All teacher education courses in VU's College of Arts, Business, Law, Education and IT include professional experience and supervised teaching practice in schools.
Other courses in the college, such as early childhood and youth work courses, also involve placements in professional settings.
Students who are pre-service teachers are required to successfully complete placement in a professional setting as part of their course.
This includes pre-service teachers in the following courses:
These placements will take place in one of our 900 partner organisations that include:
Every year the College of Arts, Business, Law, Education and IT offers a range of options for professional experience (including, but not limited to, the below list). Pre-service teachers, if eligible, may express an interest in the following programs:
We provide learning opportunities for our pre-service teachers through our partnerships with major sporting bodies.
Our sporting partners include:
As part of their ACP (Applied Curriculum Project), Victoria University pre-service teachers work with our partners to plan and deliver a sports program in a primary school.
It's an opportunity for our students to develop teaching, sportsmanship, and healthy-lifestyles knowledge, as well as organisation, communication and management skills. Our pre-service teachers can also gain a coaching qualification to register with these sporting bodies through the Sporting Schools program.
An induction day is organised with our sporting partners early in Semester 1 to prepare our students to implement the sports programs in a school.
Feedback from participating schools shows that the programs result in several positives for the children involved, including:
The Bulldogs Friendly Schools Program (BFSP) creates learning opportunities for school students from diverse backgrounds. As well as providing opportunities for our pre-service teachers in teaching and learning, there are lessons in building community partnerships.
Extras for the participating schools, organised by the pre-service teacher, include:
For more information about these programs please email Trudy Turner in the Partnership Office trudy.turner@vu.edu.au
Pre-service teachers at VU have the opportunity to support school students as AVID (Advancement via Individual Determination) tutors as part of their course.
AVID is a university-readiness system with primary, secondary and tertiary programs. It equips low socio-economic and under-performing students with the academic, social and emotional skills to be successful at university.
It also offers an ongoing professional learning system that builds explicit teaching skills, ensuring teachers are well equipped to help students aspire to university success.
AVID Australia is conducting a research project with VU investigating how effective, sustainable and transferable the AVID system can be in Australia.
It is interested in discovering:
For further information contact:
Avid Australia
Phone: +61 3 9919 7832
Email: avid.australia@vu.edu.au
Project Partnerships uses collaborative partnerships between the College of Arts, Business, Law, Education and IT at Victoria University and early childhood, primary and secondary schools/sites throughout Victoria.
The key focus of Project Partnerships is enhancing the learning of school/site students in these partnership settings and supporting pre-service teacher and teacher education.
This involves pre-service teachers working on an agreed ‘Applied Curriculum Project’ in a school/setting, developed to improve the learning outcomes of all students, or a targeted group of students, at the setting.
Some of our teacher education courses may take an alternative approach due to course or setting requirements.
Bachelor of Education students have participated in international placements in China, Malaysia, Timor Leste, and Indonesia.
These programs are subsidised by the Australian Government AsiaBound, and New Colombo Plan schemes.
International placements are demanding, but rewarding. You'll engage in a series of preparatory university classes, and then get support to travel in a group to our partner universities and immerse yourself in a different language and culture for two to three weeks.
You'll study the local language, and complete the elective unit AEB2303 Teaching and Learning in International Contexts while abroad. You'll also complete 10-14 days of placement in a local school, teaching English, while gaining credit towards your professional placement requirements.
Opportunities to head overseas on an international placement will be advertised throughout the year via email from the College.
Expressions of interest can be submitted as a response to these emails.
"Travelling to Indonesia as a pre-service teacher has been an invaluable experience that has opened up a whole perspectives about teaching, language and culture. I feel like I am more equipped to teach in schools after experiencing and developing my teaching schools while on the Study Tour."
Adam Devenish, 2nd Year BEd (P-12) student
"This tour study has been the best thing I have done over this course, the experiences we encounter cannot be taught in a classroom or read in a book they must be lived. I learnt more from these students than I could ever teach them."
Jessia Boucher, 4th Year BEd (P-12) student
Teacher Education courses are accredited against the AITSL - Australian National Professional Standards for Teachers by the Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT). Students must meet all of the standards, including the professional experience requirements, before they can register as a teacher with the VIT.
For further information regarding Teacher Registration in Victoria, visit the VIT website.
For more information about professional experience placements and partnerships within the College of Arts, Business, Law, Education and IT, please contact:
Maree Wheelens
Head of Project Partnerships, College of Arts, Business, Law, Education and IT
Phone: +61 3 9919 5566
Email: maree.wheelens@vu.edu.au
