen connections between science and mathematics education across the curriculum.
You’ll be able to choose at least 4 out of 6 subjects available to qualify for this Specialisation, depending on your interests, and whether you want to focus more on mathematics or science education. Subjects include teaching science and mathematics through digital technologies and in connection with other disciplines such as engineering or focus on communication and learning that takes place outside the school environment. You’ll gain an understanding of how these approaches require fundamental reconsideration of the goals of science and mathematics education, their curricula and approaches to pedagogy and assessment.
Please note: this specialisation is available within the Master of Education and is not a separate course. The regular Master of Education CRICOS code applies.
- 50 pts
Overview
Delve into education policy in a global context and get an understanding of domestic educational policy and its relationships with education systems and procedures from around the world. As the impact of globalisation on education policy and practice increases, the more relevant this global perspective becomes.
International opportunities
You will have the chance to participate in an international study visit (staff-led or independently organised) to explore the relationship between education and training systems and their provision.
Please note: This specialisation is available within the Master of Education, and is not a separate course. The regular Master of Education CRICOS code applies.
- 50 pts
Overview
Explore the current and future challenges facing science education, and learn innovative approaches to teaching and communicating science that lift engagement and performance.
Inside and outside
You’ll explore how science is currently taught and how it is increasingly connected to learning that takes place outside the school environment. This includes informal settings, through digital technologies and other disciplines such as engineering and environmental sciences. You’ll gain an understanding of how these developments require fundamental reconsideration of the goals of science education, its curricula and approaches to pedagogy and assessment.
Please note: this specialisation is available within the Master of Education, and is not a separate course. The regular Master of Education CRICOS code applies.
Compulsory
- Capstone Professional Project 25 pts
This subject involves students undertaking a substantial project requiring an independent investigation of a topic that they regard as directly related to their own professional practice and/or within their area of specialisation. Students will draw on theory, knowledge and skills developed through their degree to design and complete their professional capstone project. The project can be a:
- workplace investigation negotiated by the student with the relevant host organisation;
- theoretical or explorative study; or
- research project involving secondary data analyses.
Note that students will not be allowed to undertake any project that involves the collection of primary data that requires Human Research Ethics Approval.
Students will demonstrate their ability to define a problem, review relevant theoretical and practical literature, design an approach and apply it to their defined problem. Students will present their scholarly findings in a conference presentation format (designed for the subject) that facilitates peer learning and fosters professional alliances and networks.
Education Level 3 Electives
- Ethics, gender and the family 12.5 pts
The family continues to be regarded as a private institution that should be immune to public scrutiny, despite the increasing intervention in the family by public institutions - notably, the law, education, medicine and social services. Towards the end of the 20th century, feminist thinkers challenged the view that the family is a private domain and there is now a growing tradition of using alternative perspectives, such as gender studies and childhood studies to examine the family as a site of contestation over members’ rights and responsibilities.
An indicative list of topics in this subject is as follows: the public/private divide; feminist perspectives on families; men’s contemporary roles and power in families in diverse cultural contexts; the roles and power in families of the ‘helping professions’; globalization, family diversity and the normalization of family life; the state regulation of families; the compatibility of parents’ and children’s rights.
- Expertise and Your Professional Career 12.5 pts
This subject provides insights into professional knowledge, learning and expertise that will enhance students’ development in their chosen professions. The subject explores meta-frameworks for learning in all professions by distinguishing between different forms of knowledge, the relationships these have to practice across a broad array of fields, and the implications this has for learning. The focus is on the structures of knowledge and the way knowledge is produced in professions generally, rather than the content of knowledge in specific professions. It asks students to consider whether learning in academic disciplines and professions is the same, or whether differences in the structures of knowledge and the nature of practice require different approaches to learning. It distinguishes between professions that have emerged in the last fifty years and those that have an older lineage and queries whether they are different, and if so, how they are different. The subject considers debates about the relationship between theory and practice in the development of expertise in work by comparing and contrasting those that emphasise process and experiential accounts of learning with those that emphasise the intrinsic role knowledge plays in the development of expertise. The implications for debates about professional education are considered and students are asked to contemplate the significance of these debates for their own future career development.
