Menu
  • All Courses
    • Accounting
    • Administration
    • Aged Care
    • Animal Care
    • Arts
    • Beauty
    • Bookkeeping
    • Business
    • Business Administration
    • Child Care
    • Cloud Computing
    • Counselling
    • Culinary Arts
    • Dentistry
    • Design
    • Education
    • Event Management
    • Eyelash Extension
    • Graphic Design
    • Health
    • Hospitality
    • Hospitality & Tourism
    • Human Resources
    • Interior Design
    • IT
    • Language
    • Leadership
    • Legal
    • Life Coaching
    • Logistics
    • Management
    • Marketing
    • Mental Health
    • MYOB
    • Natural Therapies
    • Networking
    • Nursing
    • Payroll
    • Photography
    • PRINCE2®
    • Programming
    • Project Management
    • Psychology
    • Sales
    • Security
    • Small Business
    • Software & Web Development
    • Systems Administration
    • Technical Support
    • Training Assessment
    • Travel
    • Veterinary
    • Web Design
    • Web Development
    • Xero
  • Search Courses
  • Fees Free Courses
  • Workforce Training
  • Targeted Training Apprenticeship Fund (TTAF)
  • Education Providers
  • Advertise with Us
  • Affiliates
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Blog
  1. Home
  2. Industry Insider
  3. How to Become a Teacher’s Aide in New Zealand: Start a Fulfilling Career in Education
Career AdviceIndustry InsiderStudy TipsResources
Published 15 Mar 2021

How to Become a Teacher’s Aide in New Zealand: Start a Fulfilling Career in Education

by Erin Stewart

 
How-to-become-a-teachers-aide.ai_Feature
 

Teacher’s aides support classroom learning and teaching by interacting with students, both one-on-one and in small groups. If you’re passionate about education and childhood development, being a teacher’s aide may be just right for you.

Getting qualified

In New Zealand, there are no compulsory qualifications for becoming a teacher’s aide. That said, employers will prefer candidates who have experience working with young people. Plus, like all educators, you’ll need to pass a police check.

You can enrol in an entry-level qualification such as a teacher’s aide certificate course (which takes 24 weeks). This may be a useful way to learn the required skills and show employers that you’re dedicated to being a teacher’s aide. In a course, you’ll learn about:

  • Important communication skills to interact effectively with students
  • Leadership in educational settings
  • Teaching methodologies
  • Different learning styles and strategies
  • Catering to different learning needs and behavioural challenges

The New Zealand government also recommends teacher’s aides have a minimum of three years of secondary education. Subjects such as English, health education, languages, maths, and te reo Māori are particularly useful.

Teachers-Aide-Career-Pathways

How long does it take to become a teacher’s aide?

You can get certified to be a teacher’s aide in 24 weeks. It’s theoretically possible to become a teacher’s aide straight away, since there are no formal job requirements. It can, however, be a competitive job to get into. Taking another pathway could take at least the amount of time you’d spend getting qualified.

Reasons a job as a teacher’s aide is highly desirable:


  • It’s flexible

    The work hours fit well with family responsibilities, and there are many part-time and full-time opportunities.

  • There’s a low barrier to entry

    It’s suitable for people with a range of different backgrounds.

  • It’s high-impact

    You can make a positive difference in children’s lives.


One pathway to entry is to take a teacher’s aide certificate course or other educational qualifications. You could also gain experience working with children and young people by working in related areas such as child care or tutoring. Another option is to volunteer to coach a children’s sporting team or run after school activities like art classes or scouts.

What does a teacher’s aide do?

A teacher’s aide helps teachers prepare class resources and interact with students — one-on-one or in small groups — as they go through the classroom teacher’s lesson plan.

They also offer assistance to specific students who require it, such as making sure children take their necessary medication, catering for special needs, literacy and numeracy support, or helping ESL students with any language barriers they encounter.

They may help the classroom teacher plan lessons to include all students and cater to different needs. They also may play a role in helping students with physical exercise and physiotherapy. 

It’s a role that makes classes run more smoothly, increasing learning opportunities, learning support, and inclusion. 

Teacher’s aide vs education support worker

Generally, in New Zealand, an education support worker has a similar function to a teacher’s aide, but in an early childhood setting — such as in kindergartens. 

About 67% of teacher’s aides work in primary and intermediate schools, with others working in high schools and special schools. They work in both public and private schools.

The terms ‘teacher’s aide’ and ‘education support worker’ are often used interchangeably and in different ways, depending on various organisations and roles. 

How much does a teacher’s aide make an hour?

