Inherent requirements for Primary Education courses

These inherent requirements apply to the Bachelor of Education Primary and Master of Teaching Primary.

teacher with primary school children in class

Why are inherent requirements essential for studying this course?

The Education courses at Curtin University are professionally accredited and graduating students will need to meet the requirements of the professional body to register to work in this profession. Students should be familiar with the requirements set out by the following accrediting bodies and Standards which may impact their progression throughout their studies and in entering the profession:

Teacher Registration Board of Western Australia

The Teacher Registration Board of Western Australia (TRBWA) is the body responsible for the registration of teachers in Western Australia and registers all teachers, from early childhood to Year 12, who teach in a Western Australian educational venue.

Visit the TRBWA website

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership

The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) provides the framework for what a teacher should know, understand and do to succeed as a school leader.

Visit the AITSL website

Australian Professional Standards for Teachers

The NSW Education Standards Authority works with the NSW community to drive improvements in student achievement.

Visit the NSW Education Standards Authority website

Inherent requirement statements

How to read the inherent requirements

Legal

Initial teacher education courses are mandated by specific legislation and regulations to
comply with professional accreditation, registration, and professional and field experience
requirements.
Graduates must meet the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers requirements. Knowledge and compliance with Australian law (including Federal workplace harassment legislation), professional regulation requirements and standards relevant to persons working with children, young people, families/carers, and professional others, are necessary pre-requisites to professional and field experience to reduce the risk of harm to self and others. Compliance with these professional regulations and the Australian law ensures that students are both responsible and accountable for their practice.
Examples
- Complying with relevant child protection and safety legislation.
- Complying with relevant Work Health and Safety legislation.
- Adhering to requirements of informed consent, privacy, and confidentiality with
  organisational, family and child information in academic and education settings.

Ethical behaviour

Students need to comply with, and are governed by, quality and professional standards, where they are both accountable and responsible for ensuring professional ethical behaviour in all contexts.
Compliance with the codes, guidelines and policies facilitates safe, competent interactions and relationships for students and/or the people with whom they engage to ensure the physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing of the individual is not placed at risk. Understanding and applying key ethical and conduct principles are requirements of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers for students in school settings. Students in school settings must meet graduate teaching standards to graduate and to be eligible to apply for registration as a teacher.
Examples:
- Demonstrating respect for the diversity of family and community values and practices within academic, professional, and field experience settings.
- Complying with privacy and confidentiality requirements in academic, professional, and field experience settings.
- Demonstrating honesty and integrity in academic, professional, and field experience settings.

Behavioural stability

Behavioural stability is required to work individually and in teams, in changing and unpredictable environments. Students will be exposed to complex, stressful situations and will be required to have behavioural stability to manage these events objectively and professionally.
Graduates must meet the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers requirements. Students are required to demonstrate behavioural stability to work constructively in diverse and challenging academic and educational environments and consistency in responding appropriately to children, young people, families/carers, and professional others in stressful and challenging situations
Examples:
- Responding appropriately to constructive feedback.
- Coping with own emotions and behaviour effectively through ethical conduct when dealing with individuals in community and educational settings.

Communication

This course requires effective verbal, aural, non-verbal, and written communication skills.

Verbal

Effective verbal communication, in English, is the primary medium of communication in an educational setting and is an essential requirement for all courses offered by the School of Education.
Graduates must meet the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers requirements. Students are required to demonstrate effective verbal communication at formal and informal levels in workshops, with peers and lecturers/tutors in small and large groups and the ability to provide clear instructions and presentation of ideas relevant to the learning context.
Examples:
- The capacity to use verbal language in a range of different social situations with children and adults during Fieldwork (Professional Experience placements).
- The ability to communicate effectively with diverse linguistic and cultural groups and individuals across a range of social contexts.

Non-verbal

Effective non-verbal communication is fundamental to education, and needs to be respectful, clear, attentive, empathetic, honest, and non-judgmental.
Safe and effective initial teaching education requires the capacity to observe, interpret and respond appropriately to non-verbal communication, particularly in situations where children may not be able to verbalise distress, discomfort, or fear (for children who do not talk or use verbal language their gestures and cues are their main communication tool).
Examples:
- The capacity to recognise, interpret and respond appropriately to behavioural cues and gestures.
- Displaying consistent and appropriate facial expressions, eye contact, being mindful of space, time boundaries and body movements and gestures promotes the trust and respect necessary to develop effective professional relationships.
- Recognising non-verbal cues and responding appropriately in professional and Fieldwork (Professional Experience placements), workshops and seminars.

Aural

Competent aural communication is required to effectively access course content and being responsive to the demands of professional and Fieldwork (Professional Experience placements).
Graduates must meet the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers and the Teacher
Registration Board Western Australia requirements.
Examples:
- Use effective aural communication formally and informally during Fieldwork (Professional Experience placements) in a range of different social situations with children and adults.
- Be active and empathetic listeners in diverse social and linguistic contexts.
- Use ICTs to support aural communication in professional contexts.
- Demonstrate sufficient aural ability to gather information and accurately feedback and monitor children consistently and accurately whilst on Fieldwork (Professional Experience placements.

Written

Effective written communication in English is required to effectively access course content and participate in professional and field experience.
Graduates must meet the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers and the Teacher
Registration Board Western Australia requirements.
Examples:
- Construct a range of written assignments to ethical and academic standards to convey knowledge, understanding and skills of relevant content and pedagogy, curriculum materials and professional and field practice.
- Produce accurate, responsive, and diligent reports, children’s profiles, record keeping, lesson material, curriculum plans, assessment, and evaluations necessary for the provision of an effective learning environment.
- Effectively and appropriately use a range of texts, which include those that are written, screen-based, image-based, sign/symbol-based are necessary to communicate meaning, directions, and imagination in each of the courses offered by the School of Education.
- Conveying information in a written form effectively to families or other staff in the educational setting.

