| College of Education |  |
Primary teaching allows you to use your energy, commitment and creativity in an intensely rewarding and satisfying career, which can make a real difference in people's lives. The College of Education has a national and international reputation for producing high-quality graduates. A significant factor in this is the emphasis placed on students completing courses in all school curriculum areas.
We offer a variety of options for students wishing to enter the creative and rewarding profession of primary teaching.
The BTchLn(Primary) is an internationally recognised three-year full-time professional qualification that prepares you for a teaching career in primary, intermediate, middle and area schools. It is available full-time or part-time on campus in Christchurch and Rotorua (intake each February), by a mixture of on campus and distance delivery in Nelson (intake two years out of every three) or by distance through the Flexible Learning Option(FLO).
The BTchLn(Hons) is a one-year full-time or two-year part-time postgraduate qualification for Bachelor of Teaching and Learning (or equivalent) graduates. It develops knowledge and research skills to equip you for further study and improve your classroom/centre practice, provides you with the opportunity to focus on educational issues or curriculum areas in which you have special interests and makes you more competitive in the job market.
The GradDipTchLn(Primary) is a fifteen-month full-time diploma for university graduates. It can be undertaken full-time on campus in Christchurch or full-time or part-time by distance through the Flexible Learning Option(FLO). The academic year starts in mid-February and continues until mid-November, recommences in mid-January and concludes in mid-April. There is also a mid-year intake (Christchurch campus only) commencing in July.
The CertLS covers supporting learning from early childhood through to early secondary school education and is designed for parents who are assisting or seeking to assist teaching staff, people working or wanting to work as teacher-aides or community support workers, people seeking to apply for teaching in the future, or parents wanting to support their children's learning. A one semester full-time qualification, the CertLS is offered on-campus and by distance, with part-time options also available. The CertLS can lead to teacher aide or parent helper positions in early childhood centres and primary, intermediate, area and secondary schools, and can be a step towards meeting the academic entry requirements for early childhood or primary teacher education for those who have been out of tertiary study for a long time. This is an open entry qualification.
As places in the BTchLn and GradDipTchLn programmes are limited we strongly recommend that you apply as early as possible. All applications received prior to the commencement of our academic year in early February are considered by our selection panel.
Graduates of the degree or diploma programmes (not including the CertLS) will be eligible for provisional registration as a teacher. Graduates have gained positions in primary, intermediate, middle and area schools in New Zealand and overseas. Some have also gained positions in secondary schools.
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions are available.
For more information email education@canterbury.ac.nz or phone 0800 VARSITY (827 748).