Context of the Education Profession (9862.2)

Please note these are the 2026 details for this unit
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Context of the Education Profession
Available teaching periods Delivery mode Location
View teaching periods On-campus
 Bruce, Canberra
EFTSL Credit points Faculty
0.125 3 Faculty Of Education
Discipline Study level HECS Bands
Academic Program Area - Education Level 1 - Undergraduate Introductory Unit Band 1 2021 (Commenced After 1 Jan 2021)
Band 1 2021 (Commenced Before 1 Jan 2021)
The unit provides an introduction to the individual and collective understandings of the education profession. It supports students in planning and preparing for their professional life by providing a framework to investigate the types of knowledge, skills and insights necessary to be active and engaged in their career journey towards graduation and beyond. Students will examine the context of the education profession from multiple perspectives - the individual, the local, the national and the global educator - and consider the implications for their professional career.

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
1. Create a plan to demonstrate key skills, attitudes and abilities needed to facilitate their successful study experience towards completion;
2. Demonstrate an understanding of the characteristics that denote the diversity of contexts constituting the Australian education profession; and
3. Knowledgably and accurately apply issues of global importance to the education profession.


Graduate attributes

1. UC graduates are professional - communicate effectively
1. UC graduates are professional - employ up-to-date and relevant knowledge and skills
2. UC graduates are global citizens - think globally about issues in their profession
2. UC graduates are global citizens - adopt an informed and balanced approach across professional and international boundaries
2. UC graduates are global citizens - make creative use of technology in their learning and professional lives
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - be self-aware
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - adapt to complexity, ambiguity and change by being flexible and keen to engage with new ideas
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - evaluate and adopt new technology


Prerequisites

None.

Corequisites

None.

Incompatible units

None.

Equivalent units

None.

Assumed knowledge

None.
Availability for enrolment in 2026 is subject to change and may not be confirmed until closer to the teaching start date.
Year Location Teaching period Teaching start date Delivery mode Unit convener
2025 Bruce, Canberra Semester 2 28 July 2025 On-campus Dr Rachel Cunneen
2026 Bruce, Canberra Semester 2 10 August 2026 On-campus Dr Rachel Cunneen
The information provided should be used as a guide only. Timetables may not be finalised until week 2 of the teaching period and are subject to change. Search for the unit timetable.

Required texts

The required textbook for this unit of study is:

Allen J. & White, S. (Eds.) (2021) Learning to Teach in a New Era. (2nd Ed.) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

You may purchase this text direct from the publisher here:

http://www.cambridge.org/ae/academic/subjects/education/education-history-theory/learning-teach-new-era?format=DO&isbn=9781316628263#x5fhAADXttSYfKZk.97
Alternatively you may purchase the text from other online book shops such as, Booktopia, Amazon Online, there are short term loans available at the Library.

Additional resources will be made available on the unit Canvas site and will include (but are not limited to):

Education Services Australia (2008). Global Perspectives: A Framework for Global Education in Australian Schools. Education Services Australia, Carlton South.

Useful Websites:

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) Graduate Teacher Standards:

http://www.aitsl.edu.au/australian-professional-standards-for-teachers/standards/list

ACT Teacher Quality Institute (TQI)

http://tqi.act.edu.au

NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA)

http://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au

Submission of assessment items

Extensions & Late submissions

Approval of extenuating circumstances will be dependent upon the production of supporting documentation and at the discretion of the unit convener.

All assessment items required to be submitted online must be submitted via the appropriate Canvas drop box. It is the student's responsibility to upload the correct and corresponding draft or assessment item to the right submission section. Assignments must be submitted in a format accessible to the assessor(s), as stated on the relevant canvas site.

If the unit convener and/or tutor are unable to access a submission, or if no submission has been made by the due date and time, a standard late penalty of 10% of the total marks possible for the task may be applied per day, for three days, after which the submission will receive a score of ‘0' in keeping with UC's Assessment Policy.

If there is any doubt with regard to the requirements of any particular assignments or assessment procedure,the onus for clarifying the issue rests with the student who should contact the unit Convener or their tutor.Further, it is the responsibility of students to ensure that they are correctly enrolled in the unit and that thetutor and Student Administration have their correct contact details.

Special assessment requirements

An aggregated mark of 50% is required to pass the unit.

Provision of valid documentation

Please note that the University takes student conduct very seriously. All documentation provided to University staff must be valid and the provision of fraudulent documentation carries with it potentially serious consequences, including suspension and/or exclusion from the University. Note that all allegations of student misconduct will be referred to the Associate Dean for Education (ADE) as a  prescribed authority for investigation.

 

Students must apply academic integrity in their learning and research activities at UC. This includes submitting authentic and original work for assessments and properly acknowledging any sources used.

Academic integrity involves the ethical, honest and responsible use, creation and sharing of information. It is critical to the quality of higher education. Our academic integrity values are honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility and courage.

UC students have to complete the Academic Integrity Module annually to learn about academic integrity and to understand the consequences of academic integrity breaches (or academic misconduct).

UC uses various strategies and systems, including detection software, to identify potential breaches of academic integrity. Suspected breaches may be investigated, and action can be taken when misconduct is found to have occurred.

Information is provided in the Academic Integrity Policy, Academic Integrity Procedure, and University of Canberra (Student Conduct) Rules 2023. For further advice, visit Study Skills.

Learner engagement

Indicative workload:

Reading and private study - 50 hours

Lectures and tutorial preparation - 50 Hours

Assessment tasks - 50 hours

 

Participation requirements

There is a strong correlation between participation and success in higher education. Your participation and engagement with learning activities will enhance your understanding of this unit's content and therefore the quality of your assessment responses. Lack of participation may result in your inability to satisfactorily pass assessment items.

Required IT skills

Artificial intelligence services must not to be used for assessment or assessment preparation by students unless explicitly allowed in the assessment instructions for an assessment task published with the assessment task and/or in the unit outline. That is, an artificial intelligence services may only be used if:

  • its use is authorised by the unit convener as part of a specified
    assessment task, and
  • it is used in the way allowed in the assessment instructions and/or unit outline, and
  • its use is appropriately referenced, meaning that students must reference the use of AI in their assessment in the same way as they reference other source material.

In-unit costs

None

Work placement, internships or practicums

None

Additional information

Provision of information to the group:

Notifications through the Canvas Announcements Forum or the Canvas Discussion Forums are deemed to be made to the whole class.  It is the responsibility of the student to ensure that they check for announcements on the Unit's Canvas website (forum messages are also emailed to student email addresses only).  Students should ensure they check their student email regularly.  The Canvas discussion forums will be checked by staff regularly.

Use of student email account:

The University Email policy states that "students wishing to contact the University via email regarding administrative or academic matters need to send the email from the University account for identity verification purposes".  Therefore all unit enquiries should be emailed using a student university email account. Students should contact servicedesk@canberra.edu.au if they have any issues accessing their university email account.

Research Led Education: This unit involves research-led education which engages students in deep and active learning and provides a framework for students' future engagement in the education profession. 

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