Postgrad Education 2015

EDUCATION REVIEW series

Part of the

Postgrad 2015 / www.educationreview.co.nz / $10.95

Education

Provider-led or school-led: finding balance in teacher education How old is too old to teach overseas?

Mature students are they welcome?

Growing great Kiwi kids

food literacy in our schools

Part of the series:

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Ed’s letter In safe hands

My ‘baby’, aged four years and 11 months, is due to start school shortly.

She can’t wait. She wants to wear her new (and enormous) school uniform all the time. She picked out her school bag months ago. She insists on doing ‘homework’ with her big brother, who, as a Year 2 veteran of school, takes huge delight in telling his little sister all about the big and exciting world of school.

As she embarks on her school journey, I reflect on the many teachers she will encounter along the way.

There are bound to be those she clicks with, those with whom she doesn’t, and hopefully many who inspire her, challenge her, encourage her, and most of all, ‘get’ her.

Good teachers ‘get’ their students. They understand their learning needs, their personalities, how to extend and develop them – not only to meet the required standards, but to fulfil their own potential.

This is not something easily taught in teacher education programmes. While there is undisputedly good reason for teachers to have a good grasp on education theories, principles and ideologies, there is also a need for an aspiring teacher to have ample exposure to the realities of the classroom. All the preparation in the world will still be contending with a class full of students of varying abilities, attitudes and backgrounds.

It was exciting to hear about all the wonderful examples of provider-school collaboration that are happening as part of many teacher education programmes around New Zealand. Universities and other teacher education providers are fostering important relationships with schools to help develop teachers of the highest calibre, ensuring they are equipped with both the theoretical and practical aspects of teaching.

In this issue we look a little more closely at the fine line between provider-led and school-led teacher education and it is heartening to know that while some other countries are struggling to achieve the right balance, here in New Zealand we have it about right.

This is good news for parents like me, about to send their eager young soon-to-be five-year-olds off on their exciting school adventure. We can rest assured they will be in safe hands.

Jude Barback, Editor editor@educationreview.co.nz

EDUCATION REVIEW series

INside: 2

Teacher education – should it be provider-led or school-led? The key to finding the right balance

6

What are they up to now? The latest on our education students

8

Busting myths around universities today

10

Mature-age students: do they feel supported?

12

Hitting the ground running: meeting the National Standards at age 5

13

From New Zealand to New York – one Kiwi teacher’s research opportunity

14

Food literacy – its place in the curriculum

17

Everything is hard before it is easy

18

A decade of growth – one PTE’s journey

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How old is too old to teach overseas?

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Recognising amazing Kiwi teachers: get your nominations in

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Tertiary teaching qualification first of its kind

24

Answering the call to early childhood education

Editor Jude Barback production Aaron Morey David Malone Advertising & marketing Manager Belle Hanrahan Publisher & general manager Bronwen Wilkins Contributing writeRS Sarah Aiono, Karen Tui Boyes, Kelsie Davie-Morland, Kylie Ellis, Michael Harcourt, Kerry Lee, Elizabeth McLeod, Annie Riley, Kate Russell & Chris Whelan IMAGES Thinkstock

Postgrad Vol 6 Issue 3

Education

NZME. Educational Media, Level 2, NZME. House, 190 Taranaki Street, Wellington 6141, New Zealand PO Box 200, Wellington 6140 Tel: 04 471 1600 © 2015. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be copied or reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher.

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Education Review series Publication title 2015

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Teacher education

Teacher education – should it be provider-led or school-led?

The key to finding the right balance

Education departments within England’s universities are struggling to operate alongside school-led teacher education programmes. Are New Zealand’s collaborative provider-school teacher education programmes at risk of going the same way? By JUDE BARBACK.

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here is increasing emphasis on involving schools in teacher education programmes run by universities and other higher education providers. It makes sense. What benefit could come from restricting an aspiring teacher’s learning to childless lecture theatres? All the theory and note-taking in the world can’t prepare an education student for the reality of the classroom.

However, in the quest for more collaboration with schools, some countries, like England, are finding themselves leaning so far towards school-led training that tertiary providers are beginning to squirm.

Meanwhile, New Zealand’s approach to teacher education has become increasingly collaborative between universities and schools, and to good effect. But are teacher trainees getting enough time in the classroom? Or do we need to be careful to protect the role universities play in training our future teachers, for fear of emulating the situation in England?

The situation in England

“Teachers need to be exposed to top-class academics – there cannot be a disconnect … especially when it’s at the expense of our next generation.”

In recent years the pendulum has swung more towards school-led teacher training in England, leading to large reductions in universities’ teacher training places.

The School Direct programme – a classroombased training route into teaching – was established in 2011, joining a number of other initiatives that also favoured this approach. The London Challenge, for example, was established in 2003 to improve the performance of London’s schools by providing more professional development and support for teachers. Teach First is another well-known example.

While such initiatives appeared to have a positive effect on teaching quality, they did nothing to revive the dwindling number of teacher trainees.

The chief inspector of schools, Sir Michael Wilshaw, stated in Ofsted’s (the UK’s Office for

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Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills) annual report that the problem is no longer one of the quality of new entrants to the profession, but of quantity and distribution.

The number of teacher training applicants has dropped by 17 per cent in England over the past five years, putting the country seven per cent below the number of places needed in 2014/15.

Some believe that school-led teacher training programmes like School Direct are partly to blame.

School Direct places are not spread evenly across the country and take no account of local demand, and there is no onus on schools to recruit the number of School Direct places they have been allocated.

The knock-on effect for university teachertraining providers is that they are unable to plan strategically or long term.

In a recent Guardian editorial, the University of Reading’s vice-chancellor, Sir David Bell, states that the education departments of many universities are finding it difficult to maintain their courses and retain staff due to uncertainty over future funding.

“I am all for creating strong and different training routes for teachers, but not at the expense of choking off the best BA-Ed and PGCE [postgraduate certificate in education] courses and driving them out of business,” he writes.

“We must never break the umbilical cord between education in schools and research in universities. Teachers need to be exposed to top-class academics – there cannot be a disconnect between the classroom and the advancement of knowledge, especially when it’s at the expense of our next generation.”

Findings of a review of initial teacher training, released earlier this year, support the views of Sir David Bell and other university vice-chancellors. The review found that the role higher education institutions play is critical and should not be rejected in favour of a school-led model.

In the foreword of the review, lead researcher Sir Andrew Carter writes

that both schools and universities need to work together.

“Sometimes universities will take the lead; sometimes, and increasingly, it will be the schools that lead the way. However, neither can do it alone and our review has made recommendations that emphasise the strength of working together within a system that is increasingly school-led.”

However, the report states that it is difficult to determine whether one route into teaching is any more effective than another, as there are strengths across all routes.

“Universities can benefit from school involvement in commissioning, facilitating and disseminating research and other forms of development and enquiry. Similarly, schools can benefit from the expertise of universities to become research-rich environments,

Teacher education

helping them to drive school improvement and impact positively on pupil outcomes and achievements.”

However, the review’s recommendation that the PGCE should be regarded as optional to qualified teacher status angered many in the university sector.

Michael Gunn, vice-chancellor of Staffordshire University told Times Higher Education that the recommendation “flies in the face of the evidence of high-performing countries like Finland”.

“The next government must make a clear commitment to university-led teacher education provision and to a teaching profession where professional and academic qualifications and professional development become the norm,” said Gunn.

The situation in New Zealand

New Zealand teacher education programmes are provider-led, meaning a teacher’s training is delivered by a university or other higher education institution. According to the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC), in New Zealand there are 25 providers of teacher training delivering about 146 programmes.

The programmes differ in nature. Some are more field-based programmes with more emphasis on practicum focus than others. Some teacher training establishments have formalised partnerships with schools; others have not. In general terms, teacher education programmes in New Zealand have shifted towards stronger and better partnerships between universities and schools in recent years.

