Online course in Law

Child Protection for Teachers

Feel empowered to protect your students by identifying and reporting signs of child abuse and neglect.

Child Protection for Teachers

Join course for free
Overview
Topics
Start dates
Requirements
Educators
More courses
Overview
Topics
Start dates
Requirements
Educators
More courses
  • Duration 2 weeks
  • Weekly study 1 hour
  • Learn Free
  • Extra benefits From $54 Find out more

Learn to identify the warning signs and indicators of child abuse and neglect.

Teachers in many countries are required by law to report certain types of child abuse and neglect to relevant child protection authorities. Some nations are on the cusp of introducing mandatory reporting obligations, or have policy-based duties for reporting. All teachers can benefit from increased awareness and understanding of their roles in child protection.

This course will enable you to recognise the signs of child abuse and neglect, and learn how maltreatment impacts on children’s learning and development. It will also help you to understand your role as a reporter.

What topics will you cover?

  • The warning signs and indicators of different types of child abuse and neglect
  • The roles of teachers and other professionals in recognising and reporting suspected cases of child abuse and neglect
  • Key elements of child protection legislation and policy
  • Characteristics of effective school-based prevention programs

When would you like to start?

Most FutureLearn courses run multiple times. Every run of a course has a set start date but you can join it and work through it after it starts. Find out more

  • Available now
    This course started 22 Jul 2019

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you'll be able to...

  • Identify the warning signs and indicators of child abuse and neglect subtypes.
  • Describe the key elements of child protection legislation and policy relevant to your school context.
  • Assess where child abuse and neglect prevention fits within school curriculum, and become familiar with the most effective pedagogies for implementing prevention initiatives.
  • Reflect on your role as a mandatory reporter and staff member in a child-safe organisation.

Who is the course for?

This course is designed for teaching staff and education leaders who want to improve their professional practice. It may also be of interest to student support staff, including teacher aides, school counsellors, chaplains, etc.

For Australian school educators, this course aligns with the following Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST):

  • Create and maintain supportive and safe learning environments
    • 4.4 Maintain student safety
  • Engage in professional learning
    • 6.2 Improve practice
  • Engage professionally with colleagues
    • 7.1 Meet professional ethics and responsibilities
    • 7.2 Comply with legislative requirements
    • 7.4 Engage with broader networks

For Australian educators in before-school settings, this course aligns with the following National Quality Standard:

  • Quality Area 2 - Children’s health and safety
    • Element 2.2.3 Child protection: Management, educators and staff are aware of their roles and responsibilities to identify and respond to every child at risk of abuse or neglect.

Warning: Child abuse is a sensitive issue and you may feel a range of emotions when you engage with this material. Please take care of yourself and each other as you work through this course.

Who will you learn with?

Kerryann Walsh

Kerryann Walsh

Professor in the Faculty of Education at QUT, leader of the QUT Childhoods in Changing Contexts (CCC) research group, and Senior Researcher in the QUT Childhood Adversity Research Group.

Who developed the course?

QUT is a leading Australian university ranked in the top 2% of universities worldwide by the 2015-16 Times Higher Education World University Rankings. Located in Brisbane, it attracts 47,000 students.

Join this course

Start this course for free, upgrade for extra benefits, or buy Unlimited to access this course and hundreds of other short courses for a year.

Free
$0

Join free and you will get:

  • Access to this course for 4 weeks

Upgrade
$54

Upgrade this course and you will get:

  • Access to this course for as long as it’s on FutureLearn
  • A print and digital Certificate of Achievement once you’re eligible
Join and upgrade
New

Unlimited (New!)
$239 for one year

Buy Unlimited and you will get:

  • Access to this course, and hundreds of other FutureLearn short courses and tests for a year
  • A printable digital Certificate of Achievement on all short courses once you’re eligible
  • The freedom to keep access to any course you've achieved a digital Certificate of Achievement on, for as long as the course exists on FutureLearn
  • The flexibility to complete your choice of short courses in your own time within the year
Find out more about upgrades or Unlimited.

More courses you might like

Learners who joined this course have also enjoyed these courses.