College of Education

CQUniversity has a strong tradition of providing quality initial teacher education to regional Queensland since its early beginnings in 1972 with a Diploma of Teaching offered on the Rockhampton campus of the Capricornia Institute of Advanced Education (CIAE). Present day offerings within the College of Education include a range of undergraduate and postgraduate initial teacher education courses complemented by a variety of vocational education, graduate certificate, masters and doctoral qualifications. All courses in the College of Education are designed for the diverse student population who service regional, rural and remote communities to provide quality teachers for the teaching workforce.

The College defines itself by who it embraces rather than who it excludes. The College prides itself on affording opportunities to people to study education courses who are located in rural and remote locations. Students in such locations are able to complete their in-school placements in their local community and then stay and teach within such locations upon graduation. This is a key strategy of CQUniversity to service rural, regional and remote centres and provide opportunities to those in such locations where students will teach upon graduation including those from families who may be low SES and or Indigenous. Additionally, some graduates have accepted employment in indigenous schools in far north and central Queensland.

Each of the teacher education courses enable graduates to apply for registration as teachers in Australia.

All CQUniversity education courses are offered online using a model of connectivity and engagement through the Moodle platform and live interactive tutorials using Zoom technology.

CQUniversity prides itself as a multi-campus university. In addition to the online offerings, the courses in the College are offered through six regional Queensland campuses including Rockhampton, Bundaberg, Mackay, Cairns, Gladstone and Townsville.

Compared to other universities, CQUniversity is also proud to have the highest ratio of students from mature age, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, first-in-family and low socio-economic backgrounds studying teacher education.

Feedback from stakeholders has identified the need to focus our courses on developing teachers who are well prepared and capable of having an impact in their classrooms across a range of regional, rural and remote settings. In response to this, key partnerships have been established with schools and regional offices across the University’s footprint.

CQUniversity is committed to ‘giving back to’ and engaging in meaningful projects and activities and therefore provides opportunities for students to give back to and to engage with their local communities.

Professional experience

The process of learning teachers’ work

Professional experience is the component of an initial teacher education course that provides pre-service teachers with the opportunity to learn and practise teachers’ work in educational settings such as schools, classrooms and early learning contexts. This professional learning takes place under the guidance and direct supervision of experienced, registered teachers.

Participation in professional experience is critical to the success of pre-service teachers as they prepare for entry into the teaching profession. Research evidence clearly shows that professional experience placements provide pre-service teachers with new ways of knowing, understanding and learning the knowledge, skills and attitudes required for effective teaching that cannot be acquired anywhere else.

The importance of professional experience for aspiring teachers is also evident in the fact that supervised, assessable placements are mandatory components of accredited initial teacher education courses in Australia. Students enrolled in undergraduate courses must complete a minimum of 80 days of assessable placement while students enrolled in graduate entry courses must complete at least 60 supervised, assessable days.

At CQUniversity, the design of professional experience for pre-service teachers is guided by two main goals:

• Providing structured opportunities for pre-service teachers to learn and practise teachers’ work in authentic settings
• Maximising the connectedness between the knowledge, understanding and skills acquired in practice and in university coursework

These goals emphasise the active engagement of pre-service teachers in the task of 'learning teaching'. This outcome can only be achieved through effective partnerships that clarify and support the roles of all participants in professional experience; and, that ensure the effective organisation and management of the processes underpinning professional experience placements for pre-service teachers. This site aims to outline these processes and support all participants involved in professional experience placements.

Read more about professional experience.