- Sport, Leadership and the Community 12.5 pts
This subject aims to engage students in the process of designing a proposal to lead change in a ‘real world’ problem. It looks at the role sport plays within society as an agency for change at the grassroots level. Students will have an opportunity to visit a range of sporting facilities and see first-hand how community programs are adapting to change and meeting the needs of an increasingly diverse population. They will hear from a range of speakers who are experts in their respective fields, discussing the wider role of sport as a tool for change. The subject will explore sport in community settings and examine the educative role it plays dealing with issues such as disability, homophobia and social inequity. Students will investigate what community sport facilities and programs are currently doing to address these issues, and the leadership roles they have taken on.
Areas covered include leadership, community development, teamwork, the design process and reflective practice. Processes include planning, reflective writing, teamwork and personal development.
- Wakanda: African Futures in Education 12.5 pts
Wakanda is a subject concentrated on pressing issues of our time and the future including Afrofuturisms and resilience, Black migration and/in education, living in diasporic spaces, memories and histories, surviving race and racism, African philosophies and modes of social engagement. The subject offers ways to build your knowledge capacity to understand, responsibly engage, act, and create within spaces of Blackness in schools, neighbourhoods, industries, and communities. Through its intensive delivery and conceptual and experiential depth of knowledge, you will have the opportunity to draw paths of action whether you are an undergraduate (e.g. planning on working alongside African Australian members of our society), an educator (e.g. through thinking or designing curriculum), or a community leader and organizer (e.g. intending to enrich your work and practice).
This dynamically designed subject will move through four portals of knowledge creation, 1) reading conceptually grounded texts and watching popular culture materials, 2) the oral tradition in the form of lectures delivered by world renown scholars/elders from the Americas, the Caribbean, Africa and Australia, 3) meditations, conversations, and discussion with local African Australian youth from our very communities, and 4) creating and making spaces for planning and producing action relevant to your degree, circumstances, and experiences.
This subject is designed for graduate and undergraduate students. It is available to study abroad/exchanges students, and members of the community can also take the subject as a Community Access Program enrolment.
General electives
- Youth and Popular Culture 12.5 pts
This subject explores how children and young people construct and reconstruct their sense of selves against the backdrop of pervasive contemporary popular cultures. It examines contrasting approaches to identity (e.g. developmental, sociological, feminist, post-structuralist) and contemporary debates about the place of popular culture and the media and entertainment industries in children and young people's lives.
The subject analyses the ways in which children and young people appropriate and colonise symbols, meanings, images and styles from different popular cultural media. Popular cultures provide resources for identity construction, for meaning-making and for political uses. The subject explores the ways in which popular cultures draw on global images in local settings.
An indicative list of topics in this subject is: the uses of cultural commodities in children and young people's construction of gendered, classed and racialised identity/ies; childhoods, global capital and multinational companies; the role of the Internet; children and young people as cultural consumers and as cultural producers.
- Critical Thinking and Curriculum 12.5 pts
This subject examines the role of thinking in teaching and learning. The aim is for students to gain both a theoretical understanding of the methods and strategies, as well as the practical ability to apply them. The subject aims to examine how thinking in schools articulates with the general capabilities in the curriculum, as well as asking how such capabilities affect educational equity and social justice. The background of a variety of educational approaches will be explored to clarify what teaching and learning thinking might mean. The approaches examined will be applicable across the disciplines and in different educational contexts. Beginning with the view that we teach thinking by teaching the skills and tools from various thinking skills programs the exploration moves on to more sophisticated and complex theories and approaches. Students will have the opportunity to participate in lessons based on these approaches and to apply them to individual educational contexts and interests. Students will leave with a deeper understanding of thinking, teaching and the education of thinking.
