Source: Eastern Institute of Technology – Tairāwhiti
11 mins ago
A “COVID-19 cohort” of Bachelor of Teaching (Primary) students at EIT | Te Pūkenga Tairāwhiti will finish their degree this year
A “COVID-19 cohort” of Bachelor of Teaching (Primary) students at EIT | Te Pūkenga Tairāwhiti will finish their degree this year, having overcome challenges and supported each other to achieve their teaching goals.
EIT | Te Pūkenga Tairāwhiti Teacher Educator Emma McFadyen, says some of the students had been together from their first year and started when the country went into its first lockdown. Others joined throughout the three years to make a cohort of 12 for 2022.
“They have experienced three years of COVID-19. I think what’s really a strength of theirs is that they have developed resiliency, and also having insight around COVID-19 has really strengthened their teaching skills going forward into their beginning years as teachers.”
“They’ve developed really strong bonds with each other and have managed to support each other through quite an extreme time with COVID-19.”
Emma says it was a case of everyone adapting during lockdown.
“During lockdown, everything went online. Part of that was that the Bachelor of Teaching team adapted our course content and some of the assignments to meet the needs of the students, while still aligning with the degree components. There was flexibility and we were able to work quite well with the partnership schools and the Teaching Council. We were able to adapt, respond and be flexible because of that partnership.”
One of the students Jo Ruru Kingi (Te Aitanga a Mahaki), who describes herself as a wife, mother, daughter and sister, says she started her educational journey when she was 36. She is set to begin teaching next year.
“During our first year we had the first Covid- 19 lockdown, the second lockdown in our second year, and further challenges in my final year. I lost my mum, Moetahi Ruru, in February this year and she is the reason I continued this year. My degree is dedicated to her.”
“Times were difficult but with support from EIT, family and friends, my goal of completing a Bachelor of Teaching was achievable.”
A second student, Rose Simmons, 23, says: “I loved the BTP, especially the school based learning side of it. I found that the more practical experience I got, the better teacher I became.”
Having finished the programme this year, Rose will start work as a teacher at Ilminster Intermediate in Gisborne next year.
Another student, Teresa Phillips, 47, says: “I found studying BTP very rewarding by being able to connect with other people wanting to achieve the same outcome. Next year I will be teaching year 7 and 8’s at a local intermediate school.”
Emma credits the resilience of the students for getting their degrees.
“The fact that they have managed to stay in the programme for those three years whilst they had all these additional challenges has been a credit to them.”
