Teacher Education

Entry requirements

Places are limited and a separate application to Te Kaupeka Ako | Faculty of Education is required. Selection for entry is not automatic and is based on:

• academic ability, involvement and interest in working with children and young people, community involvement, communication skills and other personal qualities as outlined in the Guide to Applying
• a police check, referees' reports, and an interview
• a short literacy and numeracy test.

Applicants under 20 must have University Entrance and applicants over 20 must have evidence of recent, successful tertiary study.

A degree is required to enter graduate programmes (overseas degrees will need to be assessed as equivalent to an Aotearoa New Zealand degree by the University).

English language

Students for whom English is an additional language must provide evidence of their English language ability as follows:

• IELTS (Academic) 7.0, with no individual score below 7.0; or
• at least two years of successful study in an Aotearoa New Zealand secondary school, with at least ten Level 2 NCEA credits in Literacy (five reading and five writing) or equivalent.

How to apply

Applications close four weeks prior to the commencement of the programmes in early February, or when places are filled. For more details on entry requirements and the teacher education application process see the Guide to Applying.

As places are limited we strongly recommend that you apply for programme entry as early as possible.

See the individual qualification pages for programme-specific entry requirements.

UC offers qualifications in:

• Early Childhood Teacher Education
• Primary Teacher Education
• Secondary Teacher Education (postgraduate only)

These programmes lead to provisional teacher registration in Aotearoa New Zealand.

See also Education offered as a major and minor in other degrees.

Study commitments

Depending on your programme of study, full-time on-campus students have 16–25 hours of lectures per week during term time, plus time spent on personal study, research, and assignment preparation. Full-time distance students can expect to spend a minimum of 40 hours per week on their studies, as well as being required to attend on-site intensives (see information below).

You will attend professional practice placements in each semester. Bachelor of Teaching and Learning students will also undertake a community engagement course.

Teacher Education programmes are intensive and it’s important that you’re aware of the amount of time required to complete them, particularly if studying by distance. If you have work or other commitments, you may need to consider part-time study (available for some programmes).

Distance and regional blended study

Te Kaupeka Ako | Faculty of Education has a range of delivery options as well as the face-to-face on-campus programmes in Ōtautahi Christchurch. The College offers a blended model of campus-based and online learning in Whakatū Nelson, as well as a distance option.

Courses are taught using online resources, included web-based audio or video conferences. If you are enrolled in the regional campus model, some of the distance course sessions may be delivered face-to-face as intensive modules in Whakatū Nelson.

New distance students are provided with comprehensive information through e-Learning support and the student support Learn (Moodle) sites. Lecturer contact details, assignment due dates, and the times you are required to be on campus are available through the Course Information System.

Both undergraduate and a selection of postgraduate courses are available by distance – meaning that you can continue studying with us throughout your career.

Course materials

Course materials are provided free of charge in the course Learn sites. You should expect to gain access to course materials on your Learn site the week before the beginning of your course, provided you are fully enrolled as a student.

Equipment required for study

The bulk of the course content is provided in class, workshops, and online. You will have some online lectures in courses irrespective of where you study.

• telephone (preferably with voicemail)
• computer, webcam, and printer
• internet access with broadband
• hardware and software to participate in online conference sessions, including Skype and Zoom, and for viewing and listening to course materials.

In addition, it’s recommended to have access to a mobile phone or recording device that can be used in preparation of some assignments.

UC Library services

You can access the UC Library services if you are enrolled in a recognised course (either as distance or on-campus student) or a course at any UC regional campus or centre. Library services include:

• access to books, serials, and audiovisual materials
• internet access through our webpage to resources and services, including the library catalogue, serials index, full text databases, registration, and forms
• advice on search strategies and guidance in using library resources
• access to items from other libraries if we do not have them in this library
• contact by phone, fax, email, or mail.

Students will be able to access their account details online.

On-site intensives

On-site intensives (OSIs) may include orientation activities, school or centre visits, and overnight marae visits. OSIs are a compulsory part of the programmes. They are a great opportunity to meet the lecturers and colleagues for the duration of your studies, form study groups in your home region as well as online, and learn some of the information that is best taught in a face-to-face class or using particular equipment.

OSIs for early childhood qualifications are taught in blocks. The distance option usually involves one OSI per semester on campus for the BTchLn(Early Childhood) and the GradDipTchLn(EC).

On-site intensives for primary qualifications are taught in blocks, with the first on-site intensive taking place in the February of the first year of study in Ōtautahi Christchurch. If you are enrolled in the UC Nelson Centre or Rotorua ITE Hapori, you do not attend the OSIs in Ōtautahi. You will complete a blended model of online course work and face-to-face courses and curriculum components held at your regional campus.

OSIs for secondary qualifications are held at the start of the year (late January/early February) in Ōtautahi Christchurch.

Professional practice

Professional practice is a time when you get the opportunity to spend time in a teaching setting. For teaching programmes, professional practice involves blocks of 1–7 weeks during which you are required to spend approximately 8 hours each day working alongside an experienced teacher. The tasks that you are required to carry out aim to help you become experimental, reflective, and active in your approach to education.

Professional practice can usually be undertaken locally, within the Canterbury region (or Nelson and Rotorua for regional students). Students may be able to apply for out-of-region placements (eg, in another town or city). Course travel and accommodation expenses must be planned for well in advance and are the responsibility of the student.

Mentoring Scheme (Primary) — UC Nelson Centre only

For first-year Primary students at the UC Nelson Centre, a mentoring scheme has been established. These first-year students are assigned to a school in the Whakatū Nelson area, which they attend one day per week for six weeks. This allows students access to a school to complete observations or course-related tasks.

Home centres (Early Childhood)

Distance students are encouraged to develop a relationship with a local early childhood setting so that they can become part of a learning community, observe children and teachers, and have the opportunity for professional conversations with staff.

This ‘home centre’ contact is a strictly informal relationship between the student and the centre and falls outside of any formal liaison organised between UC and the centre.