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Study online with University of New England through Open Universities Australia. Explore all degrees, subjects and short courses now.

The Bachelor of Special and Inclusive Education (Primary) is an initial-teacher education program; it aims to prepare Primary teachers who can teach from Kindergarten to Year 6 in inclusive settings and special classes. It is a generalist primary program emphasising special and inclusive education. The course has been designed to meet the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. Students graduate with a National Primary Specialisation as mandated by the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL), in English/Literacy in the inclusive classroom.The course is structured to provide in the first year, eight discipline units across the Primary Key Learning Areas, to ensure a spread of content background; successful completion of this first year also gives all students, irrespective of their educational backgrounds, the opportunity to demonstrate they meet the Government&#39;s <a href="https://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/teacher-accreditation/how-accreditation-works/your-accreditation/future-teachers/increased-academic-standards" target="_blank">academic standards for studying teaching</a>.This course is accredited with the New South Wales Education Standards Authority (NESA) and is undergoing routine re-accreditation for 2023 and as such the course is subject to change prior to commencement in 2023.

Become a Primary and Special and Inclusive Education Teacher. Engage students with learning difficulties and disabilities. Learn to build an inclusive primary school classroom. Be valued and enjoy a rewarding career helping children develop.

Bachelor of Special and Inclusive Education (Primary)

Primary Mathematics 1: Numeracy

Quality teaching, informed by the best available evidence, helps children develop their number sense from the early years of schooling. To effectively educate students as they navigate numeracy in primary school, teachers need to be able to demonstrate personal content knowledge of the three strands of mathematics content in the NSW syllabus: Number and Algebra, Measurement and Geometry, and Statistics and Probability. Studying this subject, you will become familiar with the content of the mathematics taught in primary school. This subject will encourage you to recognise and analyse the developmental nature of mathematics.

Teaching for cultural diversity is becoming a prevalent and complex issue in Australian schools. Studying this subject will equip you with a combination of theoretical knowledge, skill development and research opportunities, and will help you to develop a solid understanding of the issues surrounding the education of culturally and linguistically diverse students.   You will apply your critical thinking skills to examine the impact of cultural assumptions and biases in teaching students for whom English is an additional language or dialect (EAL/D students). Additionally, you will investigate the rationale for current multicultural education, anti-racism, and EAL/D policies and related programs; and demonstrate strategies for culturally and linguistically inclusive teaching practice.

Culturally Responsive Pedagogy for EAL/D Students

As a teacher, you need to deliberately plan for teaching behaviours that support learning in your classroom.  This subject explores processes for providing multi-tiered systems of support for behaviour and gives you some insight into evidence-based strategies for students with disabilities, learning difficulties or giftedness in your classroom. There are times when more intense intervention is needed to reduce the significant challenging behaviours. This course will help you recognise, assess and respond to the needs of every student.  Learn how to articulate clear and appropriate learning goals for your classes and design positive behaviour plans for groups of students.  Students enrolled in the Bachelor of Special Education (Primary)/Bachelor of Disabilities Studies will complete 20 days of professional experience in a special school, special education unit or an inclusive school environment.

Positive Behavioural Support (Special and Inclusive Education)

Literacy underpins all learning for children. As a future teacher, it is important that you have a depth of understanding about the wide variability of literacy achievement and the factors that affect literacy achievement in the classroom. In this subject you will examine assessment techniques for determining learning needs in literacy by studying theory and practical learning activities. Teaching and intervention activities that accelerate literacy learning will also be explored. You will be drawing on your knowledge of evidence-based literacy techniques to plan, implement and evaluate intervention strategies for literacy learning. This subject requires you to have contact with children so you can complete the assessment tasks. Requirements for student teachers who have contact with children are the completion of online anaphylaxis training, the completion of an online child protection module and a valid Working With Children Check (WWC).

