■ How to become an early childhood teacherEarly childhood teachers teach the basics of numeracy, literacy, music, art and literature to pre-primary students. They also help their students’ social, emotional, and physical develop-ment. These teachers work in early childhood education (ECE) services such as kindergartens, kōhanga reo or education and care centres.

Qualifications needed

To become a qualified early childhood teacher, you need one of the following:

• Bachelor of Education/Teaching (Early Childhood Education)

• Graduate Diploma of Teaching (Early Childhood Education), or

• Diploma of Teaching (Early Childhood Education).

You also need to be registered with the Education Council of Aotearoa New Zealand.

To become a qualified kōhanga reo kaiako, you need:

• a Tino Rangatiratanga Whakapakari Tohu (kōhanga reo teaching qualification) and

• a Bachelor of Education (Whakaako) Early Childhood Education Whāriki Papatipu from Victoria University in Wellington.

To enter the Tino Rangatiratanga Whakapakari Tohu you will also need the National Certificate in te Reo Māori (Level 4) or equivalent. The Bachelor of Education qualification is the only kōhanga reo teaching qualification that leads to registration by the Education Council of Aotearoa New Zealand.

Cost of study

Bachelor’s Degree in Teaching Graduate Diploma

$7,200 over one year $16,700 over three years

Average costs in 2015 for a domestic student. Costs vary between institutions. Further costs include student levies, administrative fees, materials, textbooks and accommodation.

Rents vary from place to place. Estimated market rents by re-gion, city and suburb are available on the MBIE tenancy Services website.

The StudyLink website provides general budget advice for students, and the Sorted website provides help with detailed budget planning.

→ Tenancy Services: www.tenancy.govt.nz/rent-bond-and-bills

→ StudyLink: www.studylink.govt.nz

→ Sorted: www.sorted.org.nz/calculators/money-planner

Where to study

There is a good number of teaching training providers through-out New Zealand. Many of these provide distance learning. TeachNZ publishes a summary of providers.

→ TeachNZ www.teachnz.govt.nz/teaching-in-new-zealand/getting-qualified

The Ministry of Education grants a number of scholarships to those who would like to train as early childhood teachers.

→ TeachNZ: www.teachnz.govt.nz/scholarships

Registration

First-year early childhood teachers must become provisionally registered with the Education Council of Aotearoa New Zealand and issued with a practising certificate. They gain full registra-tion after two years’ satisfactory work as a teacher.

→ Education Council of Aotearoa New Zealand: www.educationcouncil.org.nz/

Completed qualifications

The number of students completing a Bachelor’s degree has in-creased. The number of completions in teacher education (early childhood) more than doubled from 560 in 2007 to 1,190 in 2014.

EARLY CHILDHOOD TEACHERS JOB PROSPECTS

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JOB PROSPECTS The increasing focus on the value of early childhood education, and the increasing participation of women in the workforce, make job prospects for this occupation good.

In recent years, the entry to this profession has become competitive with supply outstripping demand.

But, with the population of people aged 15 years or under projected to rise, the long-term demand for early childhood teachers will be stable. The demand for early childhood teachers who are speakers of Māori and Pasifika languages is particularly strong.

At a glance

SOCIAL & COMMUNITY SERVICES

Source: Ministry of Education

■ Income and employment prospectsIncome

The average income for early education teachers was estimated to be $62,500 in 2015.

Estimated average income

$62,500

Average income from Statistics New Zealand’s June 2015 New Zealand Income Survey. Estimated from average hourly earnings.

Pay for early childhood teachers varies depending on qualifica-tion, experience and place of work. Often, pay is individually negotiated with the private or independent education and care centres. Those with a Diploma in Early Childhood Teaching start on about $35,000 and can reach about $54,000 a year.

Early childhood teachers with a three-year degree earn between $44,000 and $69,000. Those with a four-year degree can start at about $45,000 and progress to a maximum of about $73,000 after seven years. Early childhood teachers with leadership roles (such as head teachers) earn around $75,000 a year.

Earnings after qualification completion

Three–year degree Four–year degree

$44,000 to $69,000 per year $45,000 to $73,000 per year

Source: Ministry of Education, ‘Kindergarten Teachers, Head Teachers and Senior Teachers’ Collective Agreement, 2013 to 2016’; New Zealand Educational Institute, ‘The Early Childhood Education Collective Agreement, 2013 to 2015’.

Employment and skill shortages

Early childhood teachers’ employment

Current Projected growth

March 2013 March 2014 2014–19 2019–24

26,15027,650up 5.7%

1.3%per year

1.3%per year

Source: Ministry of Education; Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment

Over the past few years, the number of employed early child-hood teachers has increased to an estimated 27,650 in March 2015. This trend is expected to continue over the next few years, growing by 1.3% per year to 2024.

Source: MBIE Estimates

Where to find job vacancies

The number of online job vacancies for early childhood teachers increased by 35.8% from September 2014 to September 2015. This compares with an overall increase of 1.9% for all vacancies over the same period.

Most public teaching vacancies are advertised through the Education Gazette. Private teaching vacancies are advertised through public media such as the Trade Me Jobs and Seek websites.

→ Education Gazette: www.edgazette.govt.nz

→ Trade Me Jobs: www.trademe.co.nz/jobs

→ Seek: www.seek.co.nz

Career path

Careers that can be followed outside the early childhood educa-tion (ECE) system include:

• teaching trainee teachers in tertiary institutions

• doing research, policy or advisory work in the education sector

• working in training and education roles in business.

Careers inside the ECE system include leadership roles of kindergartens or ECE centres (for example, head teachers), or management roles across several kindergartens or ECE centres, or within associations or private providers. ECE teachers may also move into youth/community work, policy work and teacher education.

■ Other informationLinks

More information on teachers is available on the Careers New Zealand website.

→ Careers New Zealand: www.careers.govt.nz

The recently launched education.govt.nz is the new website for the Ministry of Education, and it replaces minedu.govt.nz, lead.ece.govt.nz, and educate.ece.govt.nz

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EARLY CHILDHOOD TEACHERS

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