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The Royal New Zealand Army Education Corps (RNZAEC)
The RNZAEC provides education opportunities for members of the Army. Education Officers will be employed mainly in the Army’s education unit, the Military Studies Institute (MSI). The MSI has detachments based in each Army camp and Education Officers command these.
The MSI Detachments offer a range of services to local Army units including the following:
- Provision of advice about external education opportunities available to Army personnel
- Administration of internal Army education programmes
- Training development
- Teaching and tutoring on a range of courses including:
- Communication Skills
- Write Effectively
- Study Skills
- Rapid Reading
- Exam Techniques
- Resettlement Seminars
- Financial Planning
Detachment Commanders are responsible for the overall organisation and running of these courses as well as some teaching and tutoring. Detachment Commanders are also responsible for the day to day operating of the Detachment and for the management and leadership of up to seven detachment staff, including both military and civilian personnel.
An Education Officer with the requisite skills and qualifications could be posted to the Army’s Defence Language Centre (DLC) as an instructor. The DLC is responsible for teaching English to speakers of other languages, mainly to personnel from other countries’ militaries who come to New Zealand to undertake NZ Defence Force courses. The DLC also ensures these visitors are acculturated to New Zealand prior to beginning their training. Education Officers are regularly required to teach communication/English courses in places like the Cook Islands, Samoa, Tonga, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.
Education Officers’ operational role is the provision of welfare services. This requires Education Officers to deploy on larger missions undertaken by the Army to places like East Timor and Afghanistan and to provide services related to the maintenance of morale, such as education, canteens, sports and entertainment.
Type of work
Commanding a Regional Education Detachment. This involves the following:
- Commanding between 4 and 7 staff including military personnel and civilians. Includes staff training, discipline and reporting.
- Overseeing the day-to-day running and administration of the Detachment.
- Overseeing the advertising of education services to the region and liaising with local unit commanders with regard to the provision of education services.
- Overseeing the provision of advice on external education in the Army to all ranks.
- Giving specific advice, mainly to officers, about the study options Army offers them and what study Army expects of them.
- Commenting on and recommending/not recommending every application for study assistance from the region.
- Tutoring and giving assistance to soldiers studying polytech courses from Army’s preferred providers.
- Proofing assignments prepared by soldiers for external university and polytech courses.
- Marking assignments and exams as called upon for courses taught jointly by Army and TOPNZ.
- Organisation of programmes such as resettlement courses, SPELD training, financial planning seminars and any other educational course as requested by units in the region.
Instructing on the following courses:
Write Effectively
This is a one day course which aims to improve soldiers' basic writing skills. It covers spelling, grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, and paragraphing.
Rapid Reading and Memory Techniques
This is a two day course designed to improve the speed at which participants read, while maintaining or improving comprehension. It also includes techniques for improving memory.
Study Skills Seminar
Study Skills Seminars are four hours long and are run near the start of each semester. They cover memory techniques, individual learning styles, reading skills, note-taking, and time management.
Essay Writing Seminar
Essay Writing Seminars are four hours long and cover the following areas. How to research and plan an essay, how to structure an argument, and how to write introductions, paragraphs, conclusions, bibliographies, footnotes and endnotes.
Exam Techniques Seminar
The Exam Techniques Seminar is two hours long and is offered towards the end of each semester. It covers long and short term preparations for exams, how to answer exam questions and how to minimise exam stress.
Instructing in the Defence Language Centre:
- Teaching familiarisation courses to students arriving in NZ from Asia and the Pacific.
- Teaching and testing English for speakers of other languages who have come to NZ to study on military courses.
- Overseeing the administration of the students and the day to day running of the DLC.
- Managing a civilian instructor and admin assistant including training, discipline and reporting.
Instructing at the Officer Cadet School (New Zealand):
- Teaching written and oral communication skills to Officer Cadets.
- Tutoring on Military History papers at OCS (NZ).
- Assisting with instruction of other courses as required.
Qualifications required
Applicants for Education Officer positions must have an undergraduate degree, preferably including English at least as a minor subject. Preference will be given to those applicants with postgraduate qualifications. Applicants are also required to have an undergraduate qualification in education, with preference given to those with a Diploma in Teaching or qualifications in Adult Teaching. Preference will also be given to applicants with teaching experience. Qualifications and/or experience in TESOL are also desirable, as is some military experience.
Your Recruiting Officer will require an up to date CV for pre-selection by one of the Army's senior Education Officers, to ensure your current skills and qualifications meet our needs.
Applicants who successfully complete the pre-selection process will be invited to attend a four-day Officer Selection Board (OSB), an 'assessment centre', convened at Trentham Camp, Upper Hutt, three times a year. The purpose of the OSB is to assess your leadership ability and potential along with your suitability to become a Commissioned Officer in the NZ Army. (You are not being assessed on your professional specialist skills during the OSB.)
Your Recruiting Officer will keep you informed throughout the selection process and, if you are selected to attend the OSB, they will provide you with all of the relevant information and organise your travel to and from Trentham.
Applications
Applicants wishing to apply as an Education Officer are to apply online. Your application will need to be supported by a current curriculum vitae and should be forwarded to your local Recruiting Office when requested.
All applications will be treated in strict confidence and place the applicant under no obligation.
This page was last reviewed on 08 December 2008 and is current.