The TEC states there is no requirement for formal partnerships between providers and schools. However the New Zealand Teachers Council (NZTC) expects all teacher education providers to have a strong relationship with the schools they send trainee teachers to for practical placements.

NZTC has clear expectations around the relationship between teacher training providers and schools, including how the relationship should be developed and maintained; ensuring the school understands the purpose of the programme; the school’s role in training the student teacher, and the school’s role in assessing the student teacher.

NZTC reviews all teacher training programmes every six years and conducts audits between reviews – usually every two years. The nature of the relationship between the teacher training provider and the schools it deals with form part of the review and audit.

A changing collaboration

The provider-school partnership is not a new concept, as Beverly Cooper, associate dean Teacher Education at Waikato University, points out.

“The importance of universities working Are teacher education students alongside schools for effective initial teacher spending enough time in schools? education and recognising school practice expertise has long been recognised in New Zealand. Normal schools, for example, introduced in the 19th century were attached to Teachers Colleges – now colleges or faculties of education in universities.”

Cooper says Waikato University has always worked in partnership with its Normal schools and has more recently developed programmes that require student teachers to have longer While universities are placing increasing emphasis term engagement with schools. Waikato’s Master on school-university partnerships in their teacher of Teaching and Learning students spend the education programmes, John Morris of Morris equivalent of two days per week for six months, Consulting, believes student teachers still need to followed by a full term in partner schools. be spending more time in schools.

“Developing a shared understanding between In the Teaching Stars NZ Initiative report he schools and university has been a long-term co-authored with Rose Patterson, Morris makes and sustained process where lead teachers the observation that New Zealand currently has in schools and faculty staff meet regularly to a smaller number of hours allocated to actual discuss aspects of the programme and our practicum than most of the other OECD countries. lecturers spend time in the school context,” says Cooper.

Contunued on next page >> Staff at Massey University’s Institute of Education believe there is a shift in the way providers are collaborating with schools.

“We also agree that our teacher education programmes are still universityThey could win $10,000 towards sports led; that there is gear for their local school or sports club.* much collaboration with schools but that the nature of that collaboration is changing,” says Massey’s Dr Alison Sewell.

The new Master of Teaching and Learning programme at Massey University’s Institute of Education is a good example of how collaboration is changing with schools (see side article).

The University of Kurt, Auckland’s Master of Waterpolo Coaching Teaching (Primary) is Extraordinaire another, combining campus-based and school-based teaching and learning, allowing Nominate your local ‘good sort of sport’ students to carry out at aainsurance.co.nz/thanks their practical teaching Entries close 5pm Friday 31 July, 2015.

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“…I cannot remember one trainee who didn’t feel that a lot of the time spent in lectures was ‘wasted’ and that the best learning was actually in schools.”

Thank your ‘good sort of sport’.

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Teacher education

The minimum requirement here is 14 weeks of in-school training, when international research suggests at least 20 weeks is optimal.

“I think there needs to be a balance between the theory that the universities clearly have strengths in and the practice of teaching, but I believe more time needs to be spent in schools.

“In my 20+ years as a Head in my end of practicum debriefs, I cannot remember one trainee who didn’t feel that a lot of the time spent in lectures was ‘wasted’ and that the best learning was actually in schools. There is an argument that the craft of teaching is best gained through apprentice-style training in classrooms.”

Morris points to a strong body of research that believes teacher training in universities is too theoretical. He says educational researcher Professor John Hattie believes there is no systematic evidence that teacher education programmes have any positive effects on the quality of first year teachers.

“There is a need to find alternative routes into teaching, especially for those entering teaching as a second career, and school-led programmes would be far more attractive to such people than a year at university.”

Morris praises the partnership between Macleans College in East Auckland and Victoria University of Wellington, which he describes as the closest thing to a school-led teacher education programme in New Zealand. The trainees are based at Macleans College and have access to

Victoria University’s online Graduate Diploma in Teaching programme, including lectures and research, complementing their in-school learning.

There is also the Teach First programme, offered through The University of Auckland, which sees highly successful graduates fast-track their way through teacher education by teaching in low decile schools.

Finding the right balance

“In our opinion, both academic and professional work is essential to prepare teachers for the complexities of the job.”

However, despite his desire to see more schoolled teacher education programmes on offer, Morris is keen not to replicate England’s approach to teacher education, which he describes as “a confusing landscape of varied quality programmes.”

“The situation in the UK seems to have got out of hand with many different new school-led programmes operating, as well as the traditional PGCE and older school-led programmes like GTP and SCITT,” he says.

Massey’s Institute of Education staff don’t think New Zealand is likely to emulate the situation in England.

“We don’t think we are at risk of tipping the scales too far towards school-led models and echoing the situation in Britain,” says Sewell. “What is important is not so much the question of who leads, but how a university qualification can be co-constructed more closely with schools in a co-leadership model. In this way, a university-school partnership ensures the development of teachers who are efficacious and able to meet the needs of each learner, most particularly the Ministry of Education priority learners groups.”

Dean of education at The University of Auckland Professor Graeme Aitken, having just completed a visit to four universities in the UK, has a good sense of the issues they are facing in England and how their approach to teacher education differs from that of New Zealand.

Aitken thinks New Zealand’s approach – university-led with genuine and monitored partnerships with schools in place – is better.

“My reason for suggesting that the balance is better in New Zealand is that schools are charged with the prime responsibility of teaching students – a critically important and difficult enough task without adding the requirement of being charged with the prime responsibility of also educating the next generation of teachers.

“They clearly have a critical and central role to play – and I am fully committed to meaningful, genuine and well-funded partnerships, as hospitals do in the educating of doctors – but it is unreasonable to expect them to come to terms, as

new Master of Teaching and Learning

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ollowing last year’s successful pilot, Massey University has launched its new Master of Teaching and Learning.

The 180 credit programme doubles the time devoted to clinical internships and community placements, in which students are supported by a school’s lead mentor teacher, a classroom-based mentor teacher, and a university supervisor and other university specialist teaching staff.

One of the programme coordinators, Dr Alison Sewell, says the new programme has adopted a ‘third space’ model for partnerships with seven local primary and secondary schools.

“These schools worked with us to co-construct key elements of the university-based papers, and in essence they are sharing the teaching and assessment

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Postgrad Education 2015

of these papers.

“This university/school partnership has forged strong professional relationships that have generated shareable knowledge that draws together research and practice knowledge.

“We believe this increased time

amount of classroom time programmed into the course has helped them to feel at home in the school environment already.

Three of the students, who recently spent half a day at Palmerston North’s Central Normal School Te Kura Tuatahi

“The practical/theory balance of the programme was what sold me.” in the field is essential to improve student teachers’ performance to the mastery of adaptive expertise required of teachers in 21st century classrooms,” says Sewell.

While the 27-strong foundation cohort, based at the Institute of Education at the Manawatū campus, is not yet halfway through the year, they say the

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O Papaioea – where three of their classmates have been placed for the past few months – spoke enthusiastically about their experiences of learning about teaching in a school, as well as the overall structure and approach of the new Masters programme.

The students spend three days

a week throughout the year on practical experience in a partner school, with one day for theory and another for self-study.

Collaborative approach

Co-coordinator associate professor Sally Hansen says the Master of Teaching and Learning is taught collaboratively with partner schools and exemplary practice schools to provide high-quality teaching, learning and mentoring experiences in school, university and community settings.

“Some of the many distinctive features of this programme are: individual and small group mentoring; a diverse learning community in partner schools and at the university, and a community placement self-regulation to identify personal strengths and to customise learning needs.”

Teacher education

leaders of the endeavour, with all that is entailed in preparing future professionals for teaching on top of their main mission,” says Aitken.

Waikato’s Beverley Cooper agrees.

