Program Overview                                                                                                                              Early Childhood Education students at UW-Stout have an opportunity to do their pre-school student teaching placement at Early Childhood Centers in Australia during the summer. Australia's nursery schools are known for their excellence and innovative approaches to early childhood education.

Depending on the number of students participating on the program it may or may not begin with an orientation to the campus, region, and Australian educational system. Students will teach five days a week and one weekend during the five week program in centers in or near Lismore, Australia. Students will live with host families during the program enabling them to be better acquainted with the Australian culture.

Location                                                                                                                                                  Southern Cross University is located in the semi- tropical city of Lismore, (population: 45,000) New South Wales, about one hour by airplane from Sydney and Brisbane. From Lismore, students have easy access to Byron Bay, Australia's most easterly point. The coastline in the region is one of Australia's best, offering long stretches of beaches for swimming and surfing. Although the program takes place during the Australian winter months, the climate is much like Florida with temperatures ranging from the 40's and 50's at night to the 70's and 80's during the day.

The Gold Coast, Australia's premier tourist spot for nightlife, casinos, surfing and theme parks, is located one hour north of Lismore. The Great Barrier Reef is several hours to the north. The region around Lismore is also noted for its world-renowned rain forests where students can enjoy bushwalking and mountain climbing.

Academics  This program is open to students in the Early Childhood Education program who have passed the PPST test and have been admitted into the School of Education program. A participant will also need to have met all student teaching requirements such as GPA, satisfactory course completion, passed the Praxis II and Benchmark II Interview. For additional information please refer to the School of Education website which can be found here.

Students will be enrolled in course number: ECE-480-0S1 Student Teaching: Pre-Kindergarten (8 credits) for summer session. The Office of International Education will enroll the students into the course.

In Australia, students will be met by the staff at Southern Cross University and spend an orientation day discussing the objectives and expectations of the program as well as the assessment procedures.  Students will then be placed in selected childcare centers where they will complete their early childhood teaching requirements.

Students will be expected to meet the same educational objectives in Australia as they would in an American school setting. As in the US, the cooperating teacher and supervisor from Southern Cross will evaluate the students at the end of the placement. Based on this evaluation, students will receive a letter grade for the course at Stout.                 

Living Accommodations

Students will live with families in or near Lismore during the program. Families will provide room, board and limited transportation. The cost of the family stay is included in your program fee paid to UW-Stout.

 

                                           

Passport/Visa/Travel                                                                                                                            Students will need to have a passport and the Occupational Trainee Australian Visa to perform their student teaching in Australia. There is a $260 fee for the visa, two medical exams may possibly be required, and membership to WEAC is also needed. Students who do not have a U.S. passport should apply by no later than November as your passport is needed to obtain your Australian visa.

Students may travel together to Australia, but have the option of traveling independently at the end of the program in July. The Office of International Education will provide you with more information on travel and immigration requirements.