Preview Webinar: Discover Primary and Secondary Teaching Courses at UTS

Kirsty Young - Head, UTS Institute for Education

Hello, and thanks for joining us. Whether you're a Year 12 student thinking about uni next year, or maybe a parent supporting a young person through that decision, you might be somebody who already holds a bachelor degree, and you might be considering a career change. We're really pleased you could join us for this webinar. I'm Kirsty Young, and I'm head of the Institute for Education here at UTS. I'm joined today by Annie Agnew, the course director of the Secondary Education Program, Dr Lauren Knussen, Deputy Head of the Institute for Education, and Julie Lim, the course coordinator for our TESOL programs. In this session, we'll introduce you to the different pathways into teaching and explain what makes studying at UTS unique.

We'll help you decide which education course might be the right fit for you, so by the end, you should have a clear sense of the options available and the next steps. Before we get into the specifics of our courses, I'd like to share with you what drives us to ensure that we have really high-quality programs here. Firstly, we know that teachers don't just need to know about the curriculum, but they need to be prepared for a rapidly changing world. We believe the best teachers learn through strong connections, in theory and practice, and that means learning ideas, approaches, evidence-informed strategies, and then thinking about how they actually work and are applied in classrooms. Here at UTS, you'll learn from academics who are actively connected within schools and have strong education partners.

You'll undertake professional experience through more than 200 partner schools and our future-focused curriculum will ensure you study contemporary issues in education so you're well prepared for the classrooms of tomorrow. And most importantly, here at UTS at the Institute for Education, you'll become part of a supportive community where collaboration, strong relationships and practical learning are really at the heart of everything that we do. So the first big question for you is to ask which pathway is right for me? If you've recently finished school or you're finishing school this year, you might already know that teaching is the career for you. And if so, our combined pathway into either primary education or secondary education will allow you to graduate with both an undergraduate and postgraduate qualification in four years.

If you've already completed a bachelor degree and you're interested in becoming a teacher, are you thinking about a career change? Our Master of Teaching program provides a direct pathway into the profession. We'll now walk you through each of these options. We'll start with the secondary program and I'll hand over to Annie, who'll introduce our secondary teaching programs to you.

Annie Agnew - Course Director, Secondary Education Program

Thanks, Kirsty. So many students know the subject they love long before they know that they want to teach. Combined pathways are designed for exactly that. They allow you to build deep expertise in a chosen discipline before completing the professional teaching qualification. At the moment, we offer combined secondary pathways in science, business, economics and communication with a focus on writing and publishing or creative writing. So at UTS, while you study one of these disciplines in depth at bachelor level, you're also building your professional teaching knowledge through the Master of Teaching in Secondary Education. This means you graduate with two qualifications in just four years and you'll be extremely well prepared to teach in your chosen specialist area in secondary schools nationally and internationally.

The program is what we call a vertical stack. After a first year focused mostly on the bachelor degree, you study both the bachelor's and the master of teaching in secondary education concurrently. So you're building your subject expertise while also developing the knowledge, skills and professional capabilities needed for teaching. In this slide, we show you the secondary specialisations that are currently available through the combined pathways. If your strength is writing, literature and communication, the communication pathway is for you. There are three specialisations you can take. You can focus specifically on becoming an English teacher, or you can take subjects that allow you to learn to teach English with society and culture or English with EAL/D, which is English as an additional language or dialect.

We'll talk more about this option later. If you're drawn to business, commerce or economics, the business and economics pathway can lead to business studies, business studies and economics or economics. These are strong options for students who enjoy understanding how organisations, markets and decisions work and who want to bring that learning to young people. And if science or maths is your area, the science pathway includes teaching options such as biology, earth and environmental science, chemistry, physics and mathematics, mathematics and physics, and physics. The main idea you hear is that you don't have to choose between studying the subject you love and becoming a teacher. The combined pathway lets you do both. So here's one example of how a combined degree can look.

In the Bachelor of Business, you study business subjects through UTS Business School. These might include areas such as accounting, marketing, financial literacy and the social impact of business. So you're building a strong foundation in how businesses operate and how business decisions affect people and communities. Alongside this, through the UTS Institute for Education, you can begin developing the skills needed to teach business studies in secondary schools. You study areas such as HSIE teaching methods, digital technologies for teaching, inclusive education and engaging adolescent learners and many other teaching subjects to ensure you graduate well prepared to teach in diverse classrooms. And importantly, professional experience runs through the teaching component. So this is not just about learning content and theory.

