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forTeachers Spring 08For Teachers mo nga kaiwhakaako. Issue 10, Spring 2008. In this issue: From the Director: Ensuring quality as an outcome From the Director: Ensuring quality as an outcomeIn finalising the Annual Report for 2007-2008, the Council is proud of the accomplishments of the past financial year. Not only have we continued to strengthen our core functions and achieve the highest possible rating in our annual audit, but the Council is poised to launch new stages in each of our professional leadership projects.
Another significant project has been the review of our processes and guidelines for approving and reapproving initial teacher education (ITE) programmes. The Council is now preparing a consultation document based on the review report, and will be asking the profession for responses to a series of options which we hope will provide greater assurance of the quality of graduates from the many ITE programmes provided in New Zealand. For example, one of the issues to consider is whether or how employers of graduates should have a role in quality assurance of ITE programmes. Also in this issue, you will be introduced to our recently appointed manager of Teacher Education, Barbara Benson. Formerly of Otago University, Barbara will be taking a lead role in implementing the new guidelines for ITE programme approvals once they are set in place by the Council. We also welcome four new elected representatives of teachers and school principals to Council (see p.2). The strength of the Council continues to lie in its 'grass roots' connections with the profession. The goodwill and support of teachers and others in the education sector is essential for our ongoing growth and development. Recent Council election resultsFour new members join the Teachers Council this month, following the election by teachers and principals that closed on October 1.The elected members are: school principals' representative, Pat Newman, ; Megan Cassidy, representing secondary teachers; Ken Wilson, representing primary teachers; and early childhood education teachers' representative, Jenny Varney.. This is the third election since the Council started in 2002, and there was much support for the introduction of e-voting. While the Council would have liked more people to vote, the number voting for the new Council members was higher than previous years, especially among early childhood education teachers. We thank all the candidates who stood for the election and were prepared to take on the responsibility of representing the profession on the Council. Congratulations to the new members. The Council's new elected members are: Jenny Varney Early Childhood Education Representative Jenny comes to the Council with a kindergarten background and she is currently working with the Wellington Kindergarten Association as a senior teacher, where she is a team leader. Jenny also has experience in Education and Care and the tertiary sector. Jenny has been a member of the Council's Early Childhood Advisory Group for two years and was on the writing group for the early childhood education section of Towards Full Registration. Ken Wilson Primary Education Representative Ken is an experienced primary teacher who has taught in Taranaki, Niue Island, Wanganui and Wellington. Ken has also been a teacher educator, lecturing at the Wellington College of Education, where he was director of Post Graduate Qualifications. He holds a Masters of Education in Education Policy from Victoria University. Ken was employed by the Council at its inception in 2002 and has only recently retired from his role there as manager of Teacher Education. He is currently teaching part-time in Wellington. Megan Cassidy Secondary Education Representative Megan has 22 years teaching experience across a wide range of schools which include St Andrew's College, Scots College, Wellington Girls' College and Kaiapoi High School. She is currently Assistant Principal Pastoral Care and Discipline at Christchurch's Villa Maria College. Megan sat on her two children's primary school's board of trustees for six years, of which two were as chairperson. In 2004, she was seconded to the University of Canterbury College of Education. She was also appointed to the Teachers Council's Disciplinary Tribunal, recently being re-appointed for another three years. Pat Newman Principals' Representative With more than 25 years experience as a school head behind him, including sole charge roles, Pat has worked throughout New Zealand and is currently principal of Hora Hora Primary School in Whangarei. Pat was a national executive member of the New Zealand Principals' Federation for 13 years, representing principals at both national and international levels. In 2005 and 2006, he was elected as the organisation's national president. Pat also served as a member of the New Zealand Educational Institute's [NZEI] collective contract negotiating team in 2004 and 2007. World Teachers' DayWorld Teachers' Day is celebrated annually on the last Friday of October in Australia and New Zealand to fit around the countries' school holiday periods..This year, the New Zealand Teachers Council will celebrate World Teachers' Day by hosting a one day, invitation only, conference titled Signposts for the Profession, Ngā Tohu o te Ngaio Pouako. The conference will examine ways in which the profession perceives and describes the role of a teacher and will focus on the ways in which the knowledge, skills and attributes of effective teachers are described, and how we conceive the role of a teacher. The keynote speaker is Dr Graeme Aitken, acting Dean of the University of Auckland Faculty of Education. Dr Aitken's address will explore links between concepts of teaching, as outlined in the New Zealand Curriculum and Te