Qualification details
Title
New Zealand Certificate in Teaching Individuals with Specific Learning
Disabilities
Version
1
Qualification type
Certificate
Level
5
Credits
60
NZSCED
070199
Education > Teacher Education > Teacher Education not
elsewhere classified
DAS classification
320
Education > Generic Education and Training
Qualification developer
To be confirmed
Next review
31 December 2019
Approval date
Dd Mmmm YYYY
Strategic purpose statement
This qualification is for Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD)
related professionals, including teachers and educators, to
enable them to help students with SLD to achieve their potential
and engage in life-long learning. Graduates will be able to work
independently and to offer guidance to other SLD professionals.
As a result, individuals with SLD will be better able to engage in
education, leisure, and work activities, and to become happy and
productive members of society.
Addressing the learning needs of those with SLD will positively
impact on all learners, and the demands on other welfare
services will be reduced, which in time will contribute to the good
of New Zealand society as a whole.
Graduates will have an understanding of a range of pedagogical
principles and will be informed by Aotearoa New Zealand's Te
Tiriti o Waitangi, Pacific location, and multicultural environment.
They will also understand the indigenous status of Tangata
Whenua and the role of Tangata Tiriti in relation to the given
contexts in which they practise.
Graduate profile
Graduates of this qualification will be able to:
Content knowledge (15 credits)
Recognise indicators of SLD in individuals.
General Application (15 credits)
Outcome Statement
Develop individualised intervention plans for individuals with SLD
using related assessment data.
Qualification Reference XXXX
© New Zealand Qualifications Authority 20XX
Support those who work with individuals with SLD.
Refer individuals appropriately where expert intervention is
required.
Implementation of Teaching Strategies (30 credits)
Apply appropriate educational programmes for individuals with
SLD.
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Evaluate the effectiveness of intervention and adapt practice
accordingly.
Education pathway
The New Zealand Certificate in Teaching Students with Specific
Learning Disability (Level 5) can build on from:
 New Zealand Certificate in Supporting Students with Specific
Learning Disability (Level 4)

qualifications in allied disciplines.
Achievement of the New Zealand Certificate in Teaching
Students with Specific Learning Disability (Level 5) may pathway
into certifications in allied disciplines.
Employment and
community pathway
Graduates of this qualification will have the skills and knowledge
to work, or gain employment:
 in education settings as a teacher with SLD expertise

in the community as a specialist SLD teacher.
This qualification will also have wider application, including in the
justice and mental health sectors.
Qualification specifications
Qualification award
This qualification will be awarded to people who have met
the requirements of the outcomes. Credit gained for an
outcome may be used only once to meet the requirements of
this qualification. Awarding bodies for this qualification will
be any education organisation accredited section 250 of the
Education Act 1989 to deliver a programme leading to the
qualification. The certificate will display the NZQF logo and
the name and logo of the awarding body.
Evidence requirements for assuring
consistency
All education organisations either arranging training or
delivering programmes that lead to the award of the
qualification are required to participate with the qualification
developer in a scheduled consistency process, in
accordance with published national guidelines.
This will involve reviewing evidence associated with
graduates’ achievement of outcomes, establishing a periodic
cycle for a review focus for external consistency review, and
agreeing acceptable standards and/or benchmarks for
qualification outcome achievement, and areas for
improvement.
Standard evidence for programme providers may include:
 assessment information leading to the achievement of
the graduate outcomes
Qualification Reference XXXX
© New Zealand Qualifications Authority 20XX

a portfolio of student work relating to the qualification
and the annual review focus requirements

graduate and/or stakeholder/end-user feedback on
outcome achievement
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Credit transfer and recognition of
prior learning arrangements

TEO moderation outcomes which may include
moderation/benchmarks across common programmes

relevant External Evaluation and Review (EER) data.
Education organisations must have policies and procedures
in place for managing credit transfer, and assessing
recognition of prior learning and recognition of current
competency. These policies and procedures, and associated
fees must be available to the candidates prior to enrolment.
Where recognition of existing skills and knowledge is
requested by the candidate, this will be arranged by the
education organisation delivering the programme leading to
the qualification.
To facilitate credit transfer, education organisations must
clearly demonstrate the equivalency between each of the
outcomes in the graduate profile, and the assessment
components of their programmes.
Minimum standard of achievement
and standards for grade
endorsements
The minimum standard of achievement required for the
award of the qualification will be the achievement of all the
graduate outcomes in the graduate profile. There are no
grade endorsements for this qualification.
Entry requirements (including
prerequisites to meet regulatory body
or legislative requirements)
There are no mandatory prerequisites to meet regulatory
body or legislative requirements for this qualification.
Qualification conditions
Overarching conditions relating to the qualification
Conditions for programme
 Outcomes should be integrated across programme design.
structure
 Programmes should demonstrate integrated assessment of all
outcomes.
Conditions for programme
context

Practical experience must be authentic.

