Help, learning to teach in America and being able to teach in NZ?

[keitaro2]

If someone gets a teachers degree in America would they be able to teach in NZ and Vise-versa? Are they transferable between countries?

Any help on this question would be really great

[mussolini]

One would assume that if it's valid in the States it wouldn't be completely useless in New Zealand. In principle a teaching degree is going to deal with pedagogy, techniques and practices of teaching, theory of learning, etc., more than a specific curriculum. At least in Australia, you take a teaching degree alongside another degree, or afterwards as a graduate diploma, with the other/original degree being used to specialise as a teacher based on your major (so if you had a B.Sc. you might then become a science or maths teacher, B.A. you'd be looking at history, geography, etc.).

A quick search yields this stuff:
Apply for an International Qualifications Assessment » NZQA
Overseas teachers | The New Zealand Teachers Council

Basically it looks like you'd have to make an application and be assessed on an individual basis. There's a list of Australian qualifications which are automatically valid, but it could still be the case that they have a set standard for other foreign qualifications. Contact one of them, mention the institutions and programmes you'd be considering, find out what (if any) additional requirements there would be to have a foreign degree recognised, and so on. There may also be some separate registration required to actually teach in a school, and I'd imagine that this would depend on the country.

[keitaro2]

Thank you so much for your help mussolini, I'm trying to figure this out for my gf over in America, we are trying to decide what to do with our current situation.
She has been studying over in the states for awhile and we were hoping that if she decides to come here that she would be able to study here and get a teachers degree, but of course one day we'd have to go back to America as her family is there.
The other way we were thinking is that if she stays in America and I go over there she gets her Degree there we would be moving back to NZ later on in life as my family is here.

I will talk to her with information you have kindly provided me, and see what she thinks.

As you could possibly tell we are dealing with a big decision, that affects not only our familys and friends but also our futures.

Long distance is damn bloody hard.