Psychology course
The new Psychology course is expected to be popular with students and teachers alike when it is introduced in Year 11 in 2008.
Curriculum Council project officer Paula Carroll said the course, introduced as part of the new Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE), aims to answer questions such as what motivates people and what factors influence their development. The course introduces students to a study of the psychology of self, others and society.
The learning outcomes in the course include psychological understandings and the processes of investigating, applying, relating and communicating these understandings.
Ms Carroll said the new course has been strengthened by a link with the Science Teachers' Association of Western Australia (STAWA). Prospective teachers of the course can join STAWA's Psychology teachers' interest group and obtain additional professional support for delivering the new course in schools.
Prospective Psychology teachers can also participate in an email forum and access a website that provides useful links and textbook resources.
"Three schools will be trialling parts of the course in year 10 and 11 classes next year," Ms Carroll said.
"The course has proven very popular with students and teachers in other states and we're expecting the same response here," she said.
To subscribe to the email forum, send a blank email to join-psyc-teacherswa@edna.edu.au.
Department of Education and Training (DET) teachers who have enquiries about qualifications needed to teach the new Psychology course should contact Mike Fitzpatrick at Mike.Fitzpatrick@det.wa.edu.au.