“I think we have it about right in New Zealand,” she says. “Universities have been working very hard to enhance and develop partnerships with schools, which is the key to improving student teacher achievement.”

Cooper points out that the three and four-year programmes typically have a minimum of 20 weeks practicum mandated, and one-year programmes have a minimum of 14 weeks. Most Master of Teaching and Learning programmes are one-year programmes and have at least 20 weeks of practicum.

She says it is important to remember that teacher education in New Zealand also includes the first two years of teaching where a reduced teaching load (0.8 in year one and 0.9 in year two) and a formal induction and mentoring programme is a requirement.

Cooper believes teacher training needs to encompass more than is offered in school-based

Cam Dow, who aims to be a secondary school teacher, says he’s appreciated learning about pedagogical theory then going back into the classroom “to see it in action”.

“Rather than doing class for months then going into the school for a short time and trying to recall everything, you can see it happening when it’s still fresh.”

Chanel Tamahaga says she likes the teaching style of the course, which veers away from conventional lectures.

“In class, our lecturers use all the different pedagogical methods with us that we in turn are learning about.

It might be pair-share, collaborative, presentations or skits – learning like this helps us to solidify what works for us as teachers.

“The practical/theory balance of the programme was what sold me,” she says, adding that her placement at Freyberg High School has reinforced her decision to do the Masters in order to “be a teacher, make change, and to be a role model”.

programmes. She says the attrition rate of new teachers who are prepared in school-based programmes is high.

“We believe that school-based models prepare people for site-specific contexts, rather than the wider role of a teacher,” she says.

“These models are very dependent on skilled mentoring and the teachers who act as mentors having time to do this effectively.

“In our opinion, both academic and professional work is essential to prepare teachers for the complexities of the job. For student teachers to develop as agents of change and be truly reflexive and develop adaptive expertise to respond to individual students’ learning, they need to be aware of and develop the theoretical tools alongside the practical experiences.”

Supporting research

Waikato University conducted some research on its Collaborative University School Partnership (CUSP) programme for initial teacher education

She also loves working collaboratively with teachers and fellow students, and “bouncing ideas off other people”.

Dow, who did a Bachelor of Arts in Media Studies and English, enjoys this aspect too, saying the collaborative nature of the university classes is more energising “than passively sitting there, taking notes”.

For Matt Costley, who did a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and who was previously employed as a youth worker, says

and found that the majority of pre-service teachers who had experienced CUSP placements and practicum in their first year felt it had played a vital role in their teacher education.

Massey’s Institute of Education probed this topic further and engaged in research, funded by Ako Aotearoa to develop and to document effective strategies that would facilitate the co-construction of an initial teacher education curriculum in a school-university partnership. In so doing, the project sought to make links between theories underpinning effective pedagogies, taught at the university, with the day-to-day practice of teaching and learning.

Sewell says one clear theme emerging from the research is the importance of building relationships between the school and university sectors to create a professional learning community with a focus on building knowledge together.

Another key finding is the importance of searching for and building on shared pedagogical knowledge, skills and values that each institution has and being clear about what each institution can offer.

The third – and perhaps most telling – finding is the willingness to share power and leadership within a university/school partnership.

The key appears to lie in acknowledging the value of the various elements that comprise a teacher’s education, and striving to incorporate them all without trading one off at the expense of another.

learning about teaching by being in a school and developing a rapport with a mentor teacher has been hugely positive and affirming.

“It’s great how open the schools have been with us, and giving us opportunities,” he says. “It’s quite a big deal for us, especially because we haven’t necessarily done much in classrooms before.”

Tamahaga, who has a postgraduate qualification in Sport and Exercise Science and is of Tahitian and Niuean ethnicity, says she wants to use sport and

Matt Costley, Cam Dow and Chanel Tamahaga at Central Normal School

physical exercise as a medium to help Māori and Pasifika pupils “improve the quality and quantity of their lives through sporting achievement”.

Dow says the programme’s focus on the inclusion of different cultures represented in classrooms – by acknowledging and learning about those cultures – is a core feature of the course and something he feels is vital for teachers in New Zealand’s changing society.

“I’ve really appreciated having my mindset adjusted,” he says.

“Developing more cultural awareness has been really valuable to me.”

Ultimately, the appeal of teaching is witnessing that ‘light bulb’ moment for a young learner, he says.

Teaching music and drums oneon-one for five years gave him a first taste of the joys of teaching. “I really enjoyed getting that reaction when you see a student hook onto something and the light bulb goes off in them. Basically it [teaching] is all about trying to ignite that passion.”

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FLAG Profile

London calling

What are they up to now?

The latest on our education students

Education Review has followed the progress of teacher education students ANNIE RILEY and KELSIE DAVIEMORLAND for the past two years. Here, we find out what’s happening now.

Former Massey University student ANNIE RILEY gets a taste of teaching abroad.

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am currently in my second year of teaching and I still absolutely love it. I made a big decision at the end of 2014 to leave the New Zealand education system (temporarily) and embark on a new challenge abroad. I can’t speak highly enough of my time at Westmount School in Hawke’s Bay and I hope to return there one day! I thoroughly enjoyed my year teaching a small class of Year 3 students and was lucky enough to have an extremely supportive community comprising students, staff and parents.

I am currently teaching at a large primary school in Wimbledon, London. I have a lovely class of 30 Year 1 students. The school has been so supportive in easing my transition and helping me to get my head around the British curriculum and the assessment process. It has been brilliant coming into a school that is so proactive and interested in taxonomies such as Bloom’s and SOLO and I have enjoyed the opportunity to share my knowledge.

At the beginning of the new school year in September I will be teaching Year 5 and am looking forward to the change. I am continuing to gain a lot of experience and have opportunities for professional development. I have extended my knowledge of phonics, ESL and diversity within a classroom. My skills and confidence continue to develop and I am keeping in mind the key competencies of The New Zealand Curriculum; these continue to underpin my teaching practice.

“Teaching is who you are, not what you do”

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”It’s taken a lot of sweat, tears and chocolate to get through but it’s been the best experience of my life.”

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”It has been brilliant coming into a school that is so proactive and interested in taxonomies such as Bloom’s and SOLO and I have enjoyed the opportunity to share my knowledge.”

I remain passionate about teaching and learning and feel as though my programme of study (Massey University Graduate Diploma of Teaching) really prepared me for the world of teaching. I am always so proud when they have the ‘aha!’ moment and something really clicks in!

I continue to learn alongside my students, develop as a teacher and set myself professional goals to improve my practice.I am so looking forward to all of the challenges and milestones ahead!

Now that I’m in the second to last year of my degree, it’s scary to look back at the person I was when I first started at the University of Waikato.

When I say I don’t recognise myself, it is the utmost truth. Words cannot describe how much I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the journey from where I was to where I am today.

University of Waikato student KELSIE DAVIE-MORLAND nears completion of her BA and looks forward to her final education-based year of study.

aving now been into a classroom and experienced a little of what being a teacher entails, I can never look back. The amount of stress and energy it takes just for practicum was incredibly intoxicating and something I now look forward to for the rest of my life.

In the first article of this journey I mentioned a teacher by the name of John Riley. I’m going to take the opportunity to say another massive thank-you and express the utmost gratitude to him. Although I have not been in a classroom with him for almost three years now, he has been a constant influence in everything I’ve done, but especially in shaping the teacher I strive to be.

He was absolutely right when he said, “Teaching is who you are, not what you do”. I find myself responding to questions in lectures and monitoring behaviour (my own and others’) always with this in

mind. Even the way I address people has changed drastically after having completed two-and-a-half years of a four-year conjoint degree.

At the end of this year, I will have completed my Bachelor of Arts, double-majoring in English and Theatre. It’s taken a lot of sweat, tears and chocolate to get through but it’s been the best experience of my life. Next year will be fully education-based with my final practicum, and then hopefully I’ll get a job somewhere! I look forward to my second placement back at my old high school with John at the end of this year.