Teacher’s aide pay can vary depending on experience.


new to the job
$0/hr
as you gain experience
$0/hr

Professional development

As you gain experience as a teacher’s aide, you may learn about certain specialisations or roles and want to take on new challenges. You may also like to go on to further study to pursue related careers such as:

  • Education support worker
  • Special education assistant
  • Teaching
  • Education or disability and inclusion consulting
  • Educational psychologist

Though there may be low formal barriers to entry, it can be competitive to get a teacher’s aide job. But with some time, and dedication, working as a teacher’s aide is a high-impact career with great flexibility and potential for work/life balance.


Interested in becoming a teacher’s aide?

Teacher’s Aide Courses
013f1ef0b63536b2ac89b9aa83fa0f74?s=96&d=mm&r=g
Erin Stewart

Erin is a freelance writer based in Canberra. She constantly collects new hobbies and often gets stuck in Wikipedia research holes.

Want to read more?

Here's some more articles similar to this one.

Career Advice

How to Become a Criminal Psychologist

A criminal psychologist is a professional that studies criminal minds and behaviours. Analysing why people commit crimes and undertaking criminal profiling are some of the primary responsibilities of a criminal psychologist. Criminal…

3c0efdac0e049a5e2f5b0dd64597c661?s=45&d=mm&r=g by Michael Eddy 19 Aug 2020
Career Advice

7 Tips For Starting Your Own Beauty Therapy Business From Home

It’s not uncommon in the beauty industry to find thriving at-home hairdressing and beauty businesses. Working from home offers greater flexibility and it allows you to get started in a job with…

013f1ef0b63536b2ac89b9aa83fa0f74?s=45&d=mm&r=g by Erin Stewart 17 Dec 2020
Career Advice

The 11 Highest Paying Jobs in New Zealand [2021 Edition]

When it comes to earning the big bucks, some jobs far outstrip others.  The average income in New Zealand sits at a modest $52,382. Meanwhile, a handful of in-demand, highly skilled roles…

ab6edc71f75966ffe45a1131a9e230c8?s=45&d=mm&r=g by Adele Cochrane 11 Feb 2021

Latest Articles

Industry Insider

Your 5 Reasons to Pursue a Rewarding Teaching Career in NZ

If you’re looking for a stable yet fulfilling career, it’s time to consider a career in teaching, and it’s many perks. A teacher never experiences the same day twice. It’s a unique…

1577dfef6532157e3e0a3a9704c1c27c?s=45&d=mm&r=g by Sabrina Sutton 31 Mar 2021
Career Advice

Pathways to your New Career as a Teacher in New Zealand

We will always need good teachers. And if this is a career you would like to pursue, teaching can come with tremendous rewards. In Aotearoa, New Zealand, we hold our teachers to…

b98f3ef384ecd95e24ca7e9a2e0e87e4?s=45&d=mm&r=g by Laura Squair 29 Mar 2021
Industry Insider

How to Become a Teacher’s Aide in New Zealand: Start a Fulfilling Career in Education

Teacher’s aides support classroom learning and teaching by interacting with students, both one-on-one and in small groups. If you’re passionate about education and childhood development, being a teacher’s aide may be just…

013f1ef0b63536b2ac89b9aa83fa0f74?s=45&d=mm&r=g by Erin Stewart 15 Mar 2021

More from Blog

Career AdviceIndustry InsiderStudy TipsResources

Newsletter Sign Up

We'll email you updates on job trends, career advice, study tips, news and more.

Popular Subjects

  • Accounting
  • Administration
  • Aged Care
  • Animal Care
  • Arts
  • Beauty
  • Bookkeeping
  • Business
  • Business Administration
  • Child Care
  • Cloud Computing
  • Counselling
  • Culinary Arts
  • Dentistry
  • Design
  • Education
  • Event Management
  • Eyelash Extension
  • Graphic Design
  • Health
  • Hospitality
  • Hospitality & Tourism
  • Human Resources
  • Interior Design
  • IT
  • Language
  • Leadership
  • Legal
  • Life Coaching
  • Logistics
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • Mental Health
  • MYOB
  • Natural Therapies
  • Networking
  • Nursing
  • Payroll
  • Photography
  • PRINCE2®
  • Programming
  • Project Management
  • Psychology
  • Sales
  • Security
  • Small Business
  • Software & Web Development
  • Systems Administration
  • Technical Support
  • Training Assessment
  • Travel
  • Veterinary
  • Web Design
  • Web Development
  • Xero
Copyright © 2018 Training.co.nz About Contact Privacy Advertise Affiliates Terms Candlefox.com Training.com.au Tafecourses.com.au Coursesonline.co.uk

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings.

Training.co.nz
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.

Additional Cookies

This website uses the following additional cookies:

(List the cookies that you are using on the website here.)

Please enable Strictly Necessary Cookies first so that we can save your preferences!