- Curriculum Design and Evaluation 12.5 pts
This subject develops understandings of the intentions and principles of curriculum and investigates specifics of curriculum design and implementation to improve and refine curriculum. The subject will focus on curriculum design and evaluation principles, as well as providing the tools for students to analyse and critique curriculum principles, policies and practices. This subject also creates opportunities for students to focus on a negotiated area of curriculum. For example: curriculum structures; new learning theories about ways of knowing and implications for curriculum; transition stages within schooling; innovative learning technologies; gender; indigenous studies; multiculturalism and Australia's role in a global environment; sustainability and environmental issues and/or another curriculum dimension that is of concern to the student within their own context. Students will explore their negotiated focus through presentation and assignment work.
- Education Randomised Controlled Trials 12.5 pts
The aim of this subject is to enable students to understand and apply the principles of design and analysis of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) within the educational context. The subject provides a comprehensive introduction to trial design features used to limit bias, essential aspects of trial design, conduct, analysis and reporting, and challenges and solutions for conducting RCTs within the education context. At the end of the subject, it is expected that students will be able to contribute effectively to the planning, conduct and reporting of an RCT within an education context.
Throughout the subject, the emphasis will be on practical issues faced by researchers in the conduct of RCTs in education, and participants will be provided with skills to design and conduct rigorous RCTs in this research area. This subject covers: when is an RCT design appropriate, ethical considerations, principles and methods of randomisation in controlled trials, types of RCTs, allocation to groups, outcome measurements, understanding implementation and process measures, cost-analysis, statistical approaches, data interpretation and reporting.
- Environmental Education 12.5 pts
Students will learn the theoretical underpinnings of environmental education through a study of the concept of environmentalism. The subject will combine an introduction to theory and practice in the field of environmental education. A particular focus will be on different understandings of nature and the environment and the implications of these for education. This will include the role that science has played and continues to play in our understanding of both the environment and education. The subject will provide students with some of the important strategies for the development of environmental education in a variety of sectors. It will also provide ideas for educational activities. In addition, the subject will deal with ways of actualising individuals or groups who wish to learn how to become involved in action for the environment and social change.
- Evaluation in Education 12.5 pts
This subject will introduce students entering, or already in, the education sector to the many ways that evaluation is used in education. The subject will begin with an introduction to the origins and the political and social contexts of evaluation as well as the nature and logic of evaluation. Subsequent weeks will focus on the applied fields of evaluation set in the context of education. There are six applied fields of evaluation that will be covered: 1) performance evaluation (student assessment; teacher reflective practice); 2) product evaluation (curriculum effectiveness); 3) program evaluation (school accreditation; organisational/systems-level evaluation); 4) personnel evaluation (teacher performance appraisal; principal performance appraisal); 5) policy evaluation (policy to practice and practice to policy studies); 6) proposal evaluation (assessing grant-making applications for funding). The subject will culminate with a look at meta-evaluation (evaluating evaluations).
- Foundations of Evaluation 12.5 pts
This subject provides students with an introduction to evaluation fundamentals, including: the nature and purposes of evaluation, the logic of evaluation, types of evaluations, values, and professional standards.
- Learners and Learning Difficulties 12.5 pts
In this subject we examine the variability of human development and learning through theoretical perspectives and research evidence. We will explore the cultural, social, cognitive and emotional processes that support learning and factors that are associated with learning and learning difficulties. We will examine the implications for teaching learners experiencing learning difficulties.
- International Issues in Arts Education 12.5 pts
International Issues in Arts Education is an online community based subject that provides an introduction and foundation to current issues in arts education. As a researcher, and collaborative and multidisciplinary educator, you will explore and examine contemporary issues that are explored to inform and develop a foundation for research in arts practice, learning and perception. The subject provides flexibility for students to investigate more deeply their areas of interest, including issues pertaining to art forms and disciplinary based learning. This online community is positioned in the arts pathway to allow flexibility to pursue your areas of professional interest and self-direct creative independent research.