I’ll give one piece of advice, for everyone studying: it may seem dark and dreary, but when you get through it you will feel so accomplished and it’ll be the most rewarding journey. Don’t give up!

$ Universities FLAG

Busting myths around

universities today CHRIS WHELAN reports that New Zealand’s universities are in excellent shape, but funding needs to keep pace if we are to maintain our high quality and reputation.

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ast month I was fortunate to be part of the delegation to Latin America led by tertiary education Minister Stephen Joyce to strengthen education links and explore new opportunities for cooperation.

While preparing for the trip I thought about New Zealand’s universities. How do our systems differ from other university systems? What is expected of us? How well do we meet those expectations?

The Government wants universities to produce employable, work-ready graduates who meet employer demand; to develop and share knowledge and research that contributes to an innovation-driven economy; to contribute to GDP through international education earnings and commercial activity. It also needs engaged citizens who contribute to New Zealand’s social, economic and cultural wellbeing.

Today’s students want a quality qualification that helps them to secure meaningful employment. They also want the skills that will prepare them for a rapidly evolving workplace and jobs that don’t yet exist.

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Most employers are looking for graduates with the right attitudes; the ability to work with others, to solve problems, to communicate well and to be able to adapt to a range of challenges and continually changing business needs.

Exceptional performance

New Zealanders expect a quality system that represents an effective and efficient investment of public funding. And under the Education Act, we also have a role as a critic and conscience of society.

So how are we doing? The short answer is that we perform exceptionally well.

Our graduates are well regarded and well employed. Over 4,000 students with research degrees graduate each year– nearly half of them in science, technology and engineering subjects. Graduate unemployment rates are low, averaging around two per cent. Contrary to popular belief, our arts graduates aren’t manning deep fryers at burger joints – in fact only 1.4 per cent work in the retail and hospitality sector.

All courses, even engineering, teach ‘soft’ skills such as critical thinking, active learning, complex problem solving and interpersonal skills, which are highly sought after by employers. These softer skills give graduates the ability and agility to work across different roles, sectors and borders and prepare them for a career in which they will need to continually learn and adapt.

While universities receive just over half their funding from government, they also make a significant economic contribution to the country, collectively contributing more than $1 billion each year to international education, New Zealand’s fifth largest export market. Combined, the economic impact of universities on the New Zealand economy has been estimated at around $7 billion annually.

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Unique quality assurance system

We have a robust system for the quality assurance of academic programmes.

Through the Committee on University Academic Programmes, all eight universities collectively approve all new programmes and qualifications after a rigorous quality review process. This system where universities collectively review and approve academic programmes is unique in the world.

Because of it, we are the only country where every one of our universities is ranked in the top three per cent of the world’s universities. These rankings measure quality and reputation of factors such as research, teaching and the learning environment.

This means that we are the only country in the world where our young people can enrol in any university they like and will be sure they are receiving a world-class, internationally recognised education.

The non-completion rate for New Zealand students who start a degree and then fail to complete is among the lowest in the world – 50 per cent better than Australia and nearly two-and-a-half times better than the United States. Despite this, we can and are trying to do more in

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this area – particularly with regard to lifting completion rates for Māori and Pasifika students.

Funding impacting rankings

We have some challenges in maintaining this quality. We are currently delivering this education with one of the lowest levels of funding per student in the developed world.

For example, we spend about 70 per cent as much per student as Australia. We are slowly slipping in international rankings because funding has been slowly dropping in real terms over the past couple of decades.

Currently the Government provides just over half the university sector’s income through tuition subsidies and research funding and another 27 per cent of funding comes from student fees.

The funding boost in last month’s budget was welcomed by the university sector. The Budget allocated an

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Universities

”We are the only country where every one of our universities is ranked in the top three per cent of the world’s universities …We are currently delivering this education with one of the lowest levels of funding per student in the developed world.”

additional $112.3 million over four years into the tertiary sector, with special emphasis on university science, engineering, agriculture and some health science courses. Much of this new investment was made possible by the Government’s decision to retain existing funding levels despite a demographic decline in the school leaver population.

However, this increase only represents an increase of around one per cent in funding per student once funding for new student places is deducted. That’s not enough to even stand still at a time when salaries, property costs and library costs are rising at around two to three per cent.

The 2015 Universitas 21 ranking of national higher education systems assessed the

resourcing of New Zealand’s university system at 27th out of 50 countries, just ahead of the Ukraine, Spain and Chile. Despite this, it ranked New Zealand well above average on all other metrics and ninth overall when accounting for this country’s level of economic development.

Our ongoing challenge is to retain the quality and reputation of our universities despite historically low levels of resourcing of New Zealand’s tertiary education system, expressed as a percentage of GDP.

Chris Whelan is executive director of Universities New Zealand.

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Higher Education

Mature-age students:

do they feel supported?

At a time when the workforce is ageing and the labour market is increasingly volatile, ELIZABETH McLEOD asks the question: how well are our tertiary institutions set up for those wanting to upskill, retrain or further their knowledge?

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e all know the mantra: to grow a knowledge economy, New Zealand needs a highly skilled, diverse and adaptable workforce. The reality is, we have a workforce that’s increasingly made up of people who went to university 20, 30, even 40 years ago.

Between 2006 and 2013, tertiary enrolments dropped in almost every age group. While those in the under-18-year-old group dropped the most (around six per cent), they were followed closely by those in the 25–39 bracket and 40+ bracket, which dropped by around five per cent. By contrast, 18–19-year-olds’ enrolments increased by five per cent (women) and 3.5 per cent (men).

So what barriers do older people face when embarking on a tertiary education – and what’s being done about them?

Mature-age (25 and over) students often report feeling overwhelmed, anxious about ‘making the grade’ or

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simply lonely, while many struggle to juggle study with work and family obligations. Maria Meredith, manager for The University of Auckland’s New Start foundation programme, says mature students “may have children; be caring for an elderly parent; have to go part-time and work at the same time: there are so many issues”.

Extensive TEO support services

Most tertiary education organisations (TEOs) offer a wide range of services to support mature-age students: from orientations and mentoring services to online and on-campus workshops on academic writing, research strategies, and note-taking.

There are university preparation and foundation courses for first-time students, subject refresher courses, crèches and mature students’ clubs.

Part-time Victoria University Italian language student Romina Roncato (36) feels well supported. “Being selfemployed, I have to do everything myself, take all the responsibility; I go to university and they give me all this information and they’re encouraging and there are all these services available. It’s such good value.”

TEOs shouldn’t underestimate the value of compassion and the personal touch. Andrea Stills was a 31-year-old single mum with a 13-year-old son and two preschoolers when she began studying for a communications degree at Auckland’s Unitec.

“I’d previously tried studying elsewhere and just found it too challenging. At Unitec they were so supportive, it was really personal. I had a lecturer who’d say to me ‘come on, you can do it, you’ve got to finish for your children’. It’s so motivating. I achieved much more than I thought was possible, just with that support.”

Stills now works at Unitec herself, in marketing and communications – and student support. “I’m quite passionate about it because for me, that support made all the difference.

I think if you have a supportive environment, it’ll get people over the line.”

Unitec where half of the 18,000 students are over 25 – strives to accommodate students’ other commitments, with many courses

holding evening and weekend classes to accommodate working students.

‘Blended learning’ becoming popular

It’s also moving increasingly toward the ‘blended learning’ approach: a mix of online learning, self-directed study and assignments. Alison Dow, director of Pou Aroha Student Support, says it gives mature-age students much-needed flexibility, “as well as learning new IT skills that will be useful to them in employment”.

The University of Waikato also offers blended learning – its Mixed Media Presentation (MMP) Teacher Education programme. For Wellingtonian Lizzie Waipara (47), the flexibility it offers her as an athome mum and mature-age student is partly why she’s opted to do her bachelor’s degree in primary teaching by distance through Waikato, instead of locally.

