School of Education

• Welcome
• Areas of Expertise
• Locations
• History

Welcome

Welcome to the School of Education, part of the College of Arts at the University of Western Sydney.

The School of Education at UWS was recently identified in the top 10 education faculties or schools in Australia (study by Melbourne University’s ‘Melbourne Institute’), and in the same study was ranked second in NSW on the basis of research performance and student satisfaction with program and teaching quality.

We take pride in the practical and applied forms of learning that underpin our teaching and our research. Our teaching programs emphasise the in-school experience and flexible, hands-on approaches to learning. Our research and professional practice is informed by concerns for social equity, social justice through education, social ecology, and by community-based research partnerships. We have a strong relationship with public and private school systems in western and south-western Sydney.

As one of the largest education schools or faculties in Australia, we have over 2000 students enrolled in primary, secondary and early childhood teacher education programs, special education, social ecology, Indigenous education, and in research and professional postgraduate programs. Over 1000 of our students graduate as qualified teachers each year.

In 2005, we established an Education Chapter of the UWS Alumni, and are currently building links with our past graduates. In September 2006, we also launched the Education Knowledge Network. The Education Knowledge Network provides information on professional learning, education seminars, research and school partnerships, and in 2007 provides a program of short courses designed to be of interest to education professionals and leaders in western Sydney and beyond.

Our staff have won state and national awards for quality teaching and community engagement, and include researchers of national and international reputation.

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Areas of Expertise

Undergraduate Programs
We offer four year Bachelor of Arts and Master of Teaching programs in primary and secondary education. Entry to the Master of Teaching programs is guaranteed to students:

• on completion of a UWS Bachelor of Arts degree (entry into primary and secondary)
• on completion of a UWS Bachelor of Science degree (entry into secondary only)
• on completion of a UWS Bachelor of Early Childhood Studies (Child and Family) degree (entry into early childhood)
• through preferred entry on completion of any UWS degree and meet NSW Institute of Teachers content knowledge requirements (entry into primary and secondary)
• through competitive entry upon completion of a degree from any university and meet NSW Institute of Teachers content knowledge requirements (entry into primary and secondary).

During undergraduate programs at UWS, students can take up to eight units from our Major in Educational Studies, including a very practical Learning through Community Service school or community placement. We also offer specialised undergraduate programs in early childhood education and through the Aboriginal Rural Education Program (AREP).

A feature of our undergraduate programs is the range of placements our students can undertake. These include community service placements, international professional experience placements (currently in Penang and the Cook Islands), and placements in country NSW through the Beyond the Line program.

Postgraduate Programs
We offer postgraduate programs leading to the Master of Arts (Social Ecology) - incorporating chaos and complexity, Master of Education, Master of Special Education and Master of Teaching (Special Education).

Each of these programs is designed to meet the needs of busy, professional people seeking to advance their professional learning and increase their career choices.

Our programs emphasise off-campus, web-supported learning, in association with collegial teaching intensives provided through conference-style delivery. Our students highly value these forms of flexible learning and the professional relevance and utility of these degrees.

Research
Our research covers a broad range of educational issues and encompasses a diverse scope of research experience across quantitative and qualitative methodologies, theoretical frameworks and philosophical approaches. The school has a dynamic research culture inclusive of academics, higher research degree students and visiting scholars.

The school has a strong association with the recently formed Centre for Educational Research (CER).

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Locations

The School of Education offers programs at Bankstown and Penrith campuses. For information about the programs we offer and their availability, please see the College of Arts course directory.

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History

The school began its life as two faculties at the Westmead Teachers College (later Nepean College of Advanced Education), and the Milperra College of Advanced Education, with our social ecology group stemming from the Faculty of Social Inquiry at Hawkesbury. We have a long history of teacher education on the Bankstown and Penrith campuses, and in adult and social education during our time on the Hawkesbury campus. Our graduates are numbered among the key leaders and thinkers in schools, education systems, non-government organisations and private sector enterprises in NSW and beyond. Our current School of Education was established in June 2005 as the result of the amalgamation of two former UWS schools: the School of Education and Early Childhood Studies and the School of Social Ecology and Lifelong Learning. The result is a school that sets its intellectual focus on education and learning as tools for personal and social change and transformation, and places education within society as one of the key areas of social policy and action relating to personal and community prosperity and sustainability, equity and social justice, and the joy and utility of lifelong learning.

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