Future-focused graduates prepared
massey-university
Tue Oct 02 2007 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)
Future-focused graduates prepared
Tuesday, 2 October 2007, 3:51 pm
Press Release: Massey University
Tuesday, 2 October, 2007
Future-focused graduates prepared for the classroom
A new degree programme promises to better equip teachers for modern classrooms and bring higher rates of pay for graduates.
Massey University’s College of Education has launched a four-year primary teacher education programme that will bring New Zealand in line with international teacher training standards. The programme addresses the latest curriculum changes and best teaching practices. It also puts teacher preparation on a similar footing to other specialist professions with four-year qualification programmes including social work and engineering. New students will enter the programme from next year.
Teacher Education Professor John O’Neill says that because society makes huge demands on today’s primary teachers, the new programme has been designed to develop student teachers’ knowledge and confidence in much greater depth.
“Everything the students do over the four years is intended to equip them to perform as a teacher in our diverse classrooms of 2012 and beyond,” Professor O’Neill says.
“The extra year allows students to systematically develop their knowledge and thinking, and it also provides more time to develop their teaching skills. It encourages the ‘can do’ attitude that is necessary to be a successful teacher who makes a real difference to young people’s life chances.”
College of Education Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor James Chapman says that the new programme recognises the value of educators, the challenges they face and ensures graduates a salary advantage when they enter the workforce.
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“New Zealand is one of the only countries in the OECD that retains three-year teacher preparation programmes, so the move to a four year programme brings us into line with other countries,” Professor Chapman says.
Graduates will be equipped with a dual qualification on completion of the programme, receiving a Bachelor of Education (Teaching) Primary and a Diploma in Education Studies.
Rather than simply merge the two qualifications, the College of Education undertook an extensive consultation process in order to build a new programme from the ground-up.
“It is essentially the reform of a degree, a substantial change that started three years ago in response to the major changes that have been taking place in contemporary education,” Professor Chapman says. “More than 70 per cent of college staff have been involved in shaping it – which is twice the number of those who will actually teach this particular programme. The result draws on a wealth of expertise and represents the true merger of pre-service teacher education in a university environment.”
The groundbreaking programme includes in-depth literacy and numeracy components, fully interwoven themes addressing biculturalism, inclusion, and ICT to best meet the needs of the 21st century classroom
It will be available internally at Palmerston North and Napier, and extramurally.
ENDS
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