College of Education

College of Education

Postgraduate Programmes

Postgraduate and Professional Development

Postgraduate and Professional Development Handbook
(PDF, 837KB)

Application

Before you can be enrolled in your courses, you need to be approved into the Award. Please check requirements and attach the required certified documentation with your Application for Award Entry (PDF, 608KB).

You will also need to apply to enrol by phoning the UC Contact Centre (0800 827 748).

Masters Thesis Students should refer to the College of Education Masters Thesis Enrolment Process.

Programmes

The College of Education offers a number of programmes for those wishing to continue their studies in Education. These are the:

Bachelor of Arts with Honours (Education)

The Honours programme is designed for students who want a further year of specialised study in Education and Human Development after they have completed their general BA degree. It allows students to develop their research skills in preparation for embarking on thesis work within the MA or PhD degrees. 

Bachelor of Teaching and Learning with Honours

The BTchLn(Hons) is a one-year full-time qualification for BTchLn (or equivalent) graduates with a B grade average in their 200 and 300-level courses. The BTchLn(Hons) 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.

Postgraduate Certificate in Clinical Teaching

The PGCertCT is designed for health professionals who are involved in teaching or training. The qualification aims to develop the skills necessary to become competent educators within a wide range of healthcare settings and gain the skills and preparatory work toward a research project or educational project.

For more information download the PGCertCT brochure (PDF, 682KB).

Postgraduate Certificate in Education

The PGCertEd is designed to give teachers, counsellors and other educational professionals the opportunity to improve their professional practice and examine critically significant issues in education. The certificate can be a pathway to the Master of Education.

For more information download the Master of Education brochure (PDF, 431KB).

Postgraduate Certificate in Health Sciences

UC's Health Sciences qualifications give health professionals, non-clinical members of the health workforce and others interested in the health sector or health issues the opportunity to examine critically a range of significant issues in health sciences, and where relevant to improve their professional practice. Many graduates continue to work within their health profession while others work in health-related fields, the social services, or local or central government. The PGCertHealSc is designed to provide an introduction to the health science sector. The certificate can stand on it’s own or can be a pathway to the Postgraduate Diploma in Health Sciences and Master of Health Sciences.

Postgraduate Certificate in Palliative Care

The PGCertPC develops health practitioner’s skills in palliative care and introduces palliative care as a research field. Students gain the knowledge and understanding needed to provide a holistic approach to the assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation of the needs of patients, family and whanau living with a life-limiting condition.

Postgraduate Certificate in Specialist Teaching

The PGCertSpecTchg certificate provides students with a strong appreciation of specialist teaching as an interdisciplinary field of practice and the ability to apply their specialist teaching knowledge and skills in diverse cultural context. It comprises one compulsory course and one course focusing on either deaf and hearing impairment, early intervention or learning and behaviour.

Postgraduate Diploma in Child and Family Psychology

The PGDipChFamPsyc is designed for students who wish to become registered psychologists and practice as child and family psychologists. It is offered as an internship year to students who already hold a (MEd) in Child and Family Psychology. It leads to registration as a psychologist with the New Zealand Psychologists’ Board.

Postgraduate Diploma in Education

The PGDipEd is designed to give teachers, counsellors and other educational professionals the opportunity to improve their professional practice and examine critically significant issues in education. Students may proceed to the Master of Education.

For more information download the Master of Education brochure (PDF, 431KB).

The Postgraduate Diploma in Education is also offered with an endorsement in Leadership.

Postgraduate Diploma in Education (Inclusive and Special Education)

The PGDipEd is designed to provide opportunities to improve professional practice and examine critically significant issues in education. Students may proceed to the Master of Education. The Postgraduate Diploma in Education endorsed in Inclusive and Special Education gives students the opportunity to improve their professional knowledge, professional practice, and the ability to critically examine significant issues in inclusive and special education.

For more information download the PGDipEd (Includive and Sepcial Education) brochure (PDF, 1.5MB).

Postgraduate Diploma in Education (Leadership)

The PGDipEd(Lead) is designed for education leaders in all sectors to strengthen their leadership expertise and broaden their knowledge and skills of educational leadership. The courses provide opportunities to reflect on educational philosophy, theory and practice, to critically analyse approaches to leadership and apply theory and research to practice.

Course members may proceed to the Master of Education.

For more information download the PGDipEd(Leadership) brochure (PDF, 370KB).

Postgraduate Diploma in Education (Hōaka Pounamu: Bilingual and Immersion Teaching)

PGDipEd (Hōaka Pounamu: Bilingual and Immersion Teaching) is run by the School of Māori, Social and Cultural Studies in Education. This qualification is designed to extend teachers on the use of te reo Māori in the classroom. This qualification is ideal for early childhood, primary and secondary teachers who are teaching te reo Māori in mainstream, bilingual and immersion settings and who want to gain an academic qualification whilst upskilling their te reo Māori and teaching skills.

Postgraduate Diploma in Education (Literacy)

The PGDipEd (Literacy) critically examines literacy underachievement through a combination of theory and practice. Studies focus on the shifts of developmental theories and best classroom practice. The diploma also incorporates the study of children’s literature. Building on the substantial base of the compulsory course, students are offered an opportunity to explore in depth the complexity of issues in light of current thinking.

Postgraduate Diploma in Education (e-Learning and Digital Technologies in Education)

The PGDipEd (e-Learning and Digital Technologies in Education) is designed to give educators, support staff and trainers the opportunity to improve their professional practice with ICT and critically examine significant issues within this area.

Students undertake research and provide leadership in their specific areas of interest.

