Enriched Placement (International) (EDUC90921)

This elective is an Enriched Placement for Teacher Candidates interested in teaching in an international school in overseas locations within Asia, Europe, the United Kingdom or the United States. The elective includes an on-campus component followed by a professional practice (teaching) component. The placement component cannot be used to meet VIT placement requirements and will be in addition to the required supervised teaching days for each stream.

This Enriched Placement (International) emphasises the importance of gaining an understanding of the broader transnational contexts in which education takes place, by engaging with the ways different schools interpret local and global policy and educational priorities. The subject focuses on international schools and international schooling systems.

In this subject, students are provided with an opportunity to participate in a teaching placement at an international school, in a location outside of Australia over a period of approximately two weeks (depending on the location). International school placements will be arranged by MGSE and may vary from year-to-year. The teaching placement will typically occur outside MGSE semester time. Precise timing is related to term times in each host school and these may change slightly from year to year.

In addition to classroom based teaching, the placement can include: participating in seminars about the context of schooling in that country; shadowing and assisting a teacher in your disciplinary area; visiting major cultural and educational sites in the city where the school is located; developing and implementing a program of co-curricular activity; and reflecting on their experiences with the academic site coordinator. The on- campus teaching component includes orientation prior to the placement. This may include an introduction to global education, international schooling and transnational education, an overview of the socio-political context of each site, an orientation to the culture and language of the location and an examination of academic literature that discusses a range of issues related to education in each place. Opportunities for reflection will be facilitated upon return to Melbourne.

This Enriched Placement is open to a limited number of Teacher Candidates. Participation is through a competitive selection process that includes a written application and an interview. Participating Teacher Candidates will be required to fund a portion of the cost of travel and/or accommodation necessary to complete the requirements of the subject. Further information will be presented at an information briefing, which will be advertised and is also available from the subject coordinator.