National School of Education

Education is a profession and a vocation focused on the future, and the School of Education will prepare you to ‘be the difference, whether you are learning to be an early childhood, primary or secondary teacher, are already a teacher further developing your knowledge and skills or are contributing to research in education.

Our teacher education degrees qualify you to teach in Catholic, Government and Independent schools anywhere in Australia and are well regarded internationally.

They offer a strong work-integrated learning component with significantly more practical teaching experience than any other Australian university. This provides valuable experience in the classroom and integrates theory with practice, while offering opportunities for you to form relationships with schools.

The Bachelor of Education programs prepare those who have not yet completed a degree in another field to become teachers, and include 30 weeks of professional experience placements. For those who have already completed an undergraduate degree, the Master of Teaching programs include 20 weeks of placements and can be completed in less than 2 years full time study, while also offering part time options for those changing careers.

The School of Education offers a suite of postgraduate professional online learning programs in fields including Curriculum, Leadership & Management, Mathematics Education, Special & Inclusive Education, Early Childhood and Religious Education, designed to equip educators with current knowledge and new skills.

Students interested in building a career in educational research or becoming teacher education academics can study Higher Degree by Research programs including Master of Philosophy, Doctor of Education and Doctor of Philosophy.

Explore your campus

Discover essential information tailored to your campus of study, including contact details for faculty and staff, valuable resources, and support for enrolment. Whether you are at our Fremantle Campus or the Sydney Campus, find everything you need to support your educational experience and connect with the right people.

Fremantle Campus Sydney Campus

Welcome from Professor Jessica Mantei

At Notre Dame, the School of Education sits within the Faculty of Education, Philosophy and Theology grounding its work in Catholic traditions of pastoral care, inclusion, and social justice. Our work is guided by authenticity, academic excellence, responsible stewardship, and active community engagement in Australia and across the world.

Our programs offer high quality, externally accredited undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in early childhood, primary, and secondary school teaching. We offer degrees by coursework, research, and a combination of the two. Our programs are open to school leavers and non-school leavers alike. And they can all be undertaken full time or part time in person at our Sydney campus and study locations (e.g., Oran Park and Liverpool), our Fremantle campus, and online through our Broome campus.

Like all universities in Australia, our Initial Teacher Education programs require you to complete 4 years of fulltime study, to learn about all the curriculum areas (like English, Maths and so on) and topics relate to teaching (like psychology and assessment), offer Professional Experience placements in schools, and have expert and qualified teachers and academics deliver our courses.

At UNDA, however, we offer something more:

  • Learning at UNDA is about developing as an international citizen, and so you will find we offer multiple opportunities to travel, study, and learn overseas – and usually without extending your study.
  • But it’s also about understanding the national context, and so we offer our programs to students in all parts of Australia, and we are committed to opportunities for spending time in rural, regional, and remote parts of Australia as a teacher.
  • Our university is part of a worldwide network of Catholic schools, and so we offer Professional Experience in Catholic schools in Europe, the US, UK and Ireland that is supervised by international educational leaders. And we can even offer you financial support to get you there!
  • Our Professional Experience offers you more time on placement – up to 150 days. Through these extended placements, you experience extended teaching and learning cycles, you learn to start and close out the school term and everything in between, and you develop strong professional relationships with staff, students, and school leadership.
  • And within all of this, we offer great teaching, the opportunity to make lifelong friends and colleagues, to develop your identity as teacher and all the responsibilities, delights, challenges, and opportunities that come with changing and improving lives.

Welcome to the Notre Dame Australia School of Education, we look forward to your questions, your interest, your participation at Open Days and other opportunities to get to know us, and potentially, as a coursework or research student here.

Wishing you well,

Professor Jessica Mantei
National Head of School