For more information download the PGDip in Education (e-Learning and Digital Technologies) (PDF, 187KB).

Postgraduate Diploma in Education endorsed in Teaching and Learning Languages

The PGDipEd (Teaching and Learning Languages) is designed to give educators from a range of backgrounds and contexts the theoretical understandings and practical skills to teach a range of languages, and to meet the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse students.

Postgraduate Diploma in Health Sciences

The PGDipHealSc is aimed at people who are currently employed in, or seeking employment in, a health-related field, the social services, or local or central government. An inter-disciplinary programme, students will complete a programme of advanced study in the Health Sciences choosing from courses in over twenty disciplines, with the option of a particular focus in environment and health, early intervention, health behaviour change or health information management.

Postgraduate Diploma in Specialist Teaching

The University of Canterbury in partnership with Massey University now offers a Postgraduate Diploma in Specialist Teaching. This qualification adopts an inquiry-based interprofessional learning model. It employs a range of distance and blended delivery options that provide a range of flexible learning options for all students regardless of location. Five specialist endorsements will be offered - Early Intervention; Deaf and Hearing Impaired; Learning and Behaviour; Autism Spectrum Disorder; and Blind and Vision Impaired.

Master of Arts in Education

The MA in Education consists of four courses and a thesis. It is designed to give students the opportunity to develop and extend their research skills to address questions of interest in education. 

Master of Education

The MEd degree is designed to give teachers, counsellors or other educational professionals the opportunity to improve their professional practice, examine critically significant issues in education and/or undertake research in their fields of interest.

From 2009 this programme will consist of 240 points of study, usually taken as a combination of taught courses and a research thesis. The MEd is designed to give teachers, educational professionals, counsellors and researchers the opportunity to examine practice and critical issues in education, and undertake research in their fields of interest.

For more information download the Master of Education brochure (PDF, 431KB).

Masters Thesis Students should refer to the College of Education Masters Thesis Enrolment Process.

Application to enrol in a course not on the Master of Education Schedule (PDF, 131KB).

Master of Health Sciences

The MHealSc is aimed at people who are currently employed in, or seeking employment in, a health-related field, the social services, or local or central government. An inter-disciplinary programme, students will complete a programme of advanced study in the Health Sciences choosing from courses in over twenty disciplines, with the option of a particular focus in environment and health, early intervention, health behaviour change or health information management.

Masters Thesis Students should refer to the College of Education Masters Thesis Enrolment Process.

MA in Child and Family Psychology
MSc in Child and Family Psychology

The MA or MSc in Child and Family Psychology (or an approved MEd) are postgraduate degrees which can be completed alone or in combination with the limited entry Postgraduate Diploma in Child and Family Psychology (PGDipChFamPsyc). The limited entry PGDipChFamPsyc can be started after the first year of the masters is completed and has been designed for students who wish to become registered psychologists working with children, adolescents and families.

Masters Thesis Students should refer to the College of Education Masters Thesis Enrolment Process.

MEd with Certificate in Counselling 

The MEd with Certificate in Counselling is a degree comprising eight postgraduate papers, four of which are compulsory counselling papers. This degree is designed to equip students with the academic knowledge and professional skills to work as counsellors in a variety of settings. A solution-focused model of counselling forms the basis of the degree. Students are encouraged to integrate this model with previous skills and knowledge and their critical examination of other models. Recent graduates are extending their studies as doctoral students, others are working as school counsellors, family therapists, health counsellors, vocational counsellors, tertiary education counsellors, consultants, managers and counsellor educators.

For more information download the MEd with Certificate in Counselling brochure (PDF, 77KB).

Doctor of Philosophy in Education 

A PhD in Education is a recognition that you have delved deeply into a specific education issue or field of enquiry and that you have become an expert in that field. You will have acquired the skills to continue to do leading research and in most cases you will have published one or more refereed articles.

Our PhD in Education programme is strong and growing. Our students are able to choose supervisors who are at the cutting edge of their fields of research and scholarship. Currently we have students engaged in research in a wide range of educational fields and working with a diverse range of methodological approaches. As a result the integration of teacher education into the University environment we have welcomed professional educators who are interested in practice-based doctoral research.

We have a postgraduate centre that provides a strong academic support base, a stimulating learning environment, dedicated research offices, a community of scholarship, and regular interactive seminars. We have the capacity to develop collegial teams of students and supervisors in particular fields of interest, such as practice-based research within schools and early childhood centres.

Doctor of Philosophy in Health Sciences

The PhD in Health Sciences is offered by thesis, not coursework, and the topic is negotiated/agreed with the supervisor. The supervisory team supporting the candidate's research project may be drawn from a range of health related disciplines and local and overseas institutions. Areas of special interest can be seen at the Health Sciences Centre website and include health systems, health care delivery, prevention and early intervention, health information management, health behaviour change, indigenous health issues, family nursing etc.

In undertaking a PhD in Health Sciences you would expect to provide a critical analysis and argument of the topic under investigation and make a contribution to knowledge through originality, creativity and a comprehensive and scholarly approach. PhD students would normally have at least two supervisors, share an office, have a PC and access to printer and tea/coffee making facilities.

More Information

More information regarding undertaking a PhD at UC can be found at the PhD Student site. Enrolment details for domestic and international students is at Postgraduate Student Enrolment.

More information about Postgraduate Study at the College of Education is in the Postgraduate Study brochure (PDF, 282KB). More information about Postgraduate programmes and their courses is available in the PostGraduate Prospectus which can be obtained by emailing education@canterbury.ac.nz or phoning 0800 VARSITY (827 748)