Whāriki, and the Council's draft Registered Teacher Criteria. Opportunities to workshop and explore the draft Registered Teacher Criteria in more detail, will follow the keynote address, and times will be set aside to discuss issues around the teacher registration policy, for example, categories of registration. It is hoped that valuable insights will be gathered from the practitioners to further inform the Council's work in these areas. The pathway from student to teacherGraduation is foremost in student teachers' thoughts but as that day draws closer, following the completion of assignments and other sections of study, the task of securing the ideal teaching position becomes a new focus.The reasons people choose teaching as a career, and their respective pre-service teacher education programme experiences, make for interesting reading. ForTeachers profiles six student teachers on the eve of their graduation. Naomi Samuelu enrolled in a Diploma of Teaching (ECE) after 19 years as a laboratory technician in a Samoan hospital. Naomi's first contact with early childhood education in New Zealand occurred shortly after she arrived in the country and enrolled her baby son in a language nest which was connected to her local church. Naomi says her early childhood education study experience has been positive. One aspect that she particularly enjoyed was the cultural exchange between the students and an A'oga Amata Samoan language education centre where she could be the 'expert' and explore the social and spiritual sides of teaching. Naomi is proud of her academic achievements and hopes to further her studies so that she may one day operate a family early childhood education centre or return to Samoa to teach. More immediately, Naomi says she is looking forward to attending network groups for beginning teachers which will support her ongoing learning and secure contacts. Already a primary school teacher, Reidun Leete, was motivated to do further study, a Graduate Diploma of Teaching (ECE), following the positive experience she had completing a Bachelor of Visual Arts and Design. "The interactive nature of tutorials and the support from lecturers and tutors, together with the really positive relationships, were the great things about the course." Naturally, young children's art experiences have been a focus in her studies. "Using natural resources, interacting with materials and creating environments for children are what I love doing. I really believe the environment is the 'third' teacher." As she looks to the future, Reidun knows what is important for her to be a successful teacher. "I'm looking for a centre to complement me and my style. I know I will need a suitable mentor teacher to continue growing." Suzi Holland knew early on that she wanted to be an early childhood education teacher and she enrolled in a Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Teaching (ECE) after completing a Nannies' Certificate. A highlight of the pre service teacher education programme has been the teaching sections which have enabled her to put her learning into practice and experience a range of centres."Seeing the diversity of places has helped make up my mind about where I want to teach." Suzi has also enjoyed the opportunity to explore a wide range of education papers, as part of her Bachelor of Arts, along with Deaf Studies. Being fluent in sign language is an additional area of expertise which she says may lead to her working in Special Education in the future Jade Hamblyn found his Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Teaching study programme very challenging and demanding but says he loved every minute of it. A course highlight was the variety of school placements. "I was able to establish relationships with a huge number of students in different settings, from a new entrant class through to high school students in a more diverse low decile school." Jade says the relationships he formed with the students on his section experiences taught him a lot."The lynchpin is developing reciprocal relationships and mutual respect. If you can start at that point everything works well." Jade is passionate about working closely with the students and using his knowledge about their backgrounds to facilitate his teaching. "I want to make use of what students already know, what they use and what they do at home. It's not always recognised. Students are way ahead of teachers with technology, for example. Teachers need to consult students and allow them to contribute ideas." Christina Calcinai is as passionate about her study and future career in teaching as when she started her qualification four years ago. "In the third year, after the teaching practicum, I felt ready and wanted to get out there but also realised there was still lots to learn. I've had awesome experiences in primary and secondary schools which make it difficult to decide which to choose. The insight into how both work has been really valuable." She acknowledges the intense and demanding requirements of the conjoint degree programme but she says being part of the Te Rōpu Āwhina Whānau mentoring programme has been a real bonus for her and she is now contributing as a mentor herself. Cheryl Naylor has juggled family and other commitments while studying part-time, and online, towards a Graduate Diploma of Teaching. "Getting together for the residency, doing our mihi on the marae and all the motivational practical workshops were really inspirational. Then I could do the theory at home on the computer, and study in the evenings." A highlight of the programme was the health and physical education component and an inspiring lecturer- "who really turned me on to how vital being physically active is for learning." Cheryl says the teaching sections have been a highlight. "Teachers are an awesome community, sharing