Postgraduate Certificate in Applied Practice

Credits 60 (0.5 EFTS)

Campus Waitākere

Career opportunities

• Community development worker

• Counsellor

• Not-for-profit practitioner

• Social practitioner working for a government agency

• Social practitioner working for a nongovernment agency (NGO)

• Social worker (both NGO and statutory)

Highlights

• Advance your practice and contribute to your profession by learning how to conduct work-relevant research and projects;

• Ideal for those with practice-based skills who want to develop their personal and professional development competencies or learn how to validate their practice skills and ideas through research;

• Engage in contextualised selfreflection;

• Analyse relevant social policies and social discourses to create opportunity and empower individuals, groups and communities;

• Improve communication across disciplines and cultures within changing environments;

• Taught by highly experienced lecturers with roles in community and national organisations;

• Flexibility: choose full- or part-time study to fit in with your professional practice.

Start dates February or July

Duration Full-time for 1 semester, or 1 year part-time

Annual fees $4,000 (NZD)

(Approximate domestic fees only. Includes GST but excludes the Compulsory Student Services Fee levy)

Our Applied Practice suite is designed to help social workers, counsellors, and community development practitioners advance their skills in a variety of social practice situations. Further your ability to work with individuals, whānau, and communities, and transform your practice in ways that enhance social justice and reduce inequalities for communities.

Programme overview

This programme provides a professional development opportunity for you to update and extend existing skills and knowledge in your current workplace. You’ll identify existing issues related to your sector, and learn research methods that can be applied in real-world settings through reflective practice and academic study.

You’ll be able to remain professionally current by critically engaging with research practice through Te Tiriti o Waitangi and indigenous approaches. These foci will ensure that you can confidently pursue culturally responsive applied research.

Upon completion, you’ll be able to add value to your organisation by employing advanced applied research skills, and the qualification will also enable you to demonstrate this ability to employers and other industry stakeholders.

Admission requirements

For this programme, you’ll need:

Academic

1. A Bachelor’s degree or Level 7 Graduate Diploma in the same or similar discipline;

2. To demonstrate an ability to succeed in the programme by providing evidence of successful outcomes you’ve achieved in a work environment;

3. A minimum of 8 credits at NCEA Level 2 in English (4 in reading, 4 in writing).

Note: A phone or face-to-face interview may be required as part of the application process.

English

If English is not your first language you will also need one or more of the following:

• Have achieved NCEA Level 3 and New Zealand University entrance;

• Be able to provide evidence you satisfy our criteria for existing English proficiency;

• Have achieved at least one English proficiency outcome in the last two years.

If you don’t meet the English criteria above, we have a range of English Language programmes available, depending on your current level of ability.

Other options

If you don’t meet these requirements, you could apply for special or discretionary admission.

For more information download the programme regulations: unitec.ac.nz/socialwork

International Students, please visit unitec.ac.nz/international