ITI Articles

All onsite full-time second year students at Bethlehem Tertiary Institute (BTI) participate in a ‘philanthropic’ experience in a range of local, national and international contexts.  The purpose of these experiences is two-fold: to serve the host community or agency, and to develop in students a spirit of generosity and vocational service.  Teams are prepared to engage in a range of tasks from cleaning, painting, making resources or leading studies.

Lorraine Wilks is a busy mother of 4 who lives in Katikati and studies at BTI in Tauranga.  She enjoyed working as a teacher aide for over 10 years but often yearned to have her own classroom and group of students to be responsible for. She decided to take the plunge and embark on three years of study.

Mrs Wilks has just returned from spending 3 weeks teaching at Lavengamalie College in Tonga as part of her degree at Bethlehem.  

“Tonga is an open and embracing culture.  I spent much of my time supporting teachers, teaching different classes with a focus on English as a second language and encouraging students, staff and family members” said Mrs Wilks.  “This was a great opportunity to experience teaching in such a different culture”.

Bethlehem Tertiary Institute offers tertiary courses in Early Childhood, Primary and Secondary Teaching as well as courses in Counselling and Family Studies.