- Literacy Practices and Diverse Learners 12.5 pts
This subject focuses on the importance of planning effective literacy approaches and strategies to meet the needs of diverse learners. It will highlight how teachers cater for diversity through drawing on clinical approaches to meeting the literacy learning needs of diverse learners. Informing this subject will be an examination of the interface between literacy and social context, taking into account considerations of gender, EAL/D, socio-economic status, Indigenous status. Attention will be given to interventionist approaches that address the needs of exceptional learners. Turn around pedagogies and the need to counter deficit discourses in relation to diverse learners will be addressed in this subject.
- Mathematics Across the Curriculum 12.5 pts
This subject will focus on educational research and practical issues related to the teaching and learning of mathematics through other school subjects in primary and secondary classrooms. In the current world we live in, to be numerate is no longer just about the ability to apply algorithms and procedures in mathematics classrooms; mathematical knowledge and skills are being applied in an increasingly wide range of familiar and unfamiliar situations.
Through engagement in learning activities, participants will experience the role that mathematics plays in STEM and HASS subjects in schools. Acknowledging and incorporating mathematics across the curriculum both enrich the study of other school subjects and contribute to the development of a broader and deeper understanding of mathematics itself. Through the provision of research-guided and practice-informed knowledge, skills, dispositions and mindsets, this subject helps participants and their non-mathematics teaching colleagues to:
- Identify the specific mathematical knowledge and skills embedded in different school subjects
- Provide learning experiences and opportunities that support the application of participants’ general mathematical knowledge and skills
- Use the language of mathematics in their teaching as appropriate.
- Promoting Positive Learning 12.5 pts
This subject explores strategies for promoting positive learning for students, particularly those with disability, enrolled in early intervention and school settings. Structured online learning experiences, along with face-to-face sessions, focus on research-validated approaches for effective teaching and learning. Whole school curriculum approaches will be examined, alongside targeted interventions for students requiring intensive support for their learning.
Engagement in all face-to-face lectures is required.
- Promoting Positive Behaviour 12.5 pts
This subject explores strategies for promoting positive behaviour for students, particularly those with disability, enrolled in early intervention and school settings. Structured online learning experiences, along with face-to-face sessions, focus on research-validated approaches for effective behaviour management. Whole school approaches will be examined, alongside targeted interventions for students requiring intensive interventions.
Engagement in all face-to-face lectures and online modules is required.
- 50 pts
Overview
Gain the knowledge and skills to play a leading role in fostering creativity through this specialisation designed for creative practitioners and arts education professionals.
Led by the largest school of arts education specialists in the country, the Arts Education specialisation involves a critical inquiry into arts-based engagement, learning, pedagogy and practice. You will engage with issues, practices and theories about learning in and through the arts in diverse settings.
Art meets technology
This specialisation utilises the University’s state-of-the-art arts education space studioFive. Comprising specialist studios for drama, music and visual art, studioFive is a multi-purpose technology-rich facility that can be tailored to teaching styles in each artistic discipline from media to dance.
Please note: this specialisation is available within the Master of Education, and is not a separate course. The regular Master of Education CRICOS code applies.
- 50 pts
Overview
Strengthen your skills as a practitioner in any learning environment and become a leader in designing learning, assessment and related pedagogy.
Enhance your teaching
Through the four assessment and pedagogy core subjects, you’ll learn how to use assessment results to inform your teaching and improve student learning.
Internationally recognised academics
We're home to a number of internationally recognised education experts, and at the cutting edge of teaching and research.
Please note: this specialisation is available within the Master of Education, and is not a separate course. The regular Master of Education CRICOS code applies.
- 50 pts
Overview
Harness your passion for social change and build the knowledge and expertise required to foster equity and diversity in educational contexts.
