Master of Specialist Teaching – MSpecTchg

All students must meet university entrance requirements to be admitted to the University.

This programme is a selected entry qualification. This means there are a number of extra requirements you must meet.  

To enter the Master of Specialist Teaching you will have:

Please see individual webpages for specific entry requirements for specialisation in Advisor on Deaf Children.

You will also provide the following documents as part of the selection process:

If you are not a registered teacher or you are a registered teacher without a current full practising certificate, you will also need to supply:

If you have been previously selected for and enrolled in a Specialist Teaching programme at Massey University you will apply online but will not go through the selection process.

If your first language is not English or Te Reo Māori and you have not gained a New Zealand university entrance qualification, or an overseas entrance qualification in a country where the main language is English, you will be required to provide evidence of proficiency in English in the form of an academic International English Language Testing System (IELTS) score of 7.0 with no band less than 7.0 (or the equivalent TOEFL score) or other evidence that is acceptable to Academic Board.

IELTS EXEMPTION: A teacher who has registered with the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand and holds a current Practising Certificate, will be exempted from meeting this English language requirement. For more information, see: teachingcouncil.nz.

Applications close on 10 December for study the following year.

For applicants who have completed a Massey University Postgraduate Diploma in Specialist Teaching, the closing date for Semester Two applications is 10 June.

If you do not hold a current New Zealand professional registration you will be required to undergo police vetting prior to gaining entry into the qualification.

Your curriculum vitae should include details of your educational and professional qualifications, employment history with dates and descriptions of roles and responsibilities, membership of associations/organisations, and a list of professional publications and research reports.

If you have any short or long-term disability including learning disability or heath issue that may affect your study, please upload a summary in your application. If you disclose any disability, health or personal information as part of your application, this will be assessed during the selection process and is confidential to the University staff processing your application.

Where your qualification is completed within the stated time limit and to a high standard, you may be able to graduate with Distinction or Merit. 

For information on prior learning, exemptions and transfer of credit or other questions:

If you need help with your English language skills before you start university, see their English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses.

There are maximum time limits to complete postgraduate qualifications.  If you do not complete within the maximum time, you may be required to re-apply for the qualification if you wish to continue your studies.

For returning students, there may be changes to the majors and minors available and the courses you need to take. Go to the section called ‘Transitional Provisions’ in the Regulations to find out more.

In some cases the qualification or specialisation you enrolled in may be no longer be taking new enrolments, so may not appear on these web pages. To find information on the regulations for these qualifications go to the Massey University Calendar.

Please contact us through the Get advice button on this page if you have any questions.

Pest specialist gives tips to help East Texans guard homes against cricket invasion

TYLER, Texas (KLTV) - The crickets in East Texas are making themselves known with their infamous chirps and invasion of indoor spaces in the excessive summer heat.

This spring created the perfect mating conditions for the insects: moist air and moderate temperatures.

Like most insects, they find their way into homes and businesses seeking shelter from the brutal temperatures.

“They need three things: enough of the weather moisture to make them, and then, the right amount of food, and then, a little good place to harbor,” says integrative pest control specialist Janet Hurley.

They have even found a way to join a church for Sunday services -- and every other day of the week.

“We do have an exterminator that comes every month, in fact, we’ve even called him back out on occasion, and there’s just crickets,” says Scott Brown, a pastor at First Baptist Church in Bullard. “It’s nobody’s fault, and we’re just having to live with the chirping that comes with that,” he adds.

Hurley has some helpful tips for how to prevent the crickets from making your home theirs.

She says, “The biggest preventative measure is, if you don’t want them in a building, make sure your doors seal correctly, and the easiest way to check that is take a credit card, see if you can slip it under the door. If you can slip it under the door, or a pencil tip, or even a hard piece of cardstock or something, chances are a bug can get in.”

She also recommends positioning outdoor house-lights to face the house, but from a distance, maybe in a yard or near the street, because crickets are attracted to them.

Luckily, Hurley predicts the crickets will die off in the extreme heat over the next few weeks, but she also warns of their potential return this fall.

KLTV’s Lauren Tear speaks with Integrative Pest Management Specialist Janet Hurley about the increase in crickets in East Texas.

Copyright 2023 KLTV. All rights reserved.

Specialist study support

Find out about the specialist support you might be able to access to help with a disability.

If you need to access specialist study support, they can advise you. Types of specialist study support can include:

If you are eligible to apply for a Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA), this may be able to help fund your specialist study support.

To check if your DSA can pay for your specialist support, sign up to one of their DSA workshops.

If you cannot access funding from the DSA, or you require support which DSA does not cover (such as an test support worker), speak to their Disability team to discuss your options.

Use the find a room service to book a room to meet your support worker or diagnostic assessor. It displays a list of teaching spaces by building, and their current booking status over the next 3 hours. 

Other spaces and facilities across campus are available to help you study, including library study spaces, blended learning spaces, or open access computers.

Mentors provide confidential practical and emotional support in response to a broad range of wellbeing-related issues. Examples include (but are not limited to) stress, anxiety, depression and low motivation/morale. Mentors offer support by empowering you to develop strategies to manage your wellbeing and meet your academic goals. They can help you with:

Mentors can only support you during agreed sessions, and they cannot provide counselling or therapy, but they may signpost you to organisations that can.

This is confidential support with your academic studies. Study skills tutors can support you to develop independent learning, including helping with understanding assignment briefs, developing effective research techniques, structuring academic writing, and preparing for exams. They can help you with:

A study skills tutor cannot offer subject-specific tuition, assign additional work, or proofread your work, and they can only support you during agreed sessions.

Exam Support workers are guided by you. You may choose to use their support extensively, or only a little. They cannot make suggestions or proofread your work for you. Your work must still be your own.

This is manual, practical and mobility support to assist you with manoeuvring between and around key study venues. This may include carrying books or equipment, acting as a sighted guide or providing wheelchair assistance. You might use practical support in the library, in a laboratory or workshop, or on a field trip.

This is assistance in searching library catalogues and electronic resources under your direction. Library Support Assistants can help you to locate, retrieve and carry academic library materials. This support also includes help with scanning and photocopying library resources, and help locating study areas.

This support is to provide you with any support and practical assistance you may need to complete required assignments in your workshops and/or laboratory work.

Manual notetakers produce a manual, accurate and comprehensive set of notes from your lectures (and on occasion seminars and one-off university sessions). The notes can be provided in a handwritten format or typed and emailed to you in your style and format preference.

This is speech-to-text specialist communication support provided by a qualified electronic note-taker. A live, real-time summary of what is being said is typed by the notetaker in your lectures, seminars or one-off university sessions. The notetaker will link these notes to a second screen for you to read them from live. After the session these notes are sent to you in your style and format preference.

Study Assistants can fulfil a variety of roles where support is required for consecutive and irregular periods of time. This includes assisting you in finding appropriate solutions for queries and problems to help reduce anxiety levels, manual notetaking, library assistance, practical assistance, as well as orientation support around campus.

There is other one-to-one funded specialist support available, for example specialist transcription services, and sign language interpreting. Contact us to discuss your needs.