Inaugural cohort of the Bachelor of Teaching (Middle) program

In 2019, for the first time, we offered the new Bachelor of Teaching (Middle). The inaugural cohort proved to be passionate about working with students from years 7-10. They were not just facilitating their students' learning of subjects, but were also concerned about their holistic development.

Students enthusiastically engaged with the School of Education’s new e-Learning program, first experiencing 1:1 device use as students, and then quickly switching to the role of teacher using technology within their semester 1 course Schools and Society. As pre-service teachers in the Bachelor of Teaching (Middle) program, they then experienced ten days of professional placement, commencing in July, and spoke of the eye-opening nature of being in schools, observing mentor teachers, engaging with individuals and teaching small groups of their own students. They used technology when teaching students from years 7- 10 and put into practice their learning from semester one.

This experience of fusing theory with practice consolidated their semester one knowledge and made their learning in the semester two course, Introduction to Teaching and Learning, all the richer. In that course, the students were able to reflect on their placement experience when considering new theory and approaches, enabling a grounded understanding of teaching for the contemporary classroom.

The Bachelor of Teaching (Middle) is not a standalone degree but part of a double degree structure and so students were simultaneously studying in their second degree throughout the year. The double degree structure is absolutely pivotal for students to learn to be effective and dynamic teachers of middle-years students. In the other degree, students learn rich content knowledge and pair that with knowledge from the teaching degree to become highly accomplished teachers of middle years students. These advantages of the double degree structure make University of Adelaide graduates highly sought after.

The other degrees that students may enrol in are:

• Bachelor of Arts
• Bachelor of Business Management
• Bachelor of Mathematical and Computer Science
• Bachelor of Music
• Bachelor of Science

"The implementation of the eLearning program and incorporation of Apple devices and technologies throughout the degree holds an exclusiveness about it. It allows students to understand how powerful a tool a tablet can be in the classroom. The creative aspect to let your imagination run free certainly rings true in the tech reliant world we live in today and it’s the need to adapt to this inevitability that will allow the next generation of young teachers coming through to really be, ‘mavericks of change and innovation’."Sebastian Cardone, Bachelor of Teaching (Middle) with Bachelor of Arts