Linking Minds travel scholarships to the United Kingdom

Linking Minds is a prestigious international award for young teachers who identify themselves as emerging leaders. The award is sponsored by the NZ - UK Link Foundation, the British Council, the New Zealand Teachers Council and the Ministry of Education.

The programme aims to recognise and promote effective teaching by providing international experience for teachers early in their careers. The award funds four New Zealand teachers to spend two weeks over the April holiday period of every second year attached to a Local Authority in the United Kingdom exploring best practice in a given area. Participants must be in their first five years as fully NZ registered teachers in the schools sector and under 35 years old.

Scholarship focus

The scholarship is available to teachers in the primary, secondary, Māori medium and early childhood sectors who show leadership potential, and who demonstrate effective and/or innovative practice. For the first time an additional component examining language immersion settings in a Welsh language school will also be included in the programme.

Funding and teacher relief

The costs of travel, accommodation and general living expenses including interview and selection costs will be met.

The selected teachers must gain approval from their employing board to take up to eight days of leave with pay during 2010. The eight days of paid leave include allowance for attendance at a two day seminar at a later date and an additional day to prepare the report. The costs of the teacher relief will be met by the Ministry of Education and a charge code authorisation will be given to the employing school.

The employing school should also assist the teacher to share the experiences gained with their colleagues and other teacher groups. With support from their principals, successful teachers may apply for support to attend national conferences to present and share their experiences and the resulting changes to their practice. This may occur during the 2011 school year.

Selection procedure

1. Applications need to be made on the form provided by the Ministry of Education. Supporting material should be supplied linking applicants' practice to the key focus areas of the scholarship
2. Applicants are short listed (to about six)
3. Interviews are conducted in Wellington with each of the short-listed candidates. Travel for the interview will be arranged through the Ministry of Education. Where a day's leave is required to attend the interview, the school will have the relief costs met through the payroll with a code approval. This is in addition to the eight days' leave allowed for the selected candidates.

Key dates and links

• The closing date for applications is 13 November 2009.
• Notification of successful applicants will be completed by early December 2009.
• The likely departure date is Saturday 3 April 2010 for the UK based programme, which will commence on 5 April and finish on 16 April.
• The departure date from the UK is Saturday 17 April for arrival back in New Zealand on Sunday 18 April.

The travel dates coincide with the New Zealand first term holiday break. It is recommended that leave is taken before and after the travel - up to five days additional leave in total - to enable teachers to prepare for the trip and take some time to record their experiences on their return.

Visit: http://www.minedu.govt.nz/studyawards2010 for application forms. Information is found under the heading "Professional Learning for Teachers", or for further assistance please contact:

Administrator
Teacher Study Awards
Ministry of Education
PO Box 1666
WELLINGTON

Ph 04 463 4859

email: teacher.studyawards@minedu.govt.nz

Application forms are also available through the British Council website: http://www.britishcouncil.org/nz-scholarships-and-opportunities-linking.htm

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