In MMP, students discuss texts in daily online forums facilitated by a lecturer; some on-campus lectures are videotaped and sent to distance students the same day. Students submit assignments and are tested online.

“It allows you to study at times of day you’re not dealing with children, or in some cases jobs. Just being able to fit in the study around my life, round my family, and working when I feel I can work best, is invaluable,” says Waipara.

Other TEOs offer flexible learning: almost half the students enrolled at Massey University’s three campuses are distance learners. Victoria University has a number of endof-day lectures and courses, says director of student academic services Pam Thorburn; however, she notes that people who are working can often arrange their work schedules for morning, afternoon and evening classes.

The sector as a whole seems slow to fully embrace the possibilities e-learning offers for making tertiary education less campus-bound.

“I think the more universities move in that direction – and I think it’s an international trend – the more possibilities you’ll see for older students to come back into the system,” says Brian Findsen,

Higher Education

professor of adult education at the University of Waikato.

“I think there’s still a lot more potential from tertiary providers to embrace the mature-age student. That may be slightly different timetabling structures, more movement towards blended learning, and just different ways of doing things.”

More government focus required

The Government’s Tertiary Education Strategy (TES) 2014–2019 asks providers to focus on lifting performance in the 18–25 age group.

But as the deputy CEO of Eastern Institute of Technology Mark Oldershaw points out, “the TES is silent around mature students. However it’s clearly an area we all need to give some collective thought to.

“With an ageing population, the traditional classroom environment may not be the best fit, and more thought may be needed around online delivery to allow for flexible study.”

Mature-age students comprise roughly half of the domestic student population. A few TEOs attract proportionately more older students: notably polytechnics and whare wānanga.

Te Wānanga o Aotearoa boasts around 26,000 mature-age students – a staggering 83 per cent of its enrolments. It’s also the largest foundation education provider in the country.

“We’re proud of the fact that we reengage people in education, particularly those who are literally casualties of the compulsory education system,” says deputy CEO John Whaanga.

Mature-age students value Te Wānanga “because we do a lot of modular courses over weekends or outside work hours, have trainers/ teachers who look like them and incorporate our kaupapa Māori values throughout our delivery.”

Online home-based courses that can fit around work and family commitments and “less academic, more practice-focused” courses are also popular.

And perhaps crucially: “We probably have the lowest fee structure of any institution.”

Cost the biggest barrier

Which brings us to perhaps the biggest barrier to study facing older people cost.

In the last few years, the Government has slashed entitlements to older students: the New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations (NZUSA)

and Grey Power say that’s why the number of students aged 55+ has plummeted by 43 per cent since 2008. Furthermore, part-time study is generally excluded from student allowances.

“We do notice that the economic difficulties for mature students, especially when they’re raising families, are quite significant,” says Dow. Her team provides hardship support “and it’s often mature students, particularly women who’ve come off a benefit to study, who struggle to manage on a student loan.”

Stills supported her family on the Sole Parent benefit while studying, along with a $500/year WINZ loan to help with costs like transport and childcare.

“I’ve seen some amazing women, single mums of kids mostly, with as little as $30 a week for food etc.

That’s pretty heartbreaking. But they’re persevering because they have the bigger picture of what it’s going to mean for their future and their children’s future.”

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Lifelong learning for an educated society

She’d like to see the Government reinstate its Training Incentive Allowance for sole parent beneficiaries doing tertiary study, axed in 2008.

“Obviously it’s a choice to study, but ultimately it’s the best thing all round: it’s best for society and we have a more educated country, that’s not a bad thing.”

Lifelong learning offers more benefits than simply economic ones, says Findsen: “personal fulfilment; the notion that the learning process is as important as the outcomes; the notion of the act of citizenry – being educated so you can contribute to your society in a positive fashion.

“I don’t think we should neglect the kids coming out of school, but for goodness’ sake, we live another 50, 60, increasingly 70 years after leaving school, what about all of the population that wants to continue learning?”

Findsen would like to see incentives for providers to engage with matureage students.

The linear model of early education followed by work then retirement is “virtually redundant”, he says.

“We need to start seeing those things in parallel. We need to continue learning right through life – dipping in and out of education as we need to, to upgrade our skills or knowledge, or hold onto our jobs or change careers, or just in the interests of citizenry.”

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National Standards

Hitting the ground running:

meeting the National Standards at age 5

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Massey University doctoral student SARAH AIONO discusses the impact of National Standards on students in their first year of schooling.

ational Standards became part of New Zealand’s education system in 2009, in response to concerns that one in five students were leaving school without basic literacy and numeracy skills. The National Party campaigned in 2008 that adopting a standardised approach to assessment and a focus on lifting achievement and improving teaching responses would ensure that all students finish school with NCEA Level 2.

Echoing international failures

The adoption of a standardised approach reflects other international responses to concerns regarding student achievement levels. Countries including the United Kingdom and the United States have implemented similar policies. However, the national testing regime and standardised approach in these countries have negatively impacted the very students they were intended to target for raised achievement.

Concerns over international practices have resulted in vocal opposition to their implementation locally. Internationally, research demonstrates that contrary to the intended outcomes, adopting a national standardised approach to assessing student progress has resulted in a less equitable and less authentic delivery of education to students and nowhere more so than the specific area of the new entrant classroom.

National Standards reporting and assessment in New Zealand has been felt most significantly by students entering the primary school system, usually at age five, and those who teach them.

Starting school

Children begin school with a wide range of skill sets and knowledge. Some begin school with age-appropriate skills and demonstrate a readiness to learn. Others arrive with low language and number concept skills, and/ or low social and emotional development.

Furthermore, a child’s early childhood experiences and socio-economic status have an impact on the success of a student’s transition into the formal education system.

For a smooth transition to occur, teachers need to connect with their learners and the knowledge they bring with them as a baseline for new learning and the development of positive engagement in school. Children feel valued when their knowledge and skills

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appear to match the agenda and values of their teacher.

However, a successful transition – one in which the teacher makes valued connections and assists the child to learn how to operate within the primary school structure – can take up to one year for some students and needs to be managed carefully.

Required assessments

The introduction of National Standards has placed mandatory assessment and reporting on teachers both as an interim after having attended for two terms, as well as at the end of a child’s first year at school.

Teachers are required to use the six-year Net Standardised test to report on how many students within their first year have met the required standard.

Prior to the introduction of National Standards, there was no standardised benchmark against which new entrant teachers measured their students after their first year at school, other than assessments made by those teachers who wished to access Reading Recovery funding for the following school year. As a result, schools monitored the progress of their students and planned accordingly in relation to their individual needs. Students who began school with a significant deficit in skills and knowledge were supported individually throughout their transition. Curriculum delivery was adapted to meet their needs and to ensure that students successfully transitioned to school without the pressure to meet expected outcomes that were beyond their developmental reach.

National Standards now require teachers to ensure that all learners are reading at Green 1 Level by the end of their first year at school, regardless of their skills, knowledge and cultural capital upon entry to the school system. Should students not be operating at this level after one year at school, teachers are required to put in place a programme

of ‘accelerated achievement‘ in order to increase the proportion of students who are working at or above the expected standard.

Limiting effect of National Standards

Successful transition should not be at the expense of getting all students to an arbitrary standard, regardless of their starting point.

The reputation and confidence of a learner are established through the basis of a narrow range of skills assessed during this year (Peters, 2004). The purpose of the first year of school is to establish a sense of belonging and wellbeing at school, as well as to learn the ‘doing school’ before focusing on the content of learning itself.

The impact of having students work to meet a mandatory standard within the first year has meant that teachers have less time to meet the individual and developmental needs of their learners.

