Te Tohu Paetahi Akoranga: Bachelor of Teaching (Early Childhood Education)

Level 7

button for easy access to information about this qualification

Are you passionate about early childhood teaching? The UCOL Te Pūkenga Te Tohu Paetahi Akoranga Bachelor of Teaching, Early Childhood Education (ECE) Level 7, will prepare you to enter the highly gratifying career.

The UCOL Te Pūkenga earlychildhood class in progress

Quick info

Level: 7

Locations: UCOL Te Pūkenga Manawatū in Palmerston North, UCOL Te Pūkenga Wairarapa in Masterton

Duration: 3 Years

Dates:
Palmerston North
Y1: 26 Feb 2024 - 29 Nov 2024
Y2: 26 Feb 2024 - 29 Nov 2024
Y3: 26 Feb 2024 - 29 Nov 2024

Masterton
Y1: 26 Feb 2024 - 29 Nov 2024
Y2: 26 Feb 2024 - 29 Nov 2024
Y3: 26 Feb 2024 - 29 Nov 2024

Domestic Fees: *
2024 fees TBC

Scholarship info

Find out if you're eligible for fees-free study

International Fees:*
$25,000.00 per year + Student Services Levy $575.00 - $595.00 (Estimated/TBC)

Additional Fees
Compulsory course costs may apply.

* Fees are indicative only, and are inclusive of the student services levy and GST (goods and services tax). The fee shown is for one year of study.

Need Some Advice?Apply Now

Our Level 7 programme is an Initial Teacher Education (ITE) degree that will prepare you to become a qualified Early Childhood Educator in Aotearoa (New Zealand).

You will study and attain a teaching qualification while employed or working voluntarily in an early childhood setting. You will attend classes on-campus two days a week and undertake a minimum of 12 hours per week in a licensed early childhood education service, as well as block placements in a variety or early childhood settings gaining experience working alongside infants, toddlers and young children.

Our Level 7 programme will provide you with a comprehensive learning experience covering both the theoretical and practical aspects of early childhood teaching. You will understand the different stages of children's learning and development and acquire the skills required to carry out teaching tasks independently.

Having obtained the skills needed to uphold the expectations of New Zealand's Code of Professional Responsibility and Standards for the Teaching Profession, you will be ready to work so that you can apply to become registered as a professionally certified Early Childhood Educator.

Career & Study Outcomes

Graduates of this three-year Bachelor of Teaching (Early Childhood Education) (Level 7) degree will have the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values to be competent, registered teachers in early childhood settings in New Zealand. Employment options may include:

Kindergarten
Early childhood centres
Home-based settings
Or staircase to further study

To find out more about possible job prospects and salaries for Teachers, see careers.govt.nz

Course Information

Note: As a subsidiary of Te Pūkenga - New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology, UCOL Te Pūkenga is committed to providing the best learning outcome for you. As part of this, all programmes are currently being reviewed to make them portable, consistent, and closely aligned with the needs of the industry. When published, this course information is correct, but the courses offered may change over time. If you have any questions call an Enrolment Advisor on 0800 468 265.

From 2023, UCOL Te Pūkenga and the programme you have enrolled in will become part of Te Pūkenga. So, if you join UCOL Te Pūkenga in 2023, you will be awarded Te Pūkenga certification. And, if you are a current learner graduating in 2023, you will be awarded a co-branded certificate.

This programme consists of 360 Credits. The course includes;

Year 1

Child Development (15 Credits)
This course will introduce you to the theoretical perspectives of child development (from birth to six years) relevant to the context of Aotearoa New Zealand.

Education and Society (15 Credits)
This course examines underlying social and cultural contexts in education including Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the implications for early childhood education in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Professional Inquiry in Practice 1: Professional and Reflective Practice (15 Credits)
This course will introduce you to the knowledge, practice, values, and attitudes required to be an effective professional teacher in early childhood education.

Professional Inquiry in Practice 2: Communication and Relationships (15 Credits)
This course will further develop your knowledge, practice, values, and attitudes as required to be an effective professional teacher in early childhood education.

