Real-world experience

What is field experience?

Field experience placements give you the opportunity to work in real school classrooms or early childhood settings, supervised by practising professional educators.

You may be able to complete your field experience:

• in South-East Queensland
• in rural and remote locations across Queensland
• interstate
• overseas, including across South-East Asia.

Field Experience Office

Do I have to complete field experience placements?

You'll be required to complete field experience placements if you're studying:

• Bachelor of Education (except for the inservice degree)
• Graduate Diploma in Education
• some postgraduate specialisations, including Early Childhood Teaching, School and Guidance Counselling, and Teacher-Librarianship.

Internships for Bachelor of Education students

If you're a Bachelor of Education student who studies on campus, you must also complete a four-week internship at the end of your course. You do your internship at the school or centre where you did your final field experience.

Your internship supports your transition from student to beginning teacher. You'll have greater responsibility, with a 50% teaching load and associate teacher status. Your teacher supervisor will now be your teacher mentor, guiding and preparing you for your next steps as a teacher practitioner.

Graduate Schools Program for Early Years Graduate Diploma students

Graduate Diploma students specialising in Early Years have opportunities to complete extra field experience through our Graduate Schools Program.

Graduate Schools Program in Early Childhood

When will I do field experience placements?

There are set dates for each field experience period and you must complete your field experience within these dates.

You must be 18 to participate in a field experience placement. If you're not 18 yet, this may affect your progression in the course, so check with your course coordinator before your enrol in field experience units.

Where can I go on field experience?

Rural and remote locations

Our students have completed their field experience in rural and remote locations across Queensland from Roma to Birdsville.

International field experiences

Our students have completed international field experiences at schools including:

• St Christopher's School (primary) and the Uplands School (secondary), Penang, Malaysia
• Teeratada Phitsanulok School, Northern Thailand
• United Nations International School, Hanoi, Vietnam
• The Regent's School, Pattaya, Thailand
• Yew Chung International School, Shanghai, China
• The Woodland International School, Hong Kong
• The Australian International School, Singapore.

International placement information

Can I choose where I do my field experience?

Placements are organised by our Field Experience Office.

You may be able to nominate your preferred locations for field experience, but you can't request placement at specific schools or centres.

You must complete most of your supervised professional experience in Australia.

Within South-East Queensland, you may be required to travel up to one-and-a-half hours between your home and your placement.

You may be eligible for financial support and accommodation in certain rural and remote locations through a bursary or PCAP (Priority Country Area Program).

Do I need a blue card?

Yes, you must have a blue card to participate in field experience.

How do I fit field experience into my life?

Field experience is a full-time commitment. Even if you're studying part time, you're required to attend for the full school day.

If you work, you'll need to organise to take time off to complete your field experience. You'll also need to make alternative arrangements for responsibilities like dropping off and picking up your children, if they would disrupt your placement.

You won't be paid for field experience placements. You can apply for financial assistance if this is going to cause you financial hardship.

You don't attend classes while you're on field experience.

Work integrated learning

Often, it's the extra activities that get you noticed when starting out as a teacher. We offer a range of programs which give you opportunities to use your knowledge and skills in the real world before you graduate.

Exceptional Teachers for Disadvantaged Schools

Some of our best students are selected based on their academic performance and receive specialised tuition and mentoring that equips them to work in the schools that need them most.

Exceptional Teachers for Disadvantaged Schools program

Kelvin Grove Teacher Education Centre for Excellence

This unique partnership between QUT, Kelvin Grove State College and the Department of Education and Training provides students with a financial scholarship for two units, additional classroom experience, access to a teacher mentor and preferred employment status in South West Queensland on graduation.

Kelvin Grove Teacher Education Centre for Excellence

Teacher Education Done Differently (TEDD)

The TEDD program offers 10 different activities providing additional school-based experiences for students at Caboolture. For example, in Reading Squadron QUT students make weekly visits to schools to work one on one with primary school students.

Teacher Education Done Differently (TEDD)

Out of the Box

QUT early childhood students volunteer at this unique cultural and arts festival at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC). Students practise what they learn in class while working with children in a fun, non-traditional environment and are assessed on their ability to engage with children in various community arts activities.

Service Learning Program

Final-year students from the primary and secondary bachelor programs are provided with an opportunity to gain valuable experience with real service organisations in addition to their concurrent study of inclusion on campus.

FIRST LEGO League

This robotics competition, open to students aged nine to 16 years, is hosted by QUT. Our education students are on the judging panels and participate in a range of hands-on activities to familiarise themselves with the robotics technology and learn how to implement this technology in their teaching activities.

School Community Integrated Learning pathway

Primary students have the opportunity to become a part of a school learning community as a resident preservice teacher in their fourth year. The students are immersed in the school's community and observe the inner workings of a school such as set up of classrooms and planning from day one so that they enter the profession better prepared.