Authentic refers to a wide variety of cultural and educational
contexts, and instructional techniques connecting what
candidates learn to the world beyond the classroom, issues and
applications.
Other conditions

Te Tiriti o Waitangi refers to an agreement signed between the
representatives of the British Crown and approximately 540 Māori
chiefs, known as The Treaty of Waitangi (the English version) and
Te Tiriti o Waitangi (the Māori version), that became New
Zealand's founding document.

Tangata Whenua refers to a Māori term of the indigenous peoples
of New Zealand and literally means "people of the land", from
tangata, 'people' and whenua ‘land’.
Qualification Reference XXXX
© New Zealand Qualifications Authority 20XX
Page 3 of 6

Tangata Tiriti refers to a generic term to describe all people
whose rights to live in Aotearoa New Zealand derive from Te Tiriti
o Waitangi and the arrangements that the Crown has established
under a common rule of law, and the equity provisions of Article 3
of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Tangata Tiriti translates as "People of the
Treaty" and refers to peoples of ethnic origins, other than Māori,
who live in New Zealand.

Specific learning disability (SLD) includes dyslexia.

Providers need to ensure candidates are aware of the legal and
ethical considerations of their sector.

Programmes must include assessment of practical ability of
candidates.

Candidates must have access to actual learners for practical
components or assessments.

Programme must address the recognition and identification of
personal professional development needs.
Specific conditions relating to the Graduate profile
Qualification outcomes
Conditions
Mandatory
or
Optional

Mandatory
Content knowledge (15 credits)
1
Recognise indicators of SLD in individuals
Programmes must include
definition and core understanding
of SLD including:
o

General overview of theories
of SLD including causes and
effects
o Differentiating between
specific learning disabilities,
general learning disabilities
and other
neurodevelopmental
disorders
o Sub-groups of SLD and
overlap between sub-groups.
Programmes must include:
characteristics of SLD including:
o
o
o
Qualification Reference XXXX
© New Zealand Qualifications Authority 20XX
Genetic pre-disposition
Individual learner
characteristics including their
particular SLD profile
Societal impact on learner
and society’s response to
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o
o
learners with SLD
Impacts of the structure of
language on presentation of
disabilities
Evolution of indicators for
different age groups.
General Application (15 credits)
2
Develop individualised intervention plans
for individuals with SLD using related
assessment data

Programmes must include:
o
o
o
o
3
Support those who work with individuals
with SLD

o
o
o
o
4
Refer individuals appropriately where
expert intervention is required

Effect of particular SLDs on
development of life skills
Effects of SLD on literacy and
numeracy acquisition
Interpreting assessment
reports to create individual
teaching plans
Determining and utilising
learners’ strengths to
maximise learning.
Programmes must include:
o
o
Mandatory
Professional relationships
with colleagues and learners
Recognising a wide range of
appropriate interventions for
the individual and situation
Difficulties individual learners
could encounter in their
setting and providing
appropriate advice
Advocacy for the learner
Ways to encourage and
contribute to professional
development of those
working with individuals with
SLD.
Programmes must include:
o
Mandatory
Mandatory
Existing or developing factors
that influence the learning
and/or well-being of the
learner
Knowledge of support
services for SLDs and when
further referral is necessary.
Implementation of Teaching Strategies (30 credits)
Qualification Reference XXXX
© New Zealand Qualifications Authority 20XX
Page 5 of 6
5
Apply appropriate educational programmes
for individuals with SLD

Programmes must include:
o
o
o
6
Evaluate the effectiveness of intervention
and adapt practice accordingly
A variety of plans, methods,
and programmes to deal with
particular SLDs
Observing learners,
analysing learner response
and adapting accordingly to
ensure learner success and
motivation
The use of repetition and
revision in accordance with
learner’s needs.

Programmes for individuals with
SLD should be evidence-based
and demonstrate meaningful,
logical progression. They may be
multi-sensory.
Optional

Programmes must include:
Mandatory
o
o

Qualification Reference XXXX
© New Zealand Qualifications Authority 20XX
Mandatory
Reviewing overall
programme according to
learner responses and
progress
Ongoing reflective practice to
inform the planning, delivery
and evaluation of
programmes.
Interventions should reflect
integration of the candidate’s
accumulated knowledge.
Optional
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