Te Puna Reo (15 Credits)
This course will introduce you to te Reo Māori me ngā Tikanga and their relevance to early childhood services.

Play, Curriculum, and Pedagogy (15 Credits)
This course will introduce the early childhood curriculum Te Whāriki and explore the concept of play as a curriculum in early childhood education in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Artistic Languages of Children (15 Credits)
This course will help you develop curriculum knowledge, skills, and an understanding of effective learning and teaching processes and strategies in visual arts, music, and movement.

Educational Approaches (15 Credits)
This course will help you understand historical and contemporary educational ideas, philosophies and approaches that inform early childhood education in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Field Base Experience Placement

Learners will need to source an early childhood service to support their Field base experience placement, prior to the course start date.

They will be required to complete a total of 14 weeks (12 hours per week) in semester one and 10 weeks (12 hours per week) in semester 2. Totaling 288 hours for the year. These hours are completed over 2 days in a week, either on a Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday.

Practical Experience Placement

Learners will be placed in an early childhood setting organised by UCOL Te Pūkenga to complete 120 hours (4 weeks) of work experience in semester 2. Practical experience placements and successful completion of the programme are dependent on a satisfactory police check and our (UCOL Te Pūkenga) ability to place learners successfully.

Year 2

Infants and Toddlers: First 1000 days (15 Credits)
This course will critically examine the requirements for providing education and care for infants and toddlers in early childhood settings.

Equity & Diversity (15 Credits)
This course will help you understand historical and social issues connected to diversity and the achievement of educational equity for infants, toddlers, young children, and their families in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Professional Inquiry in Practice 3: Assessment for Learning and Teaching (15 Credits)
This programme will provide you with the skills and knowledge to assess learning in early childhood settings.

Professional Inquiry in Practice 4: Personal and Professional Identity (15 Credits)
This course will help you develop a reflective practitioner's professional knowledge, skills, and attitudes within early childhood settings.

Te Puna Tikanga (15 Credits)

This course will enable you to apply concepts and knowledge of Tikanga Māori to reflective teaching practice, planning, implementation, and evaluation of early childhood curriculum.

Emergent Literacies (15 Credits)

This course will help you develop content knowledge, skills, and understanding of effective learning and teaching approaches for developing and supporting young children’s emerging literacies.

Early Mathematical and Scientific Concepts (15 Credits)

This course will help you understand how infants, toddlers, and young children learn mathematical and scientific concepts and apply this theoretical knowledge in meaningful ways within early childhood settings.

Introduction to Educational Research (10 Credits)

This course will introduce you to educational research methods and develop the skills, knowledge, and attitudes required to be an effective practitioner-researcher.

Field Base Experience Placement

Learners will need to source an early childhood service to support their Field base experience placement, prior to the course start date.

They will be required to complete a total of 9 weeks (12 hours per week) in semester one and 14 weeks (12 hours per week) in semester 2. Totaling 276 hours for the year. These hours are completed over 2 days in a week, either on a Monday, Tuesday, or Friday.

Practical Experience Placement

Learners will be placed in an early childhood setting organised by UCOL Te Pūkenga to complete 150 hours (5 weeks) of work experience in semester 1. Practical experience placements and successful completion of the programme are dependent on a satisfactory police check and our (UCOL Te Pūkenga) ability to place learners successfully.

Year 3

Holistic Wellbeing of Teachers (10 Credits)

This course will critically explore contemporary issues that impact teacher well-being.

Pedagogy, Policy, and Practice (15 Credits)

This course will help you apply critical reflection and analysis of societal structures and processes to complex political issues that affect the early childhood education sector in Aotearoa New Zealand and internationally.

Professional Inquiry in Practice 5: Professional Leadership (15 Credits)

This course will provide you with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required to fulfil leadership roles and responsibilities within early childhood settings.

Professional Inquiry in Practice 6: Collaborative Partnerships (20 Credits)

This course will focus on blending the professional skills, knowledge, and attitudes of a graduating early childhood teacher.

Te Puna Mātauranga (15 Credits)

This course will help you understand Mātauranga Māori and its implications for future teaching practice.

