News Archive

Demand from Great Southern professionals wanting to switch to a career in teaching has prompted The University of Western Australia's Albany Centre to offer new Master of Teaching courses from next year.

The Centre decided to offer the two-year Master of Teaching (Early Childhood) and Master of Teaching (Primary) courses in response to strong interest from applicants from all walks of life who were keen to change career without having to leave the region.

Centre director Jennifer O'Neil said the courses, which will be delivered at the Centre by UWA Graduate School of Education staff, are available to people who already have a degree of any kind.  Applicants so far have included an encouraging number of men, with interest shown by people of all ages with a wide range of degrees, including science, commerce, the arts and people with psychology or nursing backgrounds.

"The applicants we have had are very strong - they're people with strong undergraduate degrees and are professionals in their own fields," Ms O'Neil said.  "We interviewed every one of them and they were all passionate and excited and enthusiastic.  The Graduate School of Education is delighted."

She said the courses will allow people to change fields without having to change location - with the Great Southern region reaping the rewards.

"It's a way for us as a university to contribute economically to the region - providing graduates for that professional field is something  significant we feel we can do," she said.

"This will provide an opportunity for people who are looking for a career change to retrain in a field that is both rewarding and in-demand, without having to move from a region they're happy living in."

She said The Albany Centre and the Graduate School of Education were excited to be able to expand the choice of courses available for people in the Great Southern region.

The courses will be offered full time for two years (2013-2014) and part-time (2014-2015), and will be taught face-to-face by the same high calibre staff who deliver the courses from UWA's Crawley campus.

Interested people can still apply for the courses.

Media references

Jennifer O'Neil (Director, The UWA Albany Centre)  (+61 8)  9842 0801  /  (+61 4) 38 446 349
Janine MacDonald (UWA Public Affairs)  (+61 8)  6488 5563  /  (+61 4) 32 637 716