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Advanced Humanities and Social Sciences Education unit (EPR360)

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Location: Launceston, Online

Introduction

EPR360: Advanced Humanities and Social Sciences [HASS] Education will extend your understanding of disciplinary content and pedagogy beyond that which you learned in the introductory unit, EPR260. The Australian Curriculum learning area of Humanities and Social Sciences requires children from Prep to Year 6 to think about and respond to key historical, geographical, political, economic and societal issues, and how these different factors interrelate. 


The focus of this unit is on deepening your understanding around engaging teaching and learning strategies to integrate HASS and to make connections with the Australian Curriculum’s Cross-curriculum Priorities and General Capabilities (notably Literacy, Critical and Creative Thinking, Ethical thinking and behaviour, Personal and Social competence and ICT). If you are planning Prep to Year 2 lessons you can use relevant HASS-related learning outcomes from the Early Years Learning Framework. 


Emphasis will be on developing discipline-specific skills, key organising concepts, and active teaching approaches. AT1 focuses especially on Civics and Citizenship education. AT2 has a particular focus upon developing your assessment skills in a HASS context. Both develop key professional skills. Assessment tasks aim to broaden your knowledge of research in HASS education, and to develop your skills of critical thinking. You will also be encouraged to use technologies that will re-imagine how History, Geography and Civics and Citizenship can be taught both in and beyond the classroom.

Summary

Unit name Advanced Humanities and Social Sciences Education
Unit code EPR360
Credit points 12.5
College/School Arts and Society
Faculty of Education
Discipline Education
Coordinator Doctor Kim Beasy
Available as an elective? No
Delivered By University of Tasmania
Level Advanced

Sustainable Development Goals

The Unit Coordinator has identified that this unit aligns with the following UN Sustainable Development Goals. We welcome your thoughts and feedback on the alignment of the unit with these goals.

Availability

Location Study period Attendance options Available to
Launceston Semester 1 This unit is available through on-campus delivery Available to International Students Available to Domestic Students
Online Semester 1 This unit is available through off-campus delivery Available to International Students Available to Domestic Students
  • Key:
  • This unit is available through on-campus delivery On-campus
  • This unit is available through off-campus delivery Off-Campus
  • Available to International Students International students
  • Available to Domestic Students Domestic students
Note

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Key Dates

Study Period Start date Census date WW date End date
Semester 1 22/2/2026 16/3/2026 19/4/2026 13/6/2026

* The Final WW Date is the final date from which you can withdraw from the unit without academic penalty, however you will still incur a financial liability (refer to How do I withdraw from a unit? for more information).

Unit census dates currently displaying for 2026 are indicative and subject to change. Finalised census dates for 2026 will be available from the 1st October 2025. Note census date cutoff is 11.59pm AEST (AEDT during October to March).

About Census Dates

Learning Outcomes

  • integrate HASS content, concepts, and skills with cross-curriculum priorities and general capabilities for teaching, learning and assessment
  • critically evaluate a range of HASS topics, skills and pedagogical approaches, including the work of peers
  • reflect upon working collaboratively with peers and demonstrate adaption of planning and thinking in the light of on-line involvement and feedback
  • plan an assessment instrument that integrates HASS knowledge and skills with cross-curricular elements
  • communicate with parents/carers, learners and academic audiences using professional and academic writing conventions and technologies.

Fee Information

Field of Education Commencing Student Contribution 1,3 Grandfathered Student Contribution 1,3 Approved Pathway Course Student Contribution 2,3 Domestic Full Fee 4
070103 $592.00 $592.00 not applicable $2,562.00
  • Available as a Commonwealth Supported Place
  • HECS-HELP is available on this unit, depending on your eligibility3
  • FEE-HELP is available on this unit, depending on your eligibility4

1 Please refer to more information on student contribution amounts.
2 Please refer to more information on eligibility and Approved Pathway courses.
3 Please refer to more information on eligibility for HECS-HELP.
4 Please refer to more information on eligibility for FEE-HELP.

If you have any questions in relation to the fees, please contact UniConnect or more information is available on StudyAssist.

Please note: international students should refer to What is an indicative Fee? to get an indicative course cost.

Requisites

Concurrent Prerequisites

EPR260 or ESH260

Teaching

Teaching Pattern

You will all engage with the unit through weekly lecture content, readings, assessment-linked tasks, tutorials, webinars, MyLO contributions, and through the completion of assignment work. You are expected to timetable 10 hours of study time per week, realising that this includes time spent reading or viewing resources provided to you, searching for additional information/resources necessary for the completion of assessment tasks and other activities, and participating in weekly tasks and webinar tutorials or assessment-focused briefings.

Your navigation around the various learning resources in MYLO should be fairly self-explanatory. Plenty of video material has been provided for you – often seeing is believing in terms of teaching practice!

We hope that you both enjoy this unit and that you find it professionally valuable.

