Mastering Early Childhood Education
As primary school teachers, Courtney Ashton and Teresa Gomes Dcruze developed important pedagogical knowledge and skills – but were driven to study early childhood education for different reasons.
Ashton’s decision to pursue a Master of Early Childhood Education was inspired by a desire to spend more time with her young family, after she began missing her youngest son’s milestones due to the increasing workload she was facing as a primary teacher.
Realising how much she enjoyed teaching younger children, she decided it was time for a change and began working in an early childhood centre. Pursuing postgraduate study to add to her teaching practice was the next natural step.
“NZTC offered the best courses to do online, so they were the obvious choice. I was working full-time and needed something I could do in between being a solo mum and a teacher,” she says.
Starting with a Postgraduate Diploma in Education (Early Childhood Education), she discovered she could cross credit the qualification over to the Master of Early Childhood Education, which encouraged her to continue with further study.
“I loved doing the Postgraduate Diploma first as it gave me a wide range of topics to focus on, and helped me work out where I wanted to go with my studies. On a practical note, it also helped me to jump back into a study mindset.”
But with the “amazing” support she received from friends, family, work colleagues and the NZTC whānau, Ashton continued right into the Master’s qualification.
Dcruze’s story follows a different path but she agrees that the level of support and care played a big part in her postgraduate journey, and felt able to balance being a mother and her other roles outside the classroom thanks to NZTC Online.
Teresa Gomes Dcruze
“I have around three years of valuable teaching experience in India, which I wanted to further enrich with a Masters degree. Early Childhood Education requires teachers with specific characteristics and skills to successfully engage young children in the learning process,” explains Dcruze.
“My goal was to broaden my theoretical and pedagogical knowledge. I wanted to advance professionally, fulfil my own research aspirations, and make a significant and effective contribution to the education of children.”
Choosing to study the Master of Early Childhood Education as an international student for the “sheer excellence” of the program, Dcruze says her postgraduate experience has been valuable for her career in early childhood education.
“My Masters has given me the tools I need to better understand children and foster their development, by taking into account their interests,” Dcruze reflects. “In addition to being able to apply my theoretical knowledge to my leadership and teaching practices, I now feel more confident as an ECE teacher.”
“Each paper I’ve done has helped change the way I see early childhood education and my fellow teachers,” agrees Ashton.
“My professional relationships have improved a lot, as I learnt about adult relationship dynamics and different learning styles which has helped me understand how people think and work. I now also have the skills to work alongside those people, bring out the best in them, and work as a powerful team unit.”
New Zealand Tertiary College is currently offering the Postgraduate Diploma in Education (Early Childhood Education) for $1899. Reduced fees are available for the August 2024 intake. Terms & Conditions apply.