Our three-year Bachelor of Education (Level 6, 360 Credits) will equip you with the flexible skills and knowledge needed to work and lead in today’s educational environment. The overarching aspiration for the professionally-oriented Bachelor of Education program is a beginning practitioner committed to seeking wisdom and therefore is developing the following:
- a disposition which is inclusive, secure and teachable; motivated by empathy, informed by theory and inspired by hope;
- knowledge of the pedagogical practices and their implications for identity, meaning-making, motivation, resilience and decision making within their professional practice; and
- the skill to draw on professional and pedagogical foundations in ways that lead to relational, responsive and transformational practice.
Education is a broad sector and by graduating with a degree that encompasses a wide range of subjects, you will be equipped to go into a diverse range of roles. You could work in government, tourism, marketing, policy or human resources – there are many options to explore. The BEd opens up a variety of career paths. Courses cover theory and research across multiple areas:
- Effective teaching
- Child and adolescent development
- Gender and education
- Māori education
- Pacific education
- Adult education
Name/s | Bachelor of Education |
Nomenclature | BEd |
Majors in (based on final research project) | Educational Technology, Early Childhood Education, Primary Education, Secondary Education, Special Education, Policy Development |
Points for completion /Level | Bachelor of EducationLevel 6, 360 credits total, 120 per year (year one L4, year two L5, year three L6) |
Learning hours | 10 hours per credit |
Learning experiences & assessments | Presentations, topic-tests, written analysis, exam, project and portfolios, Zoom groupwork. Online – Google Classroom, Slack, SkillsVX & closed Facebook group. Face to face, lectures, symposiums. Tutorials, group workshops, intensives (block courses). |
Career Opportunities

Programme Level Learning Outcome/s:
- Students will develop effective teaching & assessment strategies within their local sociological, historical, cultural and philosophical perspectives with clear and professional communication competencies with a range of stakeholders, in a range of contexts
- Students will become highly competent in the knowledge, skills, behaviors & understandings to be eligible to apply for a provisional practicing certificate upon graduation, and after two years of full-time teaching be granted a full practicing certificate with the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand or their local equivalent
- Through theoretical and practical experiences, exceed through demonstration the Purposes of Teaching Practicals / Practicums
Programme Overview
The course names and learning outcomes underpin the Programme Level Learning Outcomes. Assessments are formative throughout the year, throughout each course and summative at the end of each course. Specific course leaders will design appropriate assessments tools from time to time to ensure even coverage of learning outcome experiences of both theoretical and practice experiences.
Level | Course Code | Course Name & Learning Outcomes | Credits |
4 | 4HES | History of Education and SocietyIntroduces the study of education from sociological, historical and philosophical perspectives. Examines the forces that have shaped education in Aotearoa New Zealand with a view to understanding and theorising issues of equity, social justice, and diversity in education over time. | 20 |
4 | 4CIE | Current Issues in EducationEducational issues are pressing concerns in our society. The course will help develop an understanding of the background of today’s public debates around schooling and will introduce ways in which educational thought and research address big topics. | 20 |
4 | 4CAD | Introduction to Child and Adolescent DevelopmentStudy of factors influencing children’s development and socialization within the culturally and linguistically diverse context of New Zealand. Research from developmental psychology and from family and parenting will be drawn upon to explore physical, emotional, social, cognitive, and language development during childhood and adolescence. | 20 |
4 | 4IET | Introduction to Educational ThoughtWhy do we go to school? What is the purpose of schooling in society and do good grades translate into good jobs? An introduction to the study of education from sociological, historical, and philosophical perspectives with reference to the forces that have shaped the development of education, especially in New Zealand. Understanding social inequalities in education relating to ethnicity, gender and class form a central concern of this course. | 20 |
4 | 4EPP | Teaching and Learning: An Educational Psychological PerspectiveIncludes an examination of core aspects of educational psychology that include thinking, learning, and behaving. An analysis of relevant theory and research within psychology in education: topics include behaviour analysis, measurement and assessment, cognition, socialization, and individual differences. Students will explore these in relation to different educational settings and contexts, for example, culture, community, school, and classroom. | 20 |
4 | 4DLT | Development, Learning, and TeachingPresents an introduction to developmental and psychological theory and research and its application to teaching and learning within a variety of educational settings. Understandings for creating effective learning environments which foster high levels of motivation for all learners will be identified through an exploration of typical and atypical development; and behavioral, cognitive, constructivist, and social approaches to teaching and learning. | 20 |
5 | 5PED | Health and Physical Education in a Diverse Society Introduces students to thinking critically about Health and Physical Education. Examines discourses about health and physical activity from historical and sociological perspectives. Introduces diversity as it relates to educational opportunity in Health and Physical Education. Addresses such questions as: How are notions about health and physical education and difference constructed and supported? | 20 |
5 | 5ESJ | Education and Social Justice Can education contribute to social justice? A critical examination of the contemporary concern with social justice in education. Drawing on local and international research, this course explores debates about the nature of power and the ways that gender and sexuality, ethnicity, indigeneity, social class, and other social identities are taken up in the pursuit of social justice within education. | 20 |
5 | 5EPP | Educational Philosophy and Policy Examines the competing ideologies of individualism and community, their influence in recent educational reforms in New Zealand, and their wider implications for education, society, and culture. Introduces the basic concepts and themes of classical liberalism, comparing and contrasting them with versions of neoliberalism, and outlines the case for a community-based social policy and the renewal of social democracy. | 20 |
5 | 5SSE | Special Study in Education Supervised inquiry in an area of education approved by the Head of the Liberal Arts Programme in the Faculty of Education | 20 |
5 | 5TPC | Teaching Practicum Supervised practice in a local school – focus on teaching relationships, planning, differentiation and small group teaching | 20 |
5 | 5TPT | Teaching Practicum Two Supervised practice in a local school. – focus on whole-class planning, assessment and reporting | 20 |
6 | 6ESE | Education and Social Ethics An examination of different theoretical arguments that underpin the ethical issues in educational organizations. The course covers the ethical challenges and dilemmas faced by different stakeholders, and other issues relating to social ethics that may have a bearing on how we teach and students learn and how we lead others. The emphasis is on practical issues relating to ethics and preparing students to deal with ethical challenges when aspiring to managerial roles. | 20 |
6 | 6RMT | Research MethodsDeveloping an understanding of qualitative, quantitative, first and secondhand data collection, analysis, and presentation tools emphasizing the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning. | 20 |
6 | 6REP | Research Ethics & Projects (concentration/major selection) The use of ethical tools such as plagiarism checkers, style guides and ethics applications as well as case study analysis and literature review strategies. | 20 |
6 | 6TPT | Teaching Practicum Three Communicate effectively and establish professional relationships within the professional educational community | 60 |
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