 

 

 

AssessmentAssessing integrated HASS learning (50%)|Blog post for parents/carers (50%)
TimetableView the lecture timetable | View the full unit timetable

Textbooks

Required

You will need the following text:
Tudball, L., Brett, P., and Gilbert, R. (eds.) (2025). Teaching Humanities and Social Sciences: Teaching & Learning across Australia, (8th ed). Melbourne: Cengage.

This is the 8th edition of the textbook, but you may use the 7th edition if you already purchased it for EPR260. You can secure a 10% discount through using the offer code shared in MyLO. You also have the option of buying an e-book version rather than a hardcopy. Earlier editions of the text can also be helpful but become progressively further distanced from Australian Curriculum updates and recent academic references. Dr Peter Brett's lectures reference material in the 8th edition (2025) of the text. Individual chapters are also available in the 'Reading Lists' tab on the front page of MyLO.

Required readings - ECE students 
The above texts are relevant, but in your case the Green and Price text (especially) or Reynolds text are preferable to the Gilbert/Tudball/Brett text (they have a more sustained focus upon HASS with younger children). Also required (you almost certainly have them already). 
Arthur, L., Beecher, B., Death, E., Dockett, S., & Farmer, S. (2012). Programming and Planning in Early Childhood Settings (5th ed.). Port Melbourne, VIC: Cengage Learning.   
Department of Education Employment and Workplace Relations [DEEWR]. (2009). The Early Years Learning Framework. Canberra, ACT
Recommended

Recommended Readings will be useful for this Unit to develop your knowledge and understanding of teaching and course-specific content.  If you are seeking sources of evidence to support your assessment work, you will find these readings a useful starting point. There is no requirement to buy these texts/materials. 

  • Buchanan, J. (2013), History, Geography and Civics: Teaching and learning in the primary years. Melbourne: Cambridge University Press. 
  • Green, D. and Price, D. (Eds.) (2019). Making Humanities and Social Sciences Come Alive: Early Years and Primary Education. Melbourne: Cambridge University Press. 
  • Reynolds, R. (2014). Teaching Humanities and Social Sciences in the Primary School (3rd edn.). Sydney: Oxford University Press. 
  • Taylor T., Fahey, C., Kriewaldt, J. & Boon, D. (2012). Place and Time: Explorations in Teaching Geography and History. Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson.   

The journal publications listed below are highly recommended for further reading on the topics covered in the unit. You will be advised of additional sources through lectures and tutorials and are expected to refer to policy documents as appropriate: 

  • Brett, P. (2018). Retrieving the civic dimension in history: Creating meaningful and memorable links between History and Civics and Citizenship in primary classrooms. The Social Educator, 36 (2) 15-29.  
  • Heggart, K. R.  & Flowers, R. (2019). Justice Citizens, Active Citizenship, and Critical Pedagogy: Reinvigorating Citizenship Education. Democracy and Education, 27 (1), Article 2.  Available at: https://democracyeducationjournal.org/home/vol27/iss1/2
  • Peterson, A. & Bentley, B. (2017). Education for citizenship in South Australian public schools: a pilot study of senior leader and teacher perceptions, The Curriculum Journal, 28:1, 105-122. 
  • Tudball, L. & Henderson, D. (2014) Contested notions of civics and citizenship education as national education in the Australian curriculum. Curriculum and Teaching, 29(2), 5-24. 


You are required to read widely as appropriate for this unit. Key readings and chapters will be posted on-line. Journals such as Agora, Teaching Geography, Teaching History, and Social Education are valuable online sources accessible from the University of Tasmania Library Catalogue.

The Social Educator: The Journal of the Social and Citizenship Educators’ Association of Australia (SCEAA) has a strong Civics and Citizenship focus and is highly recommended reading. It is available from the UTAS data bases in A+ Education. For a variety of other texts related to specific teaching sessions see MyLO and the Library Reading List for this unit. I have made sure that there is a really good range of possible readings available to you via the Reading List that you can link to through MYLO.

Other Recommended Readings – ECE students 

  • Ailwood, J., Brownlee, J., Johansson, E., Cobb-Moore, C., Walker, S.,& Boulton-Lewis, G. (2011). Educational policy for citizenship in the early years in Australia. Journal of Education Policy, 26 (5), 641-653 
  • Browett, J. & Ashman, G. (2008). Thinking Globally: Global Perspectives in the Early Years Classroom. Vic: Curriculum Corporation  
  • Brown, J. (2015). ‘Fostering Global Citizenship’. Every Child, Vol. 21 (1).   
  • Davis, M. (Ed) (2010). Young Children and the Environment. Early Education for Sustainability. Cambridge; Cambridge University Press.   
  • Ebbeck, M. (2006). The Challenges of Global Citizenship: Some Issues for Policy and Practice in Early Childhood Education. Childhood Education, 82(6). p. 353-357.  
  • Phillips, L. (2010). Social justice storytelling and young children’s active citizenship. Discourse: S

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