Primary Specialisation Guideline released by AITSL

AITSL’s Guideline: Primary Specialisation (Guideline) has been finalised and published.

The Guideline was developed to provide initial teacher education providers, regulators, principals, and accreditation panellists with further clarity about this Program Standard (4.4).

The Program Standard requires all primary initial teacher education students to undertake a specialisation, which involves a deeper focus on one curriculum area. Clarification was sought from key stakeholders about the areas that could constitute a primary specialisation. The Guideline makes it clear that the intent of the Program Standard is for primary specialisation to focus on learning areas of the Australian Curriculum.

The Guideline was developed through consultation with key stakeholders including a Primary Specialisation Reference Group established by AITSL, the Australasian Teacher Regulatory Authorities, AITSL’s Teacher Education Expert Standing Committee and the Australian Council of Deans of Education.

In addition to the Guideline, AITSL is working with the Primary Specialisation Reference Group to develop outcomes statements about particular primary specialisation learning areas to further support providers and accreditation panels understand the Program Standard. The first statement being developed is for mathematics/numeracy and we hope to publish this in the coming months. The next statement will be for science.

The Guideline will be included in future Initial Teacher Education Panel Training programs, and will be communicated to all trained panel members.