Students developmentally behind their peers are targeted for remedial group work, specific learning programmes and individual teaching in order to accelerate their learning. Extra assistance provided for targeted students in this first year of schooling is at the expense of providing creative, exciting and joyous learning experiences in the classroom.

Students learn when they are engaged in classroom tasks. By making the learning process dynamic and enjoyable, students are more likely to become engaged. If tasks set are not exciting, or are arduous or developmentally too challenging, students will disengage. Engagement is a key aspect of a successful transition and in building the foundation for a disposition for future learning.

The establishment of the standards that students are expected to meet after the first year of school do not reflect the individualised and complex developmental trajectory of students. New entrants’ ‘start lines’ are not all equal, and yet after one year at school they are expected to reach the

New entrants’ ‘start lines’ are not all equal, and yet after one year at school they are expected to reach exactly the same finish line, at exactly the same time.

National Standards same finish line, at the same time. Many students are able to begin their race at a well-developed running pace, whereas others begin at a crawl.

A successful transition to school should be focused on creating confident and connected students with a positive disposition for learning, rather than a specific and narrow knowledgebase. Children’s learning dispositions are impacted upon when a curriculum is packed with compulsory tasks, tight scheduling and summative assessments – practices reflective of the impact standardisation has on the new entrant teaching programme. The first six months

should focus on teaching to student interests and flexible programming, as well as individualised assessment processes, such as learning portfolios that demonstrate the progress of learning, rather than the attainment of specific skills. This will then support the development of positive learning dispositions and identity as a successful learner within the school setting.

Learning is the exciting process of constructing meaning. Young children are naturally predisposed to exploring that which draws their interest and engages them. In order for them to continue to grow this disposition, they

must feel connected to their learning environment and confident in their abilities as a learner.

Teachers must provide opportunities for students within the first year of schooling that enable them to establish these connections and allow them to understand why they are at school. Students need the opportunity to understand their own individual learning progress and what makes them a successful learner, rather than being labelled as ‘below’ or ‘well below’ a standard within their first year at school.

To see a copy of this article with all references included, please visit educationreview.co.nz.

From New Zealand to New York – one Kiwi teacher’s research opportunity

MICHAEL HARCOURT received a Fulbright-Cognition Scholar Award in Education Research, allowing him to research culturally responsive history teaching in New York City.

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everal years ago I received a printout in my pigeonhole with the names and ethnic identities of all my students.

At the time I didn’t know what to do with it, although I suspected it was probably important information, provided to help me be a more culturally responsive teacher. I didn’t realise that the printout would help to start a line of questioning leading me to New York City.

Implications for teachers

What exactly does it mean to be ’culturally responsive’? To what extent is knowing students’ ethnic identities useful to teachers? Does ethnic identity shape students’ understanding of the past?

If so, what implications does that have for me as a history and social studies teacher, especially when teaching about historical race relations and their contemporary legacy?

”I felt it was a fantastic opportunity to work with an expert in the field of culturally responsive history education, while working with a data set that had direct relevance to teachers and students in New Zealand.”

These are some of the questions I have had the opportunity to explore in more depth, working with Professor Terrie Epstein, a world expert in culturally responsive history teaching, at the City University of New York. Her research explores the different ways that African Americans and white Americans understand the past and the implications of these differences for teachers.

Epstein was a visiting Fulbright Scholar to New Zealand in 2013. She came to explore what role, if any, New Zealand students’ ethnic identities had on their understanding of the Treaty of Waitangi. She interviewed and surveyed students and teachers in schools in Wellington, including Wellington High School.

In 2014, Epstein supported my own Fulbright application and invited me to work with her in New York on the data she gathered in Wellington.

I felt it was a fantastic opportunity to work with an expert in the field of culturally responsive history education, while working with a data set that had direct relevance to teachers and students in New Zealand.

Fortunately, my application was successful. I arrived in New York with my wife, baby and three-

year-old in early February 2015. We have made our home in the East Village, Manhattan, which we will leave in time for the beginning of school in term three.

While here I have co-written a chapter for a book on ’difficult history’ with Terrie Epstein and Mark Sheehan from Victoria University of Wellington. The three of us will present our findings to a group of history educationalists from around the world in New York in late June. I have developed a culturally responsive theory of history teaching, which I hope to publish in a New Zealand teaching journal and present at a social sciences conference later in 2015. I am currently working on the final article to come directly from my time in New York, which Epstein and I hope to jointly publish in 2016.

Life-changing experience

My Fulbright experience will not end when I return to New Zealand. I have made valuable contacts and strengthened previous relationships with history educationalists in the United States. In April, I attended the American Education Research Association (AERA) conference in Chicago where I met a number of teacher researchers, or teachers committed to the systematic inquiry of their teaching.

This is a field of education I am particularly interested in exploring further. For example, I am currently in the process of designing a project to help students critically analyse the World War I exhibitions at Te Papa and the Pukeahu National War Memorial Park. I hope to publish my findings in a teaching journal sometime in 2016. What I have learned about methodology and educational research will make this project considerably easier to carry out.

I strongly recommend that other teachers consider applying for a Fulbright award. It has been a life-changing experience for me and my family and will give me some practical ways to respond to cultural diversity in my classroom.

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Food education

Food literacy – its place in the curriculum

JUDE BARBACK looks at the steps some schools are taking to make food education part of their curriculum in an effort to fight both obesity and poor nutrition.

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ritish chef Jamie Oliver’s #FoodRevolutionDay video is doing the rounds on social media at the moment.

It’s a catchy and funny clip featuring celebrities Ed Sheeran, Hugh Jackman and others urging people to sign and share Oliver’s global petition urging all governments to offer food education.

Behind the humour is a serious message.

Oliver believes humanity is facing a global obesity epidemic, with 42 million children under the age of five either overweight or obese across the world.

He is petitioning the governments of G20 countries to introduce food education programmes in their nations’ schools.

In New Zealand there has been an increasing emphasis on food literacy lately. Various projects and studies in recent years have aimed to better understand young people’s approach to food and whether they have the knowledge, skills and behaviours required to achieve a healthy and environmentally friendly diet.

Recent research from The University of Auckland found that the greatest support among child-focused policies was for government rules to restrict unhealthy food marketing to young people, including the exclusion of unhealthy foods for sale at schools. While the New Zealand Government continues to rule out any suggestion of sugar and fat taxes, it has committed $10 million per year to the Healthy Families NZ scheme. It has also invested in green prescriptions, the Kiwisport school scheme, fruit in schools, and the voluntary star-rating scheme for packaged foods.

There are other good initiatives out there too.

Sport Waikato’s Project Energize is a good example of an initiative aimed to improve children’s physical activity, nutrition and their overall health. A team of ‘energizers’ delivers the project across schools providing practical support to help encourage physical activity and healthy eating.

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Garden to Table

The Garden to Table Trust is another organisation pushing the food literacy message in New Zealand schools. The trust wants New Zealanders to support Oliver’s petition. Garden to Table co-founder, food writer Catherine Bell, says New Zealand needs to take its place alongside England, Brazil, Mexico and Japan in implementing a curriculum-based food literacy programme.

Modelled on Australia’s Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Programme, the Garden to Table Trust was established in 2009 as a registered charity to facilitate a programme delivered in New Zealand primary schools, focused on food education for children aged between seven and 10.

Seven years on, the Garden to Table programme now supports 33 schools across New Zealand, providing the opportunity for over 4,000 children every week to engage in the programme.

The Garden to Table Trust was recently able to expand its programme thanks to a $28,500

“The idea is that [Garden to Table] is such a powerful tool in a school that the schools won’t want to let it go.” grant from the Medibank Community Fund. The funding boost has allowed the trust to keep pace with demand as more schools seek to join the programme, including the first schools in Hawke’s Bay and Nelson.

