Divine Word University

Bachelor of Education (In-Service) Primary Teaching

The Bachelor of Education (In-service) Degree program in Primary Teaching is proposed as a professional development program for those who are already qualified as teachers and who are looking to pursue further professional studies.

The Bachelor of Education (In-service) degree for primary educators is a much-needed program at this particular time when primary teachers are becoming increasingly aware that it is their responsibility to respond to the particular needs of all children under their care. The significance of initiating this degree program is further necessitated by the challenging requirements of the current education reform in the country. While structures have been created and the system of education is undergoing reformation, the human resource management power to run the system still requires urgent upgrading. The Bachelor of Education degree program offered through DWU allows more opportunity for rural teachers to upgrade their qualifications whilst remaining in the teaching force in rural areas. The flexible nature of the program allows teachers to remain in their teaching position in the rural areas while at the same time, upgrading their professional qualifications.

Furthermore, through the infrastructure of education and pastoral centres already established around the various dioceses of the Catholic Church Education Agency, DWU is able to provide quality educational services and resources around the country to teachers in rural areas. The university is able to draw upon specialised resources, such as special education services through the Callan Services for Disabled Persons Network, already established within the Church infrastructure. Already the existing Catholic Church Teachers Colleges are in key regional locations to enable services to be taken to rural areas around the country.

The Bachelor of Education degree program is an eight (8) unit multi-site program being delivered in a mixed style mode through a combination of short and focused residential sessions and complemented by a distance education mode which allows significant readings and assignments to be integrated into the day-to-day concerns of professional educators. The residential sessions are held in major regional centres around the country. Each teaching centre is the focus for drawing a significant teacher population from the surrounding educational region.

Units offered in the program include:

The Bachelor of Education Degree program will be offered during the mid-July and December holidays on a six-day-week basis, commencing on a Monday and ending on the following Saturday. There will be 36 contact hours consisting of 30 hours of direct teaching on Monday to Friday and 6 hour will run over a period of four years. Students will complete one unit per semester.