Students combine studies in two single or one double secondary teaching specialisations from the BA (Major Stream: 54 UOC and Minor Stream: 36 UOC). The program covers both theoretical and practical aspects of education, including 80 days supervised professional experience in at least two different secondary schools.

The Graduate Attributes for UNSW BA are as follows:

• EDST1101 Educational Psychology (6 UOC)
• EDST1104 Social Perspectives in Educ. (6 UOC)

• EDST2002 Professional Engagement (6 UOC)
• EDST2003 Learning and Teaching Persp (6 UOC)

• EDST4080 Special Education (6 UOC)
• EDST4084 Managing the Classroom (6 UOC)
• EDST6760 Professional Experience 1 (6 UOC)

• EDST4096 Gifted and talented students (6 UOC)
• EDST6765 Prof Exp 2/Internship (12 UOC)

• EDST2044 Motivation in Learn./Teaching (6 UOC)
• EDST2046 Language and Literacy (6 UOC)
• EDST2062 Assessment as Practice (6 UOC)
• EDST2070 Culture, Identity & Education (6 UOC)
• EDST2091 Digital Literacies (6 UOC)
• EDST2094 Comm Skills for Teachers (6 UOC)

It is expected that all applicants will have a Higher School Certificate minimum Band 5 in Standard English, English as a Second Language or Advanced English, or an overall IELTS score of 7.5, with a minimum of 8.0 in Speaking and Listening and a minimum of 7.0 in Reading and Writing, or the equivalent.

Participation and Enrolment Requirements

Assessment of Suitability for Teaching

It is a NESA requirement that all UNSW Bachelor of Education students successfully complete a full year (48 UOC) of studies in their specific disciplinary content area (e.g., Maths, Science, Economics, Arts, etc.) before undertaking any discipline-specific curriculum and pedagogic studies (Methods) or professional experience placements in schools. At the end of their first semester they must also complete a motivational statement as to why they want to be a teacher, which is scored on a 2-point scale: No – incoherent, irrelevant, or inappropriate reasons, or Yes - coherent and valid reason. If students score ‘No’, they will be counselled out of the program.

In addition, before their first supervised professional experience placement, all teacher education students must successfully complete:

English Language Proficiency

It is a NESA requirement that all teacher education students have very high levels of English language proficiency, thus in addition to satisfying UNSW entry requirements, see www.unsw.edu.au/english-requirements-policy, oral and written communication skills are assessed regularly as part of all coursework and professional experience. By graduation it is expected that all teacher education students will be able to demonstrate English language proficiency equivalent to a Band 5 NSW HSC- level or an IELTS 7.5, with 8.0 for speaking and listening.

The National Literacy and Numeracy Test

The National Literacy and Numeracy Test for Initial Teacher Education Students is designed to assess initial teacher education students’ personal literacy and numeracy skills to ensure teachers are well equipped to meet the demands of teaching, and assist higher education providers, teacher employers, and the general public to have increased confidence in the skills of graduating teachers.

The test has been introduced to assess those aspects of initial teacher education students’ personal literacy and numeracy skills that can be measured through an online assessment tool. At UNSW, students must successfully complete both components of the LANTITE test prior to enrolling in their first Professional Experience course. You are supplied with information for the tests though Moodle and the link is provided at https://teacheredtest.acer.edu.au. Successful completion of the LANTITE test will be recorded as two zero credit courses, EDST6600 LANTITE (Literacy) and EDST6601 LANTITE (Numeracy) on a student’s academic record.

Proficiency in Languages Other than English

Teacher education students undertaking a major or extended minor stream in a language other than English (e.g., Chinese) as a first or second teaching specialisation may be asked to take an additional assessment of their language other than English skills before being permitted to enrol in the relevant language teaching specialisation (i.e., Method). This is to ensure that they have the necessary language competence, including both spoken and written language, to teach the target language at HSC level in NSW schools.

Working With Children Check

Before their first professional experience placement, all teacher education students must obtain a current Volunteer Working With Children Check (WWC) and attend a UNSW-based 2-hour child protection lecture delivered by the Department of Education – Employee Performance and Conduct Directorate. They must provide a copy of their WWC clearance number to the Professional Experience Office (PEO) via the Online Placement System (OPS). The PEO verifies all WWC numbers in the Office of the Children’s Guardian verification page for employers (https://wwccheck.ccyp.nsw.gov.au/Employers/Login) and classifies students as ‘eligible’ for placement, or not. All EDST 6765 Professional Experience 2 students must then obtain a valid paid WWC clearance. For more information about volunteer and paid WWC Checks, find the link here: https://www.kidsguardian.nsw.gov.au/child-safe-organisations/working-with-children-check.

All students must also familiarise themselves with the NSW Department of Education Code of Conduct and the document Responding to Allegations against Employees in the Area of Child Protection. All students are provided access to the policy via the Professional Experience Handbook specific to their year of placement.

Anaphylaxis Training & Certification

The NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) and the Department of Education (DoE) has mandated the completion of anaphylaxis e-training for all permanent, temporary, and casual employees who work in schools, including teacher education students. All UNSW teacher education students must complete the anaphylaxis e-training module provided by the Australian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA) in conjunction with practice using an adrenaline auto-injector training device prior to commencing their first placement in schools.

The e-training is a free, online module available at http://etraining.allergy.org.au/. On successful completion of the online module, participants will receive a certificate of completion which should be printed immediately. The Professional Experience Office will then arrange practice using the adrenaline auto-injector training device. Students are then required to upload their signed certificate to the OPS. NESA and the DoE require that students also present a copy of their certificate of completion to principals at the commencement of their professional experience placements. Students should also retain a copy of the certificate for future use within the two years of the certificate’s currency.

The NSW DoE advises that student teachers who do not successfully complete this training, as verified by the university and the principal of their placement school, will not be able to undertake professional experience activities in NSW public schools. The training is required to be successfully undertaken every two years. This is the only training that will be accepted by the DoE to meet the requirement of anaphylaxis training for initial Teacher Education Students.

Program Structure

Geography exemption in BA/BEd (Secondary)
Students completing the dual award program BA/BEd (Secondary) can secure an exemption from the Home-based Major rule and the UNSW Arts and Social Sciences Prescribed Elective rule if they wish to complete Geography as their first teaching method.

Students who seek this exemption must complete a home-based minor.

NOTE: For details of individual major and minor stream please consult the relevant stream entries.

In addition, some areas of study are only available as Minors. These are known as "Designated Minors". They are:

The External Minors, streams of study offered by other Faculties, are also suitable preparation for a second teaching specialisation.

Students should check with the School of Education the teaching specialisation requirements in Dual mode in the other program to ensure they provide appropriate background for two single or one double secondary teaching specialisations.

• Asian Studies
• Australian Studies
• Chinese Studies
• Creative Writing
• Criminology
• Dance Studies
• Development Studies
• Economics
• Education
• English
• Environmental Humanities
• European Studies
• Film Studies
• French Studies
• Geography
• German Studies
• History
• Indigenous Studies
• Indonesian Studies
• International Relations
• Japanese Studies
• Korean Studies
• Legal Studies
• Linguistics
• Media, Culture and Technology
• Music
• Philosophy
• Politics
• Sociology and Anthropology
• Spanish and Latin American Studies
• Theatre and Performance Studies
• Women's and Gender Studies