Kōkiri Tūturu
Employment-Based ITE

What Is Kōkiri Tūturu?

Kōkiri Tūturu (formerly Teach First New Zealand) is Aotearoa's employment-based initial teacher education pathway — the only ITE programme that puts you in front of a class from Day 1 of your teaching career, with a full teacher's salary and an immediate employment contract with a partner school.

Unlike every other ITE pathway, there is no extended period of university study before you teach. Instead, you are employed by a partner school in a low-decile or equity community, receive intensive in-school mentoring, and complete your teaching qualification concurrently over two years. This is the model used in Teach For America, Teach First UK, and similar programmes globally — adapted for Aotearoa's context and values.

How the Programme Works

1. Apply and be selected — Competitive nationwide selection process. Assessment day, interview, reference checks. Typically 30–50 participants accepted per cohort.
2. Summer institute — Intensive pre-placement preparation (typically 5–6 weeks) covering foundational teaching knowledge, behaviour management, culturally responsive practice, and lesson planning before schools start.
3. Placed in a partner school — Employed as a provisionally registered teacher at an equity school (typically decile 1–4) with full teaching salary and employment conditions.
4. In-school mentoring — Ongoing structured mentoring from an experienced teacher-mentor within the school, plus regular coaching visits from a Kōkiri Tūturu leadership coach.
5. Academic qualification — Concurrent study completing the academic requirements for Teaching Council Provisional Registration — assessed through evidence of practice and academic submission.
6. Teach for two years — Two full years in the classroom, with formal review at end of Year 1 to assess progress toward full registration.

The Equity School Focus

All Kōkiri Tūturu placements are in schools serving communities experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage. This is not incidental — it is the explicit mission of the programme. Partner schools typically have:

• High proportions of Māori and Pasifika students
• Decile 1–4 classification (though the decile system is being replaced by the Equity Index)
• Strong community relationships and cultural identities
• Complex classroom contexts that require sophisticated, culturally responsive teaching

The result is that Kōkiri Tūturu graduates develop teaching skills and adaptive capacity that most university-trained teachers do not encounter until years into their careers.

Cultural Competency in an Employment-Based Context

Because Kōkiri Tūturu places participants primarily in schools with high Māori and Pasifika enrolments, cultural responsiveness is not an abstract academic topic — it is an immediate professional survival skill. The programme includes:

• Tātaiako competency framework embedded in all coaching and reflection processes
• School-level whanaungatanga — participants must build genuine relationships with their school community from Week 1
• Engagement with Kaupapa Māori and Pasifika pedagogies as practical classroom tools, not theoretical frameworks
• Support for participants to learn basic te reo Māori and tikanga before beginning

Ideal If You...

• Want to be teaching immediately — not after two or more years of university study
• Hold a bachelor's degree and strong academic record
• Are deeply motivated by educational equity and want to work in communities that need strong teachers most
• Are energised by challenge and rapid professional development under pressure
• Want to earn a full teaching salary while qualifying
• Are applying for secondary teaching (Kōkiri Tūturu focuses on Years 9–13)

Note: This is not the pathway for everyone. The first year demands extraordinary resilience and adaptability. But those who complete it typically emerge as exceptionally capable teachers.