From the Vice-Chancellor

Volume 7 Number 3 March 14 - April 10 2011

Quality education: quality graduates

The beginning of the 2011 academic year is an exciting time for new students at Australia’s 39 universities, as it marks a new phase in their lives.

Many universities deliver degrees of the same name, but because Australia’s universities have markedly different characters, strengths and specialities, students’ experiences and the skills and knowledge they gain vary dramatically.

Course structure, assessment and the calibre of the teaching and learning are key factors in the quality of each student’s educational experience.

And while assessment results measure students’ academic success at the completion of their degree and indicate the knowledge they attained, it’s other, more intangible factors which highlight the country’s high-quality programs, which give students the skills and experience to become the next generation of leaders in their fields.

These factors are particularly important for graduate students undertaking the University of Melbourne’s revamped Masters programs, for whom specialist knowledge must be combined with practical, real-world skills and experience so they enter the workforce prepared for the many challenges of the professional world.

Our graduate programs give them this opportunity. Redesigning the curriculum meant the University could take the best of the old programs and draw on the recent work of our researchers to create professional programs which combine intensive, focused study with professional skills and knowledge so students gain in-depth understanding of their chosen profession before they join the workforce.

The Australian-first Melbourne Master of Teaching (MTeach) is the Melbourne Graduate School of Education’s graduate entry professional program, which equips teacher candidates with in-depth knowledge of educational theory coupled with significant classroom experience.

MTeach candidates work in partnership schools for up to two days per week throughout the year. This ongoing practical experience and exposure allows them to forge strong links between theory and practice, and become part of the school communities.

We were delighted to discover 90 per cent of graduates from the Melbourne Masters of Teaching consider themselves ‘well prepared’ or ‘very well prepared’ when they begin teaching, compared with 41 per cent of new teachers nationally.

The findings, from an Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) evaluation of MTeach graduates, their employers and supervising teachers, found the emphasis on building theory-practice links was a core strength of the program and a major contributor to teacher candidates’ development as professionals.

The ACER report also found that Melbourne Master of Teaching candidates were seen by their principals to be more mature, more prepared for the classroom and to have a stronger theoretical base to their practice.

Delivering a high-quality teaching degree means our Masters graduates then deliver such an education to their own students and bring out the best in each of them, so the next generation can reach their potential and seize all the opportunities their futures hold.


Glyn Davis
Vice-Chancellor