Cognition

This course requires knowledge of theory and the skills of cognition, literacy, numeracy and Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

Knowledge and cognitive skills

Delivery of quality teaching relies on the understanding and application of theory in practice.
Student need to able to demonstrate the capacity to locate appropriate and relevant
information, the ability to process information relevant to practice, and the ability to
integrate, reflect on and implement theoretical knowledge in workshops, Fieldwork
(Professional Experience placements).
Graduates must meet the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers requirements.
Examples:
- Conceptualising and use appropriate knowledge in response to academic assessment items.
- Identifying and applying knowledge of policy and procedures during professional and field experience settings.

Literacy (language)

Competent English language and literacy skills are essential for professional and effective delivery of teaching content.
Graduates of accredited courses must meet the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers requirements. Demonstrated ability to accurately acquire information and convey appropriate messages, read, and comprehend a range of texts for teaching and learning purposes, and understand and implement academic conventions to construct written texts in a scholarly manner.
Examples:
- Conveying a spoken message using appropriate vocabulary and conventions of speech.
- The ability to read, decode, interpret, and comprehend multiple sources of information is fundamental for effective preparation and teaching practice.
- Competently constructing and sharing a range of texts including digital, written, and visual texts in a range of social contexts.

Numeracy

Competent and accurate numeracy skills are essential for effective delivery of teaching content.
Graduates of accredited courses must meet the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers requirements to be competent in the application of numeracy skills.
Examples:
- Demonstrated ability to interpret and correctly apply data, measurements, and numerical criteria in a range of contexts.
- Demonstrated competency in applying basic mathematics knowledge and skills in everyday life and in academic tasks.
- Demonstrating effective use of numeracy skills in matters related to children’s learning.
- Applying numeracy skills to interpret and solve problems in a range of educational and academic contexts.

Reflective and relational skills

Interpersonal engagement is essential to work effectively and sensitively and to build relationships in community and educational settings.
The Australian Professional Standards for Teachers require effective, sensitive and confidential engagement with children, parents and work colleagues and the ability to engage with people from diverse backgrounds in various context.
Examples:
- The ability to work effectively, sensitively, and confidentially with children, young people, parents/carers, and community members.
- The ability to create rapport with peers, academic and professional staff conducive to effective working relationships.
- Cultural competence, sensitivity, and willingness to work with individual children and young people in a complex and diverse Australian society.
- The ability to respect the diverse gender and sexual identities of children, parents, families and professional others in university and education settings or during Fieldwork (Professional Experience placements).
- Participating in a respectful and culturally competent manner in workshop discussion.
- Collaborating, modifying, and reflecting on their teaching during professional and field experience in response to children’s needs and supervisor feedback.
- Interacting with mutual respect, equity, and dignity towards others.

Sensory ability

Visual

Adequate visual acuity is required to provide safe and effective supervision of children and young people in a range of educational and community settings.
Sufficient visual acuity is necessary to demonstrate the required range of skills, tasks, and assessments. Visual observations, examinations and assessment are fundamental to safe and effective scope of teaching practice.
Examples:
- Monitoring children and young people’s safety and well-being in indoor and outdoor settings and engaging in activities at both near and far distances.
- Negotiating unfamiliar settings effectively.
- Manipulating a range of resources.
- Monitoring children’s behaviour, safety, health, and wellbeing.

Strength and mobility

This course requires strength and mobility involving fine and gross motor skills.

Gross motor skills

Participation in physical activities and movement is required to function effectively in community and educational settings.
These requirements are necessary for course accreditation and graduate eligibility for registration. It is a Teacher Registration Board of Western Australia and Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership requirement that educators are able to undertake many physical tasks and classroom routines. Sufficient gross motor skills are necessary to perform, coordinate and prioritise care, tasks that involve gross motor skills include sitting, lifting, carrying, pushing, pulling, standing, twisting, and bending. Students must be able to demonstrate and perform these tasks consistently and safely to reduce the risk of harm to themselves and others.
Examples:
- Setting up safe learning environments with resources and equipment.
- Safely retrieving, moving, and using large pieces of equipment.

Fine motor skills

Teaching is a profession that requires manual dexterity and fine motor skills.
These requirements are necessary for course accreditation and graduate eligibility for registration. It is an Teacher Registration Board of Western Australia and Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership requirement that educators are able to undertake many physical tasks and classroom routines. Sufficient fine motor skills are necessary to perform, coordinate and prioritise education and care, tasks that involve fine motor skills include being able to grasp, press, push, turn, squeeze, and manipulate various objects. Students must be able to demonstrate and perform these tasks consistently and safely to reduce the risk of harm to themselves and others.
Examples:
- Recording, observing, documenting, and clearly modelling the use of equipment such as scissors, pencils, and other such equipment.
- Manipulating resources during learning activities.

Sustainable performance

Students require both physical and mental performance at a consistent and sustained level over appropriate time frames to meet the course outcomes.
A consistent and sustained level of physical energy to complete a specific task in a timely manner, and physical and mental endurance, is an essential requirement needed to perform multiple tasks to provide safe and effective participation in teaching or Fieldwork (Professional Experience Placements). Students require the ability to perform all required activities with a level of concentration that ensures a capacity to focus on the activity until it is completed appropriately.
Examples:
- Preparing for and participating in workshops, lectures, and Fieldwork (Professional Experience Placements).
- Providing consistent supervision, education/instruction, and care to children/young people over a negotiated time frame.
- Performing multiple tasks simultaneously whilst supervising the safety and care of children.

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