Teaching in Australia

You will Need:

Teacher Registration

Four Year Degree

Educational Methodology Course

 Becoming a teacher in Australia opens a world that is relatively inaccessible to anyone who does not have the same training. There are specific Educational degrees that one must hold in order obtain the required Teacher Registration (Certification in USA). The prospective teacher will need a Senior Certificate, (High School Diploma) or an adult equivalent, such as an SAT score from a TAFE College or an Adult Matriculation Certificate, available through night school at various high schools through out school districts in Australia.

 Firstly to gain the relevant qualifications for Teacher Registration you must have either a four year Bachelor of Education (BEd), or a three year degree such as a Bachelor of Arts (BA) or Bachelor of Science) (BSc), with which you can enter an Education faculty of a University and complete a graduate Educational methodology degree which will enable you to teach in high school. Please note that in Australia a BEd or other primary degree must have two majors or teaching areas in order to be registered as a teacher, so when considering courses in which to enroll, make sure you can select two teaching areas. Note also that in Australia a three year degree is equivalent to a US four year degree as eight courses are completed each year in Australia as opposed to six in USA.

 Become registered with the relevant Teacher Registration Board in your state. In Queensland there is the Queensland College of Teachers which is automatically notified of all graduates in Education from Universities around the state. Newly graduated teachers will however still have to contact the College of Teachers to obtain their Registration information.

 Once Registration is taken care of and the new teacher has their ID card, they can approach any private school for a position as a teacher, however if they wish to teach in the state school districts, which pay higher rates, they are required to go before a panel of

Education Department staff for a Suitability Review. This is an interview during which the teacher is required to answer in writing beforehand a number of scenarios of teaching and to demonstrate their teaching abilities.

 Following the interview they will receive their S (suitability) rating which will determine how quickly they will be offered a position in the state school system. A rating of S1 will be offered a job almost immediately, and an S2 may have to wait a few weeks. An S3 may need to take whatever school they are offered no matter where, and an S4 really should study some more and try for another interview in a few months.

 The rules will differ slightly in each state in Australia, but they are essentially the same. The Teacher Unions in each state are no longer compulsory but most teachers are members mainly because the Unions offer comprehensive legal representation in case of litigation.

Tips:

State Schools tend to be much more tolerant of bad behavior

Caning is banned from all schools

Generally, university will not prepare you for the realities of school teaching.