Early Childhood Teaching | Bethlehem Tertiary Institute | BTI

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Please note that the Bachelor of Education (Teaching) Early Childhood Education programme will not have a Semester One intake in 2025. We encourage prospective students to consider applying for future intakes.

We know that the first 1,000 days in the lives of our tamariki are the most important. If you have a big heart for shaping children’s minds, with dreams of getting the best out of young learners, and with a commitment to being gracious, secure and teachable, then the ECE degree at BTI is for you.

If you study ECE at BTI you will be among a select group who can integrate their faith with their professional practice as an early childhood teacher.

Play Video about Student Study Bachelor of Education (Teaching) Early Childhood Education

“BTI helps you to put your learning into practice.”

Courtney Stead – student teacher studying towards a BTI Early Childhood Education Teaching degree.

BTI’s Teacher Education programmes are approved and accredited by the NZQA and can lead to registration and provisional certification with the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand.

Why study ECE at BTI?

Full and part-time study options
Learn in small groups onsite or field-based (based around an ECE centre)
Be part of a relational learning community
Only Christian-based ECE degree provider in NZ
Staff take time to get to know who you are
Staff walk alongside you as you study, offering great learning support
Educators draw on the latest research and teaching practice
Career opportunities in kindergartens, centres and home-based care.

Our three-year Bachelor of Education (Teaching) ECE degree programme will prepare students to teach infants, toddlers and young children in a wide range of early childhood contexts and with Te Whāriki, the New Zealand Early Childhood curriculum.

On completion of your degree, you will be eligible to apply for teacher registration and provisional certification from the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand. The degree programme also opens doors to further study through postgraduate pathways.

Graduates with skills for great practice

Graduates of ECE Teacher Education at BTI will have the skills necessary to:

Articulate and justify a personal sense of vocation and vision for their professional practice
Develop educational practice that is relational, responsive and transformative
Draw on their developing personal philosophy and knowledge of learning and teaching for planning and implementing wise, innovative and effective ethical practice
Engage with research and contextual evidence as a basis for their ongoing professional inquiry and resultant practice
Notice, recognise and respond as they gather, analyse and evaluate evidence of student learning in order to be accountable for that learning
Communicate effectively to a range of audiences through verbal, written, or visual media, including information and computing technologies
Design and organise rich learning experiences that maximise learning opportunities within a differentiated and nurturing environment
Include ngā tikanga Māori, te reo Māori and ngā toi into their practice in an authentic and respectful manner
Make theoretically and philosophically informed decisions to maximise their students’ learning

Field-based Programme Overview

Year 1
TFND 5111fb Teacher as Reflective Leaner
TFND 5115fb Education in Aotearoa
TFND 511fb The Intentional Teacher Pedagogy of Play
TFND 5117fb Professional Experience Placement: Pedagogy of Play
TFND 5121fb Being and Becoming Culturally Aware
TFND 5122fb Human Development
TFND 5125fb The Intentional Teacher: Noticing, Recognising and Responding
TFND 5126fb Professional Experience Placement: Noticing, Recognising and Responding

Year 2
CRPD 6215fb Being and Becoming Culturally Responsive
CRPD 6216fb Thinking and Exploring: Maths, Science and Technology
CRPD 6217fb Assessment, Planning and Evaluation in the ECE Context A
CRPD 6218fb Assessment, Planning and Evaluation in the ECE Context B
CRPD 6225fb Social Competence and the Compassionate Teacher
CRPD 6226fb Language, Literacy and the Arts
CRPD 6227fb Education and Care for infants and Toddlers
CRPD 6228fb Professional Experience Placement: Infants and Toddlers

Year 3
INTP 7311fb Being and Becoming Culturally Competent
INTP 7315fb Inclusive Practices in Aotearoa: Additional Learning Support Needs
INTP 7316fb Stewardship and Sustainability in the ECE Context
INTP 6315fb Teaching as inquiry: Integrated Practice
INTP 7322fb Teaching as inquiry: Research Project
INTP 7325fb Leading and Managing in the ECE Context
INTP 7326fb Professional Experience Placement: Full Responsibility