Making food part of the curriculum

The Garden to Table programme is integrated with the curriculum and gives children the opportunity to learn about food, horticulture and their natural environment. Students work in small groups under the supervision of specialist staff, community volunteers and their teachers to participate in practical, hands-on, classes that teach them how

Food education in practice East Tamaki School, Auckland

Over the past three years,East Tamaki School has increased the size of its vegetable gardens and with the help of a team of dedicated volunteers it has allowed the school to offer the Garden to Table programme to more of its students. The students enjoy planting, harvesting, cooking and eating the fruits and vegetables grown in the school gardens. They are becoming experts at indentifying different types of vegetables, which they may not have been exposed to at home, and really appreciate the opportunity to try something new. Children willingly give up their lunchtimes to sow seeds, thin out seedlings, weed the vegetable garden or just wander through to see what is growing.

The school’s disused swimming pool was removed and the hole was filled up with soil, allowing for a very large garden that has now been split up into smaller gardens with paths in between. It has a distinctly Pasifika theme to it, with banana trees and taro being planted in the middle. The old changing sheds now serve as a potting shed and extra storage space.

Edendale Primary School, Auckland

Edendale Primary School recently celebrated Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution Day 2015. The school’s Food Revolution Day celebrations last year were featured on One News with Room 28’s Pyjama Breakfast. This year a group of Year 5 and 6 students met in the kitchen to make their own bread rolls, roasted carrot and garlic hummus, grated fresh beetroot and beansprouts to construct simple, healthy and delicious sliders for lunch.

Oaklands School, Christchurch

Oaklands School recently received the Lions School Environment Award for its efforts in the garden.

The school started planning and developing the garden last year and the produce has been used to make nutritious meals for students. The school has now started developing a food forest and have chickens, which are nurtured by the Year 4 pupils. A number of local businesses have supported the school’s campaign.

Food education to grow, harvest, prepare and share fresh, seasonal produce.

Executive officer of Garden to Table Anne Barrowclough says a curriculum-integrated, in-school programme such as Garden to Table is more than just understanding how to make food choices.

“It’s actually about empowering children with a hands-on lesson, full of practical skill development focused on how to action those choices – what you need to grow your own tomatoes, how you follow a recipe, how to cook from fresh ingredients.

It also adds immediacy and relevance to science and maths concepts.”

Barrowclough says schools offering the Garden to Table programme continually comment on the range of benefits an embedded food education programme provides.

“For example, we hear that attendance is always good on Garden to Table days, team work and problem solving skills are developed, and language skills improve, especially for those for whom English is a second language.

“We get feedback from volunteers about cooperation, depth of knowledge and interest in environment and fresh food; and from parents about practical skills that are coming home, the enthusiasm to try new vegetables, to suggest new recipes.”

Bringing Garden to Table to your school

The programme is currently open to all New Zealand primary schools, with a focus particularly on Year 4–6 classes.

It isn’t quite as easy as just signing up.

There are a number of financial, logistical and philosophical requirements and commitments expected from a Garden to Table school and schools are required to complete an application form to assess readiness.

For starters, schools will need to have space for a garden that will be used to grow vegetables and fruit; have access to a kitchen space that can be used for cooking lessons; and implement and maintain sustainability initiatives. Along with appointing a teacher as a programme coordinator to ensure the programme is embedded in the school timetable, they will also need to recruit and support kitchen and garden specialists to lead the programme.

There is also an expectation for participating schools to document and promote Garden to Table within the school and across the wider community.

It costs schools $2,500 to join the programme

and an annual fee of $550, which is waived for the first year of membership. The initial registration fee covers 10–15 hours with a Garden to Table school liaison coordinator, who will assist the set-up of the programme, and 12 hours training for each of the garden and kitchen specialists. It also gives schools access to the products and services of Garden to Table’s family of sponsors and partners.

Schools will also receive information on planning, budgeting, setting up the garden and kitchen, and practical advice of the ongoing running

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Food education of the programme. They will gain access to an online community forum where staff from the Australian Kitchen Garden Foundation and New Zealand Garden to Table schools can connect and share resources and learning tools such as lesson plans, recipes, cooking tips, and planting guides.

Barrowclough makes no apology for the cost and the requirements. She says they need schools to make a genuine commitment to including the Garden to Table programme into their school timetable. This includes full support from the principal and the Board of Trustees and an understanding of the costs and requirements involved. She doesn’t want this viewed as a fad project introduced by an enthusiastic teacher that peters out when the teacher leaves.

“The idea is that it is such a powerful tool in a school that the schools won’t want to let it go,” she says.

Barrowclough says that in cases where the school is having difficulty meeting the costs, funding can usually be found. For example, the Tindall Foundation and The Warehouse Group Foundation have helped to fund four Wellington schools so that they can join the programme. The

its own challenges and successes. But all are united in their passion to bring the benefits of food education to their students.”

Small but significant steps

first of these schools was Cannon’s Creek Primary School, a decile 1 school in Porirua.

Barrowclough says the programme covers schools across a range of socio-economic areas.

More than half are below decile 5.

“Schools cross all decile levels and each has

Garden to Table brings research opportunities

DR KERRY LEE says a new Masters cohort is allowing students to explore different ways the Garden to Table programme is benefiting New Zealand schools and communities.

Obesity is a real problem in our society and researching some aspects of how kids can grow their own herbs, fruit and vegetables and then learn how to cook these so they taste good is exciting and empowering.

I

first heard about Garden to Table in 2013 and quickly became excited about the opportunities the programme provided for teachers and children.

I met with many of the teachers and specialists in the programme and heard the diverse approaches they were utilising.

They were sold on the programme. It quickly became apparent that the programme enabled teachers and schools to adapt and modify the teaching and learning to suit the needs of the children and community. New Zealand teachers are well known for their ability to maximise a teaching situation without prescribed step-by-step instructions.

Within the Garden to Table programme teachers found opportunities for maths, science, art, food technology, social sciences, health and of course English. The programme enables children to learn content from a variety of learning areas in an authentic situation.

I heard many amusing stories: one teacher told me about her dilemma of the children

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One of the most inspiring aspects of the programme is the way it is feeding back to the families and communities.

There appears to be a loss of knowledge about food – its origins and how to prepare it – as a generation that thrived on resilience and resourcefulness is replaced with a generation that has grown accustomed to packaged food.

“We’re seeing kids taking recipes home, introducing their parents to new foods,” says Barrowclough.

Garden to Table might seem a long way from Jamie Oliver and his posse rapping about changing the world, but one gets the feeling this initiative would certainly have the chef’s seal of approval.

Barrowclough doesn’t expect Garden to Table to provide the solution to childhood obesity in New Zealand, rather she describes its programme as “a small piece in the jigsaw” to helping children make some informed food choices.

sneaking home plants they were growing for the school garden. “You can’t really complain when they are taking the plants home to grow and share with their families,” she laughed.

Inspired by what I saw, I met with the Auckland facilitators and the chief executive of the Garden to Table programme and considered ways that The University of Auckland could be involved.

In 2014, I started a Masters research cohort, which is allowing teachers to undertake their own research on a topic that interests them within the Garden to Table programme, whether it be related to leadership, assessment, pedagogy, curriculum content, delivery, investigating aspects of healthy eating, fruit selection, lunches, cooking, gardening, recycling, and so on.We led workshops with teachers from the programme as well as interested faculty graduates, to develop relevant support material for teachers.

Garden to Table will provide the vehicle and context for this research, enabling the Masters students to have commonality between research projects. Most students who undertake research

feel they want to make a difference and researching within the Garden to Table programme offers this feel-good factor.

Obesity is a real problem in our society and researching some aspects of how kids can grow their own herbs, fruit and vegetables and then learn how to cook these so they taste good is exciting and empowering. It is a winwin, a real no-brainer.

We are developing shared folders in Google Drive to enable the sharing of literature and resources to help the students achieve the high standards they demand of themselves, and prevent them from reinventing the wheel.

