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The VIT has compiled definitions for our most frequently used terms, government departments and regulatory bodies. If you are unable to find a specific term in this list, please contact us.

L

Learner(s)

A learner is anyone who is enrolled at an early childhood service or school and is undertaking an approved curriculum.

The use of the term learner as a synonym for student has grown in popularity among educators in recent years. The decision to use learner in place of student may be due to a couple of factors

  • learner underscores and reinforces the goal of the educator-student relationship - learning - rather than the respective roles played by students and teachers.
  • learning can occur in the absence of teaching, but teaching doesn’t occur without some form of learning taking place (i.e. learners can learn without teachers, but students are only students when they have teachers)
  • if the goal is to update traditional conceptions and perceptions of students (e.g. they can learn both inside and outside of a school or classroom, they can learn independently or from adults who are not classroom teachers, they can take more responsibility over what they learn and how they learn, they can be young children or older adults returning to complete their education,) then distancing the concept from preformed, limiting, or outmoded associations could be useful.

Literacy and Numeracy Test for Initial Teacher Education (LANTITE)

The literacy and numeracy test for initial teacher education (LANTITE) is how initial teacher education (ITE) graduates demonstrate that they have the required personal literacy and numeracy levels to work as a teacher in Australia.

If you graduated from a Victorian ITE program after 1 July 2016, you are required to pass LANTITE before applying for registration as a teacher with VIT.

If you were enrolled in an accredited ITE program anywhere in Australia on or after 1 January 2017, the LANTITE requirement is part of your ITE program and must be met before graduation. Your ITE provider can advise you when within your program you will be required to meet the test.