Engage and drive positive change
The future of education lies in the management of equity, diversity and social change issues both in schools and within the community. This specialisation gives you the opportunity to broaden and enhance your own practice, no matter what educational or professional context you are in. You will be presented with opportunities to engage with major equity debates, developing deep understanding of key concerns in contemporary policy and practice.
Internationally recognised lecturers
We're home to a number of internationally recognised education experts, and at the cutting edge of teaching and research.
Please note: this specialisation is available within the Master of Education, and is not a separate course. The regular Master of Education CRICOS code applies.
- 50 pts
Enhance your understanding of leadership and management theories and practice across the education sectors and systems. Learn how to integrate practical knowledge, conceptual frameworks and state-of-the-art research with a global perspective.
Promotion opportunities
If you're seeking specialist qualifications for advancement into middle and senior positions, the Leadership and Management specialisation is for you.
Internationally recognised academics
We're home to a number of internationally recognised education experts, and at the cutting edge of teaching and research.
#1 in Australia for Education
The Melbourne Graduate School of Education is number one in Australia for education and top six in the world.
(QS World University Rankings by Subject 2018)Please note: this specialisation is available within the Master of Education, and is not a separate course. The regular Master of Education CRICOS code applies.
- 50 pts
Giving you contemporary in-depth knowledge of literacy policy, theory and curriculum, this specialisation prepares you to lead schools and students in all facets of literacy development, from early years to adulthood.
New perspectives
You’ll gain a multifaceted view of contemporary literacy in schools and society through the study of subjects focused on policy, multimodal texts, reading, viewing and writing. With a comprehensive understanding of literacy as social practice, you’ll be equipped with the latest evidence-based research in language and literacy teaching to support a diverse range of learner abilities and needs.
Balance work, life and study
The flexible delivery mode of the subjects, which includes on-campus workshops and online participation, makes it easier to study while working or caring for family. In addition, blended learning options make it easier for regional students to participate.
Please note: this specialisation is available within the Master of Education, and is not a separate course. The regular Master of Education CRICOS code applies.
- 50 pts
The need is greater than ever for critical, innovative and culturally sensitive science, mathematics and numeracy learning. This Master of Education specialisation will help you develop the understanding, skills and confidence to lead science, mathematics and numeracy learning and learn innovative approaches to teaching and communicating these subjects in ways that lift engagement and performance. Also, you will explore interdisciplinary perspectives from across the world and discover how to strengthen connections between science and mathematics education across the curriculum.
You’ll be able to choose at least 4 out of 6 subjects available to qualify for this Specialisation, depending on your interests, and whether you want to focus more on mathematics or science education. Subjects include teaching science and mathematics through digital technologies and in connection with other disciplines such as engineering or focus on communication and learning that takes place outside the school environment. You’ll gain an understanding of how these approaches require fundamental reconsideration of the goals of science and mathematics education, their curricula and approaches to pedagogy and assessment.
Please note: this specialisation is available within the Master of Education and is not a separate course. The regular Master of Education CRICOS code applies.
- 50 pts
Overview
Delve into education policy in a global context and get an understanding of domestic educational policy and its relationships with education systems and procedures from around the world. As the impact of globalisation on education policy and practice increases, the more relevant this global perspective becomes.
International opportunities
You will have the chance to participate in an international study visit (staff-led or independently organised) to explore the relationship between education and training systems and their provision.
Please note: This specialisation is available within the Master of Education, and is not a separate course. The regular Master of Education CRICOS code applies.
- 50 pts
Overview
Explore the current and future challenges facing science education, and learn innovative approaches to teaching and communicating science that lift engagement and performance.
Inside and outside
You’ll explore how science is currently taught and how it is increasingly connected to learning that takes place outside the school environment. This includes informal settings, through digital technologies and other disciplines such as engineering and environmental sciences. You’ll gain an understanding of how these developments require fundamental reconsideration of the goals of science education, its curricula and approaches to pedagogy and assessment.
Please note: this specialisation is available within the Master of Education, and is not a separate course. The regular Master of Education CRICOS code applies.