Intervention for Literacy Difficulties in the Classroom

The subject introduces you to the Australian Curriculum: English, and the NSW English K–10 Syllabus. It presents a socio-cultural perspective on children’s language and literacy development before and during the school years. The subject introduces children’s literature, and its role in the development of language and literacy, including print, visual and multimodal literacy. You will be introduced to the importance of planning for diversity (e.g., linguistic, social, gender) in the classroom, and they develop strategies for teaching speaking and listening; reading and viewing; and writing. You will then use your theoretical understandings to evaluate classroom resources, and to design elements of a classroom language and literacy program.

Introduction to English in the Primary Years

In this subject, you will gain insights into reflective practice and action and develop your skills in the dynamic nature of organisational change and collaborative problem solving. You will learn how to apply methodologies both as an individual and as part of a community to improve the way problems are addressed and solved. You will also gain valuable skills that help you apply a systematic reflective process to a wide range of practical problems in the classroom, the workplace or the wider professional environment.

Reflective Practitioner 1

Transitioning into your new career as a graduate teacher is exciting and there are many ways this course prepares you for the reality of life as an educator. You will learn about teachers’ work and culture; the ethical, legal and safety issues that arise when working in this field. Because many graduate teachers start their careers as casuals, this subject will cover issues and strategies central to effective casual teaching. You will gain skills in communicating, relating to and reporting to parents and carers in order to enhance student engagement and learning outcomes. You will learn strategies for managing challenging behaviour and also develop a practice of critical reflection. This subject will help you develop your professional portfolio and guide you through the process of accreditation (including annotation of evidence required for ongoing accreditation throughout your career).

Teaching Development 4: The Graduate Teacher

As a primary school teacher, you are likely to encounter a wide range of students with differing and specific learning needs; including students who experience learning difficulties, and gifted and talented students.   This development subject investigates the strategies you need to teach in multi-level classrooms (multi-ability and multi-grade/stage/age). You will learn how best to plan, manage and respond to challenging behaviours associated with boredom of gifted and talented students, or with common disabilities and disorders that may affect your students (Asperger Syndrome, Attention deficit disorder(ADD) and Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder(ADHD), Oppositional defiant disorder(ODD), Compulsive disorder(CD), Anxiety and Depression).   You will learn how to identify the characteristics of each disorder, and plan and manage lessons in order to promote student engagement in a positive mainstream classroom. You will complete 20 days of professional experience in a primary school.

Teaching Development 3: PrEx 20 days

This subject prepares you even further for a career as a teacher in the modern world. You will develop an understanding of the foundational theories about how children learn, and learn how to plan, teach and effectively assess your high quality lessons and learning activities.  Premised on the understanding that learning, teaching and assessment are a pedagogical trilogy, in this subject you will develop the skills you need to plan and implement this approach and report the outcomes to different stakeholders. You will learn a comprehensive range of strategies and skills that promote effective teaching and active learning, including how to teach critical thinking skills. You will cover theories relating to the use of digital technology and social media in your classroom. This subject introduces you to a small number of classroom behaviour management techniques that will raise your awareness and help you successfully prepare for and complete 15 days of professional experience in a primary school.

Teaching Development 2: PrEx 15 days

Enhance your skills for teaching humanities and social sciences as a primary school educator. By undertaking this subject, you will focus on pedagogy and the NSW K-6 History and Geography syllabuses. You will learn how to plan and execute learning sequences and how to identify and access appropriate resources which support student learning in the primary years. This subject emphasises student-centred teaching strategies, aimed at integrating academic knowledge with problem solving, understanding, practical skills and values outcomes. You will explore how literacy, numeracy and ICT skills are relevant to the teaching and learning of humanities and social sciences.

Primary School Society and Environment Teaching

Quality teaching, informed by the best available evidence, helps children develop their number sense from the early years of schooling. To effectively educate students as they navigate numeracy in primary school, teachers need to be able to demonstrate personal content knowledge of the three strands of mathematics content in the NSW syllabus: Number and Algebra, Measurement and Geometry, and Statistics and Probability. Studying this subject, you will become familiar with the content of the mathematics taught in primary school. This subject will encourage you to recognise and analyse the developmental nature of mathematics.

University of New England