The Government’s announcement that it will make a postgraduate qualification the minimum for all new teachers is exactly the direction Massey University is taking with its teacher education programmes.
Our decision to be the first New Zealand University to focus on graduate rather than undergraduate teaching qualifications is in line with international best practice – and it is in line with the Government’s announcement of where it wants to invest an additional $60 million for recruitment and training.
Education Minister Hekia Parata wants to improve the quality of initial teacher education, teaching and raise the achievement rates in our schools.
To address falling literacy and numeracy rates in our schools we need change.
Our standards have been world-class, yet, Ms Parata said, one in five children are slipping through the cracks and that is one too many. We need to look to meet the needs of tomorrow’s children and one of the ways to do that is to adequately address how we use technology in teaching.
Massey’s focus on graduate teaching will start to address these issues by getting good students into teaching, offering them good career paths and continued education opportunities and by focusing our research on areas that will make the most difference.
Criticism that a one-year qualification is inadequate to train a teacher is misleading and demonstrably wrong. Everyone who graduates has a minimum of four years of tertiary education and that is followed up by two years of supervised in-school work and professional development before any teacher is registered.
We also support the Minister’s plan to invest in a new qualification for teachers wanting to become principals. We will talk to officials about what they want in place and when, and we are confident Massey will be able to deliver that. The extra investment in education and overall commitment to raising standards is a welcome move.
Professor James Chapman is the Pro Vice-Chancellor of College of Education at Massey University in Palmerston North