knowledge and offering support." She says she looks forward to having her own class, to put into practice all that she has learnt and to keep learning and experimenting. "Just the different ways that you can respond to children's interests and keep that natural curiosity alive, are what drive me." Manager Teacher Education appointmentThe Council is delighted to announce the appointment of Barbara Benson to the position of Manager Teacher Education, replacing Ken Wilson who has recently retired..Barbara has a long and distinguished career in education. She was most recently at the University of Otago College of Education where she held the positions of Associate Dean (Teaching) and Director of Teacher Education. Barbara has been involved in teaching since 1974 when she was a beginning teacher at Mercy College in Timaru.. Appointments at Otago Boys' High School, where she taught biology and science, andOtago Girls' High School, where she was head of Science, followed. In 1985, Barbara moved into teacher education and became a lecturer in Science Education at the Dunedin College of Education. During her career within the University of Otago College of Education, Barbara held a variety of positions, including HOD of Science Education and Principal Lecturer and Director of the institution's Secondary Programme. Barbara has held her current positions at the College since 2006. In addition to her teaching and teacher education work, Barbara is also a ministerial appointee to the Veterinary Council of New Zealand and was a member of the National Executive of the Teacher Education Forum of Aotearoa New Zealand (TEFANZ). Barbara took up her new Council position in October. And in true Mainlander pioneering style, she sees this new adventure as a second chance to experience an 'OE' by crossing Cook Strait-an ambition she says she has had since her graduation in the 1960s when many of her peers set sail to the United Kingdom. Consultation on the draft Registered Teacher CriteriaConsultation with teachers and other key stakeholders on the draft Registered Teacher Criteria (RTC) has been underway since this July. The RTC will replace the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions in 2010 as the criteria which all teachers must meet to gain full registration and maintain a current practising certificate.Development of the draft RTC began in 2006 and has included input from a sector representative reference group and the formation of a writing group to draft the criteria. The Teachers Council is keen to engage with teachers on the draft RTC and find out if the criteria reflect quality teaching in the range of educational settings in New Zealand. Consultation has included an online survey of teachers, a consultation pack sent to schools and early childhood education centres (on request), and a postal survey to key stakeholders. The online and stakeholder surveys are now closed. Stakeholders returned 34 responses and just over 1,400 teachers responded. To date, teachers and stakeholders have provided positive feedback about the draft RTC. Preliminary findings show that the majority of stakeholders and teachers agree that the draft RTC:
Encouragingly, two thirds of teachers responding to the online survey indicated high support for the draft RTC (see graph 2). A number of teachers and stakeholders have also suggested amendments to the draft RTC which will be considered by Council. The question now is, will feedback from schools and early childhood education centres continue this trend of positive support? The consultation with schools and early childhood education centres (materials are available by post and on the Council website) ends on Friday 10 October. Linking Minds Scholars 2008The Teachers Council has this year continued to co-sponsor an annual scholarship programme, Linking Minds, which gives talented young teachers the opportunity to travel to the United Kingdom on a fully funded professional development programme.Council member Jill Page, was again on the panel which selected four very worthy recipients from a very strong field of applicants. The recipients of the 2008 Linking Minds scholarships are Steven Mouldey, Tina-Maree Hooper,Hayley Ryan and Joanna Blick. Steven Mouldey is assistant head of social sciences and Year 9 dean at Wellington High School. Among other things, Steven has been involved in Te Kotahitanga, a collaborative response to the rising problem of underachievement among Māori students in mainstream schools. Steven believes his international experience, provided by the scholarship, will help with his involvement in New Zealand research and his Masters of Education. Tina-Maree Hooper is principal of Cambridge Primary School. She is passionate about education and has demonstrated strong leadership skills, notably being appointed as a principal in just her fifth year as a teacher. Tina-Maree is eager to explore distributed leadership on the trip with an eye to applying this in her school and to her Post Graduate Diploma in Education Leadership. Hayley Ryan teaches at Dawson Primary School in Auckland. She has a significant role in the school's multi-cultural community with extra-curricular dance commitments. Hayley is involved in school wide initiatives which aim to raise student achievement, such as the Ministry of Education's Numeracy project. A particular area of concern in her community is the effective teaching of Pasifika and Māori students. Joanna Blick is deputy principal of Saint Paul's Catholic School in Nelson. Joanna has had significant leadership experience being asked to act as principal for two terms under difficult conditions. Some of this experience involved re-creating a school vision and mending damaged community relationships. Joanna believes that schools need to develop a focus on learning for all - staff, students and the community. The Council will be hosting a report back reception for these scholars on 20 November. All partners in the scheme are discussing how best to build on the experiences individual scholars gain each year, to sustain their learning and help them to support others in building leadership capability in the teaching profession. Greg Thornton, one of the 2007 scholars, is part of the Linking Minds Panel and helping to lead discussion on 'what next' for alumni scholars of the Linking Minds scheme. A good time to consider a return to primary teachingThe following article was provided by TeachNZ.If you've had a break from primary teaching there's never been a better time to return to the classroom. Until recently New Zealand has enjoyed a full supply of primary teachers in a very competitive teaching market. Over the last five years this situation has changed with the announcement by Government of 3000 plus new primary positions over and above normal roll growth. Some of these new positions have arisen from:
These measures have already led, or will lead to, additional positions in a significant number of primary schools. Auckland will continue to have teacher supply pressures as a result of these policies and the continued growth in their primary school rolls. For those of you whose knowledge and skills need updating, retraining courses of up to 10 weeks duration are held from time to time in some of our major centres. Contact your local provider to enquire about these or phone TeachNZ on 0800 165 225. You can also read the FAQs in the Returning teachers section of TeachNZ's website http://www.teachnz.govt.nz/. WHAKAMANA TE REO MĀORI – Exploring te reo proficiency"All of the 10 ITE providers of Māori medium programmes are concerned about ensuring their graduates have good Māori language skills, a thorough understanding of the national Māori medium curriculum (Marautanga), and second language acquisition pedagogy; and that they can apply this knowledge in practical teaching situations.'This observation is one of the key findings from the recently completed research report by Haemata Ltd and it highlights the complex layering of knowledge and skill acquisition involved in becoming a kaiako in Māori Medium. The report reflects the "strengths - based kaupapa Māori" approach used in the environmental scan of all the initial teacher education programmes [ITE] approved by the Teachers Council to prepare students to become graduate teachers proficient in the Maori medium. The methodology adopted by the Haemata research team involved a programme documentation review and a series of interviews. The interviews with programme leaders and lecturers of the approved 10 ITE providers were carried out in the first half of 2008. Although most providers identified issues unique to their programmes, it was apparent that there were also a number of common themes across all programmes. Most notably, the findings reinforced the last significant Council /Ministry of Education study of ITE programmes (Kane 2005). These identified that Māori medium ITE programme providers need a range of support mechanisms in order to successfully enhance the learning and teaching of te reo Māori proficiency, and pedagogical knowledge and skills for their graduates. Other findings in the Haemata report suggest:
The last observation indicates that this report is the first phase of a comprehensive research project. The next phases of Whakamana Te Reo Māori will seek the information that will enable the development of meaningful kaupapa Māori policy approaches in order to achieve the vision of Te Pouherenga Kaiako o Aotearoa, "Uki te ako, tu tangata ai apopo". Meanwhile, this report is being prepared for publication and release later in 2008. Whakaman Te Reo Māori Research Team. Hineihaea Murphy (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Apa) Director and consultant, Hineihaea Murphy, has extensive teaching, management and research experience. Her academic background is in linguistics and education and she has worked across the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors. Hineihaea was co-leader of the school based research project on the language characteristics of children in kura kaupapa Māori. A summary of the research is published in Many Voices - A Journal for New Settlers and Multicultural Education Issues Vol 4 Feb 1993, LML Media, Wellington. Hineihaea was also manager of the research project Ngā Kete Kōrero to develop a set of guidelines for the grading of basal readers for children in Māori medium education and lead consultant in the development of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori national Māori language proficiency assessment system, Whakamātauria Tō Reo Māori. Sheridan McKinley (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāi Tahu) Sheridan is a consultant with a strong teaching, management and research background. She has worked as a researcher for a variety of projects focused on strengthening te reo Māori and education for Māori and has spent more than a decade as a teacher, manager and administrator in the primary and tertiary sectors. Her teaching experience includes two years as principal at kura kaupapa Māori and seven years teaching in adult education courses – both college of education and university courses. Nicola Bright (Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Awa) Nicola Bright (Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Awa) is a consultant with a strong academic background in history and Māori studies. She has worked on projects focused on the regeneration of Māori language, as part of the Te Taura Whiri i te reo Māori Policy team and as policy manager. Nicola has also been a researcher for the Waitangi Tribunal. |
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