Is teaching right for you?

Teaching is a challenging and rewarding career, which offers you the chance to share your knowledge to help future generations learn and thrive. Having a career in teaching is an amazing opportunity to create connections with young people and shape their lives forever. 

Teaching opens doors

Become a teacher in a New Zealand school or kura and find out how a career in teaching can open doors for you.

Benefits to you

• Enter your career at a point which recognises your qualifications and your experience.
• Enjoy generous holiday and leave provisions.
• Benefit from a salary scale that offers career progression.
• Be recognised for the cultural knowledge and expertise you bring to the classroom.

Make a real difference

• Be an influential person in the lives of tamariki and rangatahi in New Zealand. 
• Make a difference in your community.

Guaranteed employment and use existing skills

• Teachers are in high demand across the primary and secondary sectors.
• Sciences, technology and mathematics experience are in high demand.

Have a career that moves you

• Opportunities for employment anywhere in New Zealand.
• Potentially opens the door to teaching jobs in other countries.
• Benefit from the many training and development opportunities available to teachers.
• Make the most of many and varied leadership progression opportunities.

Become a kaiako

Who will teach our tamariki te reo Māori if it isn’t those who can speak it today? If you have Māori language skills, by becoming a kaiako, you will help grow the next generation of speakers.

Even if te reo and tikanga Māori are not your strengths, you can have a fulfilling career as a teacher and role model. As an early childhood, primary or secondary teacher, you’ll have the chance to make a difference to the future of young Māori. It is important we have more teachers that will: 

• increase participation of whānau, hapū and iwi groups in education
• raise expectations leading to higher educational achievement for Māori
• show young people that educational success is real and achievable.

Get advice from the right people

Talking with experienced teachers, recent graduate teachers, careers advisors and principals can help decide if teaching is right for you. You can also contact your nearest teacher training provider and discuss what it's like to be in the classroom or early learning centre. They may be able to schedule observation time in a classroom or early learning centre for you.

We asked some student teachers why they are choosing to become teachers. 

“I think teaching will appeal to those people who want to change society for the better."

"It's just probably the most fulfilled I've ever felt in any kind of career.”

"For older people like myself, you know, I want to be the teacher that I wanted for my children." 

And advice to someone considering teaching: 

"Reach out to people who they know in their life who have gone down those pathways. Everyone knows a teacher. Everyone's mum knows a teacher." 

Scholarships to support you