The Journey toward Employment for Chinese Student Teachers

This thesis explores the question of whether a Certificate qualification could procure employment in early childhood centres in New Zealand for Chinese student teachers, which could eventuate in Permanent Residency status in New Zealand. Employment in early childhood centres is currently being driven by the need to comply with Ministry of Education requirements which state that centres need to have 100% of their teachers fully qualified and Registered by 2012.
The literature surounding employment experiences of Asian immigrants to New Zealand reveals negative outcomes, and discrimination is cited as one of the causes of this. Although early childhood education espouces a strong philosophy of inclusive practice, this research found that there were obstacles that these teachers faced in gaining employment in early childhood education with a Certificate qualification. It was revealed that some of these participants were discriminated against and were subject to unfair practices.
However, a positive outcome was that those participants who did find work were employed by centres that were accepting of cultural difference.