Environments and Learning (15 Credits)

This course will critically explore early childhood learning environments and the influence of historical and contemporary perspectives in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Whakatōpū Arotakenga (15 Credits)

This course will consolidate prior learning and demonstrate the skills, knowledge, and competencies of an effective reflective practitioner.

Teacher as Researcher (15 Credits)

This course will provide you with an opportunity to plan and implement an action research project in an early childhood education setting.

Field Base Experience Placement

Learners will need to source an early childhood service to support their Field base experience placement, prior to the course start date.

They will be required to complete a total of 9 weeks (12 hours per week) in semester one and 7 weeks (12 hours per week) in semester 2. Totaling 192 hours for the year. These hours are completed over 2 days in a week.

Practical Experience Placement

In the third year, learners will complete a 7 week practicum in Semester 2. In 5 of these weeks, learners will be placed in an early childhood setting organised by UCOL Te Pūkenga to complete 150 hours of work experience. For the last 2 weeks, Learners will complete 60 hours of work experience in their field base service. Practical experience placements and successful completion of the programme are dependent on a satisfactory police check and our (UCOL Te Pūkenga) ability to place learners successfully.

Domestic Entry Requirements

To be eligible to enter this programme, you must be 17 years of age at the start of the programme, and provide evidence that you meet Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand’s Entry to the Programme requirements.

Academic Entry Requirements

a) If you are under 20 years of age:

University Entrance or a recognised equivalent such as International Baccalaureate or Cambridge International,

or,

Be able to demonstrate to the satisfaction of UCOL Te Pūkenga that you have the skills and ability to study at a tertiary level. This may include successful completion of New Zealand Certificate in Early Childhood Education and Care Level 4.

b) If you are over 20 years of age and without University Entrance (or equivalent), be able to demonstrate to the satisfaction of UCOL Te Pūkenga that you have the ability to study at a tertiary level. This may include successful completion of New Zealand Certificate in Early Childhood Education and Care Level 4.

Competency in English Language, te reo Māori, literacy and numeracy (English medium programmes)

English Language

All applicants who do not have English, Māori or NZ sign as their first language must demonstrate English language competency through one of the following:

New Zealand University Entrance Literacy Credits at either NCEA Level 2 or 3, or
New Zealand Certificate in English Language Level 5 (Academic) as well as Unit Standards 22750, 22751 and 22749, or
IELTS score of 7.0 in all bands (achieved in the past two years) or equivalent including TOEFL (refer to the English language competency table on the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand website).

Māori Language

Applicants who will be submitting assessments in te reo Māori but do not hold University Entrance in te reo Māori are recommended to demonstrate Maori language competency through the achievement of Whakamātauria Tō Reo Māori Level 2 (National Māori Language Proficiency Examinations).

For applicants who have studied full immersion in te Reo Māori may use the following evidence of language competency:

Achieved Whakamātauria Tō Reo Māori level 2 (National Māori Langauge Proficience Examinations);
Undertook all primary schooling and at least 3 years of secondary schooling in te reo Māori;
Undertook five years of secondary schooling in te reo Māori.

Literacy and Numeracy Competency
Prior to entry, all applicants must pass a literacy and numeracy competency assessment. The pass level in literacy and numeracy must be no lower than the equivalent to UE in literacy and numeracy.

UCOL Te Pūkenga will use the Tertiary Education Commission on-line Literacy and Numeracy for Adults Assessment Tool to assess candidate’s literacy and numeracy competency prior to confirmation of enrolment. A score of Step 4 for Literacy and Step 5 for Numeracy plus a scale score of 571 for writing, 608 for reading and 596 for two of the numeracy standards will be considered to having met the literacy and numeracy credits.

English language proficiency

If English is not your first language, you must also demonstrate English language skills equivalent to an IELTS overall band score (academic) of 7.0 in all bands (or equivalent including TOEFL). UCOL Te Pūkenga is a TOEFL testing centre.

For more information about NCEA Credits see the UCOL Te Pūkenga NCEA explained page.

International Entry Requirements

In addition to the Domestic Entry Requirements, the following applies to international learner applicants.