It's also about gradually building your confidence in real school settings with support along the way. So this is another example, this time for students interested in communication, writing and publishing and English teaching. In the Bachelor of Communication, you might study subjects such as creative writing foundations, publishing industry practices, writing through form and genre and communication and technology. So you're developing your own writing, reading, editing and communication skills. Then, through the Master of Teaching in Secondary Education, you begin to think about how to turn that passion for language and literature into engaging learning experiences for secondary students.

You'll study English teaching methods, and like those studying business and economics, you study digital technologies, inclusive education, and how to engage adolescent learners, plus other subjects necessary to become a confident teacher. So if you're someone who loves books, stories, language, ideas and helping others find their voice, this pathway is designed to connect that passion with a teaching career. And here's an example for students interested in science. In the Bachelor of Science, you might study subjects such as cell biology and genetics, molecular biology, the biosphere and ecology depending on your stream. You're building a strong scientific foundation and learning how scientific knowledge is developed and applied.

At the same time, through the Institute for Education, you'll learn how to teach science in ways that are clear, engaging, and meaningful for secondary students. That includes science teaching methods, and again, you study the same education units as those in business or English degrees, plus many other essential teacher education subjects. The professional experience component helps you connect with what you've learned at university and what happens in school science classrooms. So by the time you graduate, you've built both discipline expertise and practical teaching confidence. So one of the questions we're often asked is whether a student should simply complete a bachelor's degree and decide later. The answer is that both pathways can lead to the same professional teaching qualification, but the combined pathway gets you there faster.

Our vertical stack degrees provide a seamless journey from your undergraduate studies into your professional teaching qualification. You gain two qualifications in just four years. It's also a purpose-designed pathway. Rather than finishing one degree and then trying to work out what comes next, the course is structured from the beginning to help you build both your subject knowledge and your teaching capability. So if you already know that you want to become a secondary teacher, the combined pathway is certainly worth considering. For those who've already completed a bachelor's degree, our standalone master of teaching in secondary education offers an excellent pathway into teaching.

This is the option for people who may have studied in a particular discipline already, who may be thinking about changing careers and bringing their existing knowledge and experience into the classroom. Whichever pathway is right for you, professional experience is a central part of your learning. Throughout the program, you'll spend time in schools with experienced teachers, gradually developing the confidence and skills needed to transition into the teaching profession. I'll now hand over to Lauren, who will explain our primary education degrees.

Dr Lauren Knussen - Deputy Head, UTS Institute for Education

The Combined Bachelor of Education Futures and Master of Teaching in Primary Education isn't a traditional education degree. In this degree, you'll explore the broader influences shaping education as well as completing a professional teaching qualification. This unique degree gives you an edge because you engage with ideas from education, but also from other disciplines and other parts of the university. That broader perspective can really help shape your teaching philosophy and the way you understand children, learning, communities and society. So you enter the teaching profession with a broader world view and that benefits not only you but your future students also. This slide gives you a snapshot of what you study in the combined primary pathway.

The Bachelor of Education Futures includes subjects taught across UTS, such as sustainability in an interconnected world, the social life of technology, health and physical activity, and teaching for complexity and diversity. These subjects help you think about education in a broad contemporary way. In your primary teaching preparation through the UTS Institute for Education, you study the key learning areas that primary teachers need, including creative arts, mathematics, science, English, PDHPE and HSIE. You also study core education subjects, such as Indigenous Australian education, inclusive education, classroom management and teaching with technology. And of course, professional experience is built into the degree.

So you're not just learning about teaching at university, you're also developing your practice in school settings with guidance and support. Similar to our secondary education program, but those of you who want to become a primary school teacher and already hold a bachelor's degree, you can enter directly into our standalone Master of Teaching in Primary Education. This is a great pathway if you've already completed undergraduate study and have realised that teaching is where you want to go next. It allows you to focus directly on the professional knowledge, curriculum areas and practical experiences needed to become a primary teacher.

If you enter through the combined degree pathway, that is the Bachelor of Education Futures and Master of Teaching in Primary Education, or if you enter straight into the standalone Master of Teaching in Primary Education, you'll choose a specialisation. At the moment, we have three specialisations to choose from, English, Creative Arts or Curriculum Integration. If you choose the English specialisation, you'll study six subjects related to the teaching of literacy and English education. If you have an interest in the creative arts and select this specialisation, you'll take six subjects specifically related to creative arts education. If you prefer not to specialise in English or creative arts, you can choose curriculum integration, where you study subjects with content knowledge from across the key learning areas.

