Our Master of Teaching (Birth to 5) is available to study online, with a face-to-face component at a location convenient for you. Flinders is accredited to deliver its other Master of Teaching programs in-person - check the details of the Master of Teaching course you're interested in to find out more.

Both a Master of Teaching and a Bachelor of Education are what we refer to as 'Initial Teacher Education' degrees. They are designed to meet the requirements to register as a teacher with the Teachers Registration Board of South Australia. The difference between the two is that a Master of Teaching degree is a 2-year full-time equivalent degree (or 1.5 years in accelerated mode), and is a postgraduate course - requiring a 3-year degree in a recognised area of study to be accepted into the program (or, in the case of our Birth to 5 course, a Diploma in Early Childhood Education and three years of leadership experience in an early childhood setting). A Bachelor of Education is a 4-year full-time equivalent degree. 

A Master of Education is considered continuing professional education, providing an opportunity for current educators to upskill and advance their career. It does not qualify you to register as a teacher.

This varies between states, schools, and time in the profession. A starting teacher with the Department of Education earns approximately $75,000pa with a salary range of ~$75,000 - $108,000pa. Lead teachers currently earn up to $122,000pa.

A Master of Teaching allows you to apply expertise from your undergraduate studies and life experience, and change careers to become a teacher in a shorter space of time rather than starting from scratch at undergraduate level.

Australia relies on its teachers to provide a future for our children and their influence on the future of our country is undeniable. If you've considered teaching before, or area looking for a career change, now is the time to act. 

There are options to study part-time, so you can fit your study around your work commitments and lifestyle. Part-time study usually involves studying 1 or 2 topics per semester, and typically means that you would graduate from a Master of Teaching degree in 4 years rather than 2 years. 

In the first instance, think about your areas of interest and how you'd like to work with the children in your class. Early childhood and primary teachers work with the whole curriculum, but stay with a particular group of children for the year. Secondary teachers specialise in subject areas, often working with a larger number of students.

Our Master of Teaching (Birth to 5) focuses on teaching children from birth-5, bringing together theory and practice, preparing you for a career in early childhood settings – such as long-day childcare centres, kindergartens and preschools. You'll gain a deep level of skills and knowledge to effectively plan, implement and advocate for transformative teaching and learning for children aged birth-to-five years.

Our Master of Teaching (Early Childhood Education) focuses on teaching children from birth-8, which means working with babies and young children in Early Childhood services, 3–5-year-old children in preschool and 5–8-year-old children in schools. You can expect to have a Professional Experience placement in all of these settings. This course requires you to diversify your teaching to enable you to effectively work with and educate babies, as well as children in a school setting.

Primary Education teachers predominantly work in Primary School settings with children in years 3 – 6. As a classroom based teacher, you will work across all curriculum areas - however, you will have the opportunity to register as a teacher with a specialisation area such as Health and Physical Education, Science or Visual Arts to name a few.

Teachers in Secondary Education work with students in years 7 – 12, commonly referred to as the middle and senior years of schooling. Studying Secondary Education requires you to specialise in at least one curriculum area, enabling you to teach as a registered teacher in secondary settings. 

Our Master of Teaching (Birth to 5) focuses on teaching children aged birth-to-five years. You'll learn how to enact policies and practices that take account of social and individual differences, ensuring that all children learn in supportive and just environments, gaining a comprehensive level of skills and knowledge to effectively plan, implement and advocate for transformative teaching and learning for young children. You can expect to have a Professional Experience placement in early childhood settings.

Our Master of Teaching (Early Childhood) focuses on a broader age group: children aged birth-to-eight years, which means not only working with babies and young children in Early Childhood services and preschools, but also and five-to-eight year-old children in schools. You can expect to have a Professional Experience placement in all of these settings. This course requires you to diversify your teaching, to enable you to effectively work with and educate babies, as well as children in a school setting.

In a Birth-5 degree, you can expect to have two Professional Experience placements: the first being a 25-day placement in a metropolitan or country early childhood setting (in your first year), and the second a 40-day placement in a metropolitan or country early childhood setting (in your second year).

In an Early Childhood degree, you can expect to have a Professional Experience placement in birth-5 and in school, and students need to demonstrate excellence in teaching in both of these settings. Placements are either 35 or 40-days in length and are full-time placements for 30-days each time (30 days + 5 visits and 30 days + 10 visits).

Placements in the Primary and Secondary degrees are also in your subject area of your specialisation (studied during your degree at undergraduate level and determined by your undergraduate degree if studying a Master of Teaching). The first professional experience placement runs for 5 weeks (5 visits + 4 weeks), the second for a total of 8 weeks, usually presented as 10 visits plus 6 weeks full time. Some variation may occur, but a minimum of 65 days must be successfully completed. The two placements are undertaken at different school sites and require you to teach your two specialisation areas. 

Students will need to have sound literacy and numeracy skills to effectively teach children in education settings. This includes excellent levels of verbal and written English including spelling and grammar. 

Students can expect to write formal assignments, presentations and education papers in each topic of their degree, and sound organisational skills and excellence in academic literacy will be important for maintaining success. Find out more about specific entry requirements on our course pages:

• Master of Teaching (Birth to 5)
• Master of Teaching (Early Childhood)
• Master of Teaching (Primary)
• Master of Teaching (Secondary)