English language proficiency
If you are an international learner, you will be assessed on a case-by-case basis to ensure that you meet New Zealand University Entrance equivalency. In addition to meeting the academic entry requirements listed above, if your first language is not English, or you come from a country where the general medium of instruction is not English, you will be required to provide documentary evidence of proficiency in English (reading, writing, listening, and speaking).

The minimum requirements are:
An IELTS score of at least 7.0 (Academic) in all bands (or equivalent including TOEFL, NZ Certificate in English Language (Academic) L5), achieved in one sitting authorised by the awarding body (i.e. combining scores from more than one test is not permissible). And which is within the preceding two years when the student’s application is received and stamped by Registry.

Advice & Guidance

Safety Check
UCOL Te Pūkenga will undertake a safety check after you have completed an application for enrolment. The safety check will involve:

An interview with you.
Confirming your work history.
Verifying with two trusted referees.
Completing New Zealand Police vetting.

Field-Based Experience
You are required to undertake a field-based experience under the supervision of a registered and fully certified teacher and be working in a licensed early childhood service in an employed or non-employed capacity for a minimum of two days (12 hours) per week throughout the academic year, except when you are on the practical experience placement.

You are required to find a service to support your field based experience placement, prior to the course start date.

Practical Experience Placement
In addition to the field-based experience, you will be placed in an early childhood centre other than your regular place of work for a four or five week full-time practical experience placement each year.

As part of the practical experience placement, you may need to travel out of the district. This will be at your own expense.

Noho Marae – First Year only

All learners enrolled in Level 5 must attend one compulsory noho marae, during the year. These noho are overnight stays. The dates are:

Wairarapa campus - TBC
Palmerston North campus - TBC
Whanganui campus - TBC

Selection Criteria
The selection process consists of an interview. Areas considered by the interviewers are:

Personal qualities.
Professional qualities.
Early childhood knowledge and experience.
Other work and community experience.
Cultural knowledge and understanding.

The interview panel will have a UCOL Te Pūkenga early childhood lecturer, assisted by an early childhood sector representative or another UCOL Te Pūkenga academic representative.

The interview will be conducted in an equitable, professional manner with every endeavor to make you feel at ease. You are welcome to bring family/whānau for support.

If the number of applicants who meet the entry criteria exceeds the available places, a waitlist will be created in the date order of completed and received applications.

Recognition of prior learning
Applications for Recognition of Prior Learning, including Cross Credit, Credit Transfer and Assessment of Prior Learning may be made on the Recognition of Prior Learning Form where a learner believes all learning outcomes for a course have already been met. Applications will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis in accordance with the UCOL Te Pūkenga Academic Statute and other relevant policies and procedures.

Application checklist
It will make the process easier if you prepare the following before you apply:

National Student Number (NSN) (If you don't have a NSN, you may request one from NZQA, or you can supply a verified copy of your birth certificate, passport or Whakapapa statement.)
Evidence of your highest level of academic achievement (and evidence of prior learning, if applicable)
Evidence that you meet the entry requirements of the programme
Check if you're eligible for additional support or a scholarship. If you're 19 years or younger, you may be eligible to enrol in one of our free Youth Transition programmes.

Note that you will need to provide any verified documents in person, via post or email (not via the online application form).

Additional Costs

Please note that there are additional costs associated with the Te Tohu Paetahi Akoranga: Bachelor of Teaching (Early Childhood Education) as follows:

Textbooks
Books are available from leading book stores including textbooksRus.

Required Textbook List:

On orientation week you will be provided a required textbook list alongside your timetable from your lecturer. You may request this list in advance, once enrolled.

Purchasing required texts

Required texts are essential reading for one or more courses and most will be used across all years of Te Tohu Paetahi Akoranga Bachelor of Teaching (ECE).

We recommend that you purchase required texts by searching online, as texts are available from a range of suppliers and prices can vary. Some texts can be purchased second-hand or as e-books. (When purchasing texts make sure that you are purchasing the most current edition).

The UCOL | Te Pūkenga library holds at least 1 copy of all required texts and these are available for use within the library on short-term loan.

Te Tohu Paetahi Akoranga: Bachelor of Teaching (Early Childhood Education)