It's important to note that whichever option you choose, you will study all of the subjects needed to become a qualified primary teacher. Now, in addition to our unique primary and secondary degrees, studying at UTS offers so much more. I'll hand over to Julie now, who will explain the other options available to you.

Dr Julie Lim - Course Coordinator, TESOL Programs

Thank you, Lauren. Here at the UTS Institute for Education, we specialise in TESOL, which is teaching English to speakers of other languages. This offers pathways into teaching English as an additional language or dialect in schools, adult education, or English language colleges. Subjects in our program are embedded in the primary and secondary courses, so you will learn from industry-experienced and research-active educators. You'll graduate with the knowledge, skills and confidence to teach in multicultural classrooms and support diverse learners. This slide shows what an EAL/D specialisation can look like in both the secondary and primary pathways.

For secondary students, the example shown here is the Bachelor of Communication in Creative Writing with the Master of Teaching in Secondary Education, specialising in English and EAL/D. Alongside the core and discipline subjects, students study subjects such as language teaching methodology, teaching EAL/D in schools, introduction to knowledge about language, and the multilingual learner. For primary students, the EAL/D-related focus sits within the English specialisation and includes subjects such as teaching EAL/D and literacy in primary schools, language teaching methodology, multi-literacies and multi-modalities, and teaching language for meaning.

The key point is that this pathway helps you understand how language works, how multilingual learners develop, and how teachers can support students who are learning English while also learning curriculum content. That is incredibly valuable in contemporary Australian classrooms. In addition to our programs, there are plenty of other things to love about studying at UTS. Learning happens on a centrally located campus, just a short walk from Central Station, the light rail, and major bus interchange. Within education, there are purpose-built learning spaces for teacher education students, including a science lab, art rooms and music labs. So students study in the kinds of classroom environments they may eventually teach in. The campus also has modern buildings, study spaces, cafes and social meeting places.

Activate UTS has dozens of clubs and societies to join, and UTS Sport offers team games and gym access. So between your classes, there is plenty on offer for you to enjoy while you are on campus. Handing back over to you now, Kirsty.

Kirsty Young - Head, UTS Institute for Education

Thanks, Julie. So completing one of our education degrees really does open the door to becoming an exceptional primary teacher or secondary school teacher. And it's in a profession where there's really strong employment demand and job security. In addition to the professional experiences you'll undertake through UTS, which include extensive school-based experience built into the education degrees, you could also apply for one of the Department of Education's rural and remote opportunities. This would allow you to experience teaching outside metropolitan areas. Within the Institute for Education, we also have awards for exceptional students. At the moment, we offer the Laurie Brady Prize for Professional Learning and we also offer the Gwen Muir Award for Inclusive Education.

From time to time, we like to run events with prizes, such as a micro-teaching event that we held earlier this year with a prize for the best lesson. In their final years, some students become eligible to gain professional accreditation, which means you can start teaching while you're still studying. Also here at UTS, we're really fortunate to have a Department of Education University Partnership lead, that's a UPL. That person's on campus, and they give you direct connection to the department while studying here at UTS. The UPL can provide personalised support. They'll help you prepare for your teaching career. That might include career guidance, mentoring, information about gaining approval to teach, support as you prepare for professional experience, and conversations about pathways into New South Wales schools.

So from your very first semester here at UTS, you have Department of Education support available on campus. Now, you don't just have to take our word for it. UTS has a really strong external recognition in the field of education. As shown here, UTS has ranked 71st in the world for education studies. We have a five-star rating for graduate employment. And we're also ranked 49th in the world for education and education research. Rankings are only part of the picture, of course. But what matters most is whether the course is right for you. Well, what's reassuring to know is that when you choose UTS, you're choosing a university and an education program that's recognised externally and closely connected with schools and the profession.

We hope you found this webinar useful to learn about the pathways into primary and secondary teaching here at UTS in the Institute for Education. Our team's always here to answer any questions about our courses and you can find out more about the UTS Institute for Education and our courses on the website shown here. You can scan the QR code to stay in touch or explore the course pages in more detail. So whichever pathway is right for you, we're here to help you take the next step. Thanks for joining us. Goodbye.