Humanities and Social Science Education
The Melbourne Graduate School of Education's Humanities and Social Sciences Education Group (HASS) advances knowledge of teaching and learning in the areas of philosophy education, history education, geography education, sustainability education, civics and citizenship education, and commerce education, including legal studies, business studies, economics and accounting education.
What we do
- High-quality research-based pre-service education for students who plan to teach in early childhood, primary and secondary school settings.
- Excellent in-service professional learning through work with schools, professional associations and education authorities.
- Supervision of research higher degree candidates in the Master of Education, Doctor of Education and Doctor of Philosophy programs.
- Shape curriculum and pedagogy in the Humanities and Social Sciences through provision of expert advice to state and national education authorities.
- Produce research that enhances teaching and learning in the Humanities and Social Sciences.
- Engage with wider society to promote teaching and learning in the Humanities and Social Sciences.
Our research makes important contributions through advocacy, input to policy and in publications. The HASS education group has a strong track record of working with state and national education authorities and in conducting school consultancies. Our group continues to offer leadership with professional associations, and other national and international colleagues/researchers, bridging research and practice.
Research areas
- Students’ historical thinking
- Students’ geographical thinking
- Teachers’ development of pedagogical content knowledge
- Differentiated practices in HASS
- International comparative studies in sustainability education
- Human rights education
- Students’ engagement in civics and citizenship education
- Learning in museums and other cultural organisations
- Teachers’ professional development
- HASS teachers’ professional development in literacy
- Technology in HASS education: teaching, learning and assessment
- Values in HASS education
- Global education
- Integrated curriculum and inquiry based learning approaches
The Humanities and Social Studies (HASS) Team is involved in the teaching of a range of courses to enable teachers and educators to update their qualifications, expand their knowledge and bring them to the forefront of international humanities education research.
Coursework degrees
We offer humanities education subjects in the following pre-service teacher education courses and degrees for education professionals:
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Master of Teaching (Early Childhood)
The Master of Teaching (Early Childhood) focuses on learning and teaching for children aged birth to eight years and provides our graduates with a qualification for registration with the Victoria Institute of Teaching (VIT) to teach in early childhood settings up to five years of age.
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Master of Teaching (Primary)
The Master of Teaching (Primary) prepares students to teach across all primary years (children aged five-12 years) as a generalist teacher, with specialist knowledge in literacy and numeracy education.
The following HASS coursework options and electives are available:
- Australian Indigenous Education
- Historical Thinking
- Inquiry Learning in the Humanities
- Teaching for a Sustainable World
- Teaching Global Perspectives
- Primary Humanities
- Humanities Capstone Specialised Pathway.
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Master of Teaching (Early Childhood and Primary)
The Master of Teaching (Early Childhood and Primary) prepares students for registration to teach in early childhood education and across all primary years as a generalist teacher.
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Master of Teaching (Secondary)
With a focus on student-centred learning, the Master of Teaching (Secondary) curriculum brings together theory and practice in a way that provides powerful insights into young people and how they learn.
HASS learning areas for the Master of Teaching (Secondary) support the development of teachers with foundational studies in: Accounting, Anthropology, Australian Studies, Business Management, Classical Studies, Commerce and Business Studies (Junior), Criminology, Cultural Studies, Data Processing (Business), Economics, Environmental Studies, Geography, History, Humanities, Human Resource Management, Indigenous Studies, International Relations, Legal Studies, Marketing, Multicultural Studies, Philosophy, Politics, Sociology.
Electives include:
- Comparative Education Systems & Contexts
- Teaching for a Sustainable World
- Leadership in Educational Settings
- Teaching Global Perspectives
- Active Pedagogies
- Australian Curriculum Perspectives
- Australian Indigenous Education
- Promoting Student Wellbeing
- Introduction to Digital Thinking
- Teaching Critical and Creative Thinking
- Historical Thinking
- Personalising Learning with Technology
- Introduction to the IB
- Curriculum Frameworks in the IB DP
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Master of Education
The Master of Education is designed for a range of education professionals who want to develop or extend their expertise in education so they can move into leadership, specialist or coordinator positions.
HASS-related specialisations in the Master of Education include:
Research higher degrees
We welcome graduate students interested in humanities education as part of a research higher degree. For enrolment and eligibility information visit research degrees. For information about the research conducted by the group refer to humanities education research.
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Master of Education (Research)
The Master of Education by research is directed at practising professionals in a broad range of fields related to education - early childhood, primary, secondary, tertiary, vocational and adult.
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Doctor of Education
The Doctor of Education is a research doctorate for experienced professionals with educational responsibilities.
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PhD - Education
The degree of Doctor of Philosophy signifies that the holder has undertaken a substantial piece of original research, which has been conducted and reported by the holder under proper academic supervision and in a research environment for a prescribed period.
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Doctor of Philosophy
The Master of Educational Psychology/Doctor of Philosophy will enable students to become practitioners while developing advanced research skills and experience to enhance their capacity to work in professionally related tertiary programs.
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Master of Philosophy - Education
The Master of Philosophy - Education is an internationally recognised masters (by research) degree. It is designed for students to develop advanced skills in carrying out independent and sustained research.
The HASS Education Group works with school systems, schools and professional bodies to improve teaching and learning.
Professional learning programs
The HASS Education Group has expertise across the many disciplines that comprise the Humanities and Social Sciences.
We can provide a wide range of professional learning services, from in-school teacher professional learning to full-day workshops and consultancies.
Our professional learning services focus on:
- building teacher capacity and expertise in the teaching of HASS related subjects from K -12.
- providing curricular and pedagogical approaches that support student learning and engagement
- Developing an understanding of student thinking in HASS related subjects and projects.
- providing leadership and capacity building for strengthening HASS at the school level.
Contact us for more information about customised professional learning services in your school or network of schools.
We actively disseminate and share research and professional experience through published papers in books, journal articles, teacher articles and conference proceedings for researchers and teachers.
Resources
Members of the Humanities Education Group have produced a range of materials for use by teachers, teacher candidates, graduate students and researchers, including the online resources below.
Literacy Teaching Toolkit
This provides evidence-based approaches to supporting literacy in HASS, allowing teachers to use specific teaching strategies to help students meet the achievement standards.
TeacherTracker Tool (T3)
The T3 is a digital way for a teacher or student teacher to capture non-judgmental evidence-based data and use this to consider patterns, as a basis for dialogue with their colleague/observer about where and what to do next.
Our experts teach HASS and general education subjects, supervise research higher degree students, and conduct their original research.
Academics
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Dr Jeana Kriewaldt
Arts and Humanities Education
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Dr John Whitehouse
Senior Lecturer
Phone: +61383448398
Email: j.whitehouse@unimelb.edu.au -
Jeff Kinsman
Lecturer
Email: jkinsman@unimelb.edu.au
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Dr Natasha Ziebell
Senior Lecturer
Phone: +61390358990
Email: ziebelln@unimelb.edu.au -
Dr Amy McKernan
Phone: +61390357648
Email: amcker@unimelb.edu.au -
Nadine Crane
Lecturer
Phone: +61390357400
Email: nadine.crane@unimelb.edu.au -
Timothy Bush
Lecturer (Periodic)
Email: timothy.bush@unimelb.edu.au