About the School of Education

La Trobe is changing the face of education in Australia and abroad. As a leader in the industry, we are building a quality profession for all.

Our vision is to prepare high quality education professionals who want every learner to reach their full potential. Our success is directly linked to our outstanding partnerships with schools, early learning centres and other education providers.

We offer programs in Early Childhood, Primary and Secondary teacher education, and Outdoor Education, that give students the practical skills and theoretical knowledge they need to graduate ‘classroom ready.’

Our programs – offered at La Trobe’s Melbourne, Bendigo, Mildura, Shepparton and Albury-Wodonga campuses – provide future teachers with evidence-based approaches that improve outcomes for all learners and their communities.

We foster lifelong learning for education professionals through undergraduate, postgraduate, graduate research degrees and continuing professional development programs that give them the tools to upskill, reskill, advance into leadership roles or pursue research.

All students have access to a dedicated team of academic staff who are experts in the field.

We are recognised for leading contemporary education debates. Our role in promoting evidence-based approaches to quality teaching and impactful learning is recognised nationally and internationally.

Photo of Professor Joanna Barbousas

The moment you join us, you will engage with potential employers while you build your education practices. Students have pathways into a range of degrees and are provided with personalised support to reach their potential as impactful educators.

Professor Joanna Barbousas
Dean, School of Education

Building a quality profession

Every day, we provide ethical, equitable, evidence-based teaching that gets our students jobs and raises the quality of education in classrooms around the world.

Our undergraduate and postgraduate students are exposed to an innovative learning model that integrates technology, industry and community connections to prepare them for a diverse range of education settings.

Our students have opportunities to hone their skills from day one and are embedded in their communities from their first semester. With easy access to experienced academics and Communities of Practice, they benefit from tailored placements and strong engagement with other students.

Our Outdoor Education students are immersed in experiential and place-based learning experiences. Field trips are designed in collaboration with Indigenous communities to strengthen knowledge and provide Indigenous perspectives on natural environments.

Students in postgraduate coursework programs benefit from our ‘learn from where you are’ approach, giving them the flexibility they need to balance life’s many commitments with a first-class education.

Higher degree by research students benefit from our industry connections and expertise. In collaboration with education partners, their evidence-based research informs, and transforms, learning and teaching practices.

We also offer a range of popular short courses and professional development programs that give educators the tools to upskill, reskill, advance into leadership roles or pursue research.

Find out more about our courses (including short courses) and our distinctive student experience.

Preparing educators

We help to strengthen communities in metropolitan, regional and rural areas through teacher training and education initiatives. We offer students multiple pathways and enhanced teacher preparation to help them to excel in serving diverse communities.

Our programs include:

As a first-of-its-kind employment-based pathway into Secondary teaching, Nexus prepares, mentors and graduates selected teaching candidates for economically, culturally diverse and high needs schools in Melbourne, regional and rural Victoria.

Nexus is designed to attract high achieving graduates to participate in a social justice-oriented teacher education program, in partnership with schools and local communities.

Find out more and apply

Our Access Quality Teaching Initiative offers high performing students enhanced teacher preparation opportunities and enriched placement experiences during the final two years of their degree.

This program, supported by the Victorian Department of Education, is designed to boost teacher preparation for work in schools that serve diverse communities.

La Trobe is partnering with a number of early years management groups across the Bendigo and Shepparton regions in the Early Childhood Professional Practice Partnerships program.

This program, initiated by the Victorian Department of Education, is designed to promote early childhood careers for students with dual qualifications, and support employment in these settings in central Victoria.

This program, in partnership with The University of Melbourne and schools in the Greater Shepparton area, and supported by the Victorian Department of Education and Training, is designed to boost teacher preparation for work in schools serving culturally diverse communities.

Participants – from our Early Childhood, Primary and Secondary teaching degrees – are given additional support in preparing for placement including coaching in inclusive education, and a comprehensive induction to the school where they will complete their placement.

Find out more about how we are helping to create more equity, inclusion and opportunity in our schools.

Innovative research

The School of Education’s researchers partner with industry, government and communities to build knowledge and develop practices that transform how people learn.

A trusted policy adviser, our guidance is backed by outstanding research.

We engage in high-level conversations, pushing the boundaries of what is possible to improve outcomes across the sector.

The School is recognised nationally and internationally for its research. We are consistently rated at world standard in the Australian Research Council's Excellence in Research for Australia.

We work with our partners to develop specialist postgraduate and higher degree opportunities for the profession. Our distinctive industry PhD program, for example, will deliver high impact research to schools and findings that will benefit the wider education sector.

Our research aligns with La Trobe’s research themes: Healthy people, families and communities and Social change and equity.

It is grouped into three key areas:

Our researchers examine and develop methods and practices of teaching, known as pedagogies, that are cutting-edge, context-based, promote new ways of learning, and meet the needs of students.

Our researchers investigate how student learning occurs, how to pair knowledge about learning with impactful pedagogies, continued professional learning, and explicit instruction techniques.

Our researchers investigate ability/disability, gender and sexuality, race, social class, Indigeneity and human rights.

Find out more about our research

Read the School’s Statement of Strategic Intent.