Graduate Certificate or Diploma of Primary Teaching overview
Graduate certificates cater to different needs from diplomas. They are designed to meet a specific need, such as science or mathematics education rather than provide broad general knowledge. Western Sydney University is particularly adept at offering these programs, taking six months of full-time study to complete or one year part-time.
Graduate diplomas, on the other hand, cater to novices, offering a broad array of units in global education, lesson design and teaching fundamentals. They take one year of full-time study to complete, or up to two years part-time.
Employment options
The employment prospects detailed here become available to graduates from these programs, as they provide varying levels of specificity well-suited to nuanced primary education careers. Graduates from one of Western Sydney’s programs, for instance, would make fine primary mathematics teachers given the completion of their primary mathematics program. The same can be said of the other disciplines, such as science or English. Various associations like the Australian Association for the Teaching of English and subject equivalents serve as invaluable tools for career development and building professional connections.
Scholarships and funding
A number of scholarship opportunities are available in this field.
- RAS Foundation Rural Scholarships are open to an array of disciplines, including primary teaching.
- The Bob and Margaret Frater International Travel Scholarship grants $10,000 to primary teaching students teaching overseas and upholding catholic values.
- The NSW DET 2018 Teacher Education Scholarship Program is primarily devoted to its namesake teacher education but offers 80 scholarships to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students studying primary teaching.
General opportunities are always available here as well. These tend to come and go quite often but are plentiful and open across disciplines.
Prerequisites and selection process
Graduate certificates tend to require a valid teaching qualification, as they build extensively upon prior knowledge. Diplomas, on the other hand, just require a bachelor degree from any discipline. Some institutions posit credit GPA requirements (65%), but this is uncommon for these courses.