By having a cohort working together, it is anticipated that the research journey should be faster and less stressful.

The university has developed an innovation and entrepreneurship initiative. We are trying to think outside the square and do things differently. Our learners are different from those of decades ago and we need to make sure we are changing what and how we meet their needs. Working with the community is one of the best ways to start.

Dr Kerry Lee is director postgraduate (taught courses) in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at The University of Auckland.

“To get to easy, you have to go through hard”

Motivation

Everything is hard

before it is easy

KAREN TUI BOYES says teachers and parents have a ‘Everyone is equal’ philosophy responsibility to ensure our children know that life can be hard, The current generation is growing up in such a but this isn’t an excuse to give up. politically correct world that everyone gets a ribbon

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he image with the skateboarder was used to advertise Mountain Dew and appeared on the back of buses and on billboards in Wellington last year.

It echoes the message I have been teaching students about learning: “Everything is hard before it is easy”.

When students are studying for an exam, the best tip I can ever offer is the idea they need to learn what they don’t know – going over and over what they do know is largely a waste of time.

Learning is finding out what you don’t know and learning it. For example, our daughter brought home 10 spelling words and advised us that the teacher had asked her to write them all out 10 times a night for four nights. I asked her which ones she could already spell. After she shrugged her shoulders, I tested her. She accurately and confidently spelt nine correctly. She only now needs to learn one. One of the words on her list that she could spell was ‘family’. If she writes this out 40 times over the week, will she get better at spelling it? No, it’s a waste of time.

This is true of all learning. Going over what you know makes you feel good. “Oh I know that”, “Aren’t I clever”, and “I’m so smart” are the internal responses that send endorphins racing through the brain and make us feel good. In contrast, when you attempt to learn something that you don’t know, it is hard. The internal voice might say, “This is hard”, “I’m not as smart as I thought I was”, and “I can’t

do this”. It is uncomfortable, awkward and that feeling of potential failure is something most of us like to avoid; however, this is exactly what learning new and unfamiliar content feels like. When learning gets hard, many people give up. Again the key is, as the advert says, “To get to easy, you have to go through hard”.

Michael McQueen, award-winning speaker, author and social researcher, explains a difference between Gen Y (born 1980s–2000s) and the earlier Baby Boomers and Gen X (born pre-1980s).

He proposes that these earlier generations were taught that life is hard and life is unfair; toughen up and get over it. In contrast, those in Gen Y believe life is supposed to be easy. So why do they think life is easy?

Advertising tells us life is easy

Instant loans so you can buy what you like whenever you like; beauty products that will solve all your problems; gadgets to make life simple, such as vacuum cleaners that clean the floor automatically; ‘timesaving’ innovations, such as keyless cars, dishwashers, fast food, and just-addwater products; even ‘spray and wipe’ has been replaced with ‘wet and forget’! It’s all so easy…

Bubble-wrapped children

Teachers consistently tell me of parents who insist on doing everything for their child – from hanging up their bag at school to doing their homework for them. Just this week, I witnessed mums filling out 14 and 15-yearold boys’ registration forms at a workshop – presumably because it was quicker and neater to do it themselves.

As Steve Gurney, nine-time winner of the Speight’s Coast to Coast race, advocates, our children should again be allowed to eat dirt, fail, fall or learn through experiences that can make them stronger and more resilient. Life is easy...

“The challenge with this ‘life is easy’ sell is that when life gets hard, young people either change their goal … or they think they’re not good enough and their self-esteem plummets.”

for participation, whether they make an effort or not. The score is no longer kept when young children play sport. Everyone gets a prize when playing pass the parcel at birthdays. Schools are discussing whether honours boards should be taken down. It’s easy to get rewards…

Dumbing down of the curriculum

Previous generations were required to learn the periodic table and now it is handed out to students. While I understand the logic of this – that it is the understanding of the concept rather than the memorisation of a concept that is important – it has perhaps robbed our students of the need to practice, repeat and memorise information. I recently asked a group of students if they could recall their best friend’s phone number – the overwhelming majority of students said, “No, it’s in my phone.”Learning is easy, the facts will be given to me...

Our children have been taught that life is easy in many other ways too.

“The challenge with this ‘life is easy’ sell,” says McQueen, “is that when life gets hard, young people either change their goal (leave school, change jobs, find a new partner, etc.) or they think they’re not good enough and their self-esteem plummets.”

Recently I was speaking to 120 scholarship students. They remarked that scholarship is hard.

I smiled and said, “It is supposed to be – if it was easy, everyone would do it!” This was a revelation for so many of them.

I believe we have a huge responsibility as teachers and parents to ensure our children know that life can be hard, that they will fail and that life can be unfair. I’m not suggesting we prophesy doom and gloom; I’m simply saying that bad stuff will happen amongst the good.

Twentieth-century philosopher Buckminster Fuller said, “Life is full of lessons to be learned.

When you have learned one lesson, life will give you a bigger lesson.” Have you noticed that? Once you get through a big challenge, you are given a bigger one to deal with. Challenges and life lessons never get easier.

How will children learn about winning and losing if they don’t experience it? How will they learn to take disappointment? What happens when they don’t get their way? How will they develop the skills of persistence – grit, resilience, responsible risktaking, flexible thinking, creativity, and so on – if life and learning is always easy? In what ways might you go about helping students know that they need to go through hard to get to easy?

Karen Tui Boyes won NSANZ Educator of the Year in 2014 and the NSANZ Speaker of the Year in 2013.

Education Review series

Postgrad Education 2015

17

Private training establishment

A decade of growth – one PTE’s journey JUDE BARBACK talks to New Zealand School of Education’s managing director Brijesh Sethi about the private training establishment’s growth over the last decade, and the highlights and hurdles it has faced along the way.

I

t is now more than10 years since New Zealand School of Education (NZSE) opened its doors with a single campus in New Lynn, Auckland. Managing director Brijesh Sethi established the private training establishment (PTE) in 2004, primarily as an information and communications technology (ICT) school. Sethi, who has a background in ICT, saw a need for more ICT training in New Zealand and this prompted him to get the institution up and running.

Today there are five schools within NZSE – ICT, business, design, digital media and early childhood education – run across three campuses: New Lynn, Queen Street and Manakau. More than 700 students are currently enrolled – approximately 60 per cent international and 40 per cent domestic. A total of 23 certificates and 19 diplomas are on offer. They employ over 70 staff representing around 16 cultures, with more than 20 languages spoken.

Difficult beginnings

While things are looking good now, NZSE didn’t have a particularly easy start. In the early days of operation there was no government funding available and without funding, no access to student allowances. They could only enrol domestic students for the first two years.

Things looked grim for the newly formed institution.

So in 2006, having prepared staff for the worst, Sethi decided to lobby Government on the funding issue, forming a lobby group to help promote their case. The group was successful in making their point, and from 2007 basic funding was approved. This allowed the introduction of international students to NZSE. Although it was a difficult time, Sethi believes he essentially turned a threat into an opportunity. The institution began to flourish.

In 2010 they acquired Canterbury College of Natural Medicine, then Raffles Design and Commerce in 2013. All were brought under the NZSE umbrella to yield schools of ICT, business, design, digital media and most recently, early childhood education. All the schools, apart from early childhood education, now offer qualifications at Levels 3 to 7.

Second chance learners

NZSE has a strong focus on second chance learners – in fact, it sees this as its “key differentiator”. The institution is not necessarily trying to attract the best and brightest, but is focused on its goal of offering an opportunity to those who might otherwise struggle to come by higher education. Sethi believes there is a real need for this in the community.

“We are definitely in that market,” he says. “We have always been passionate about taking in second chance learners or those who might have fallen through the cracks in the school education system. We take great pride in transforming the lives of these students and will continue to keep doing so.”

He shares the success story of a former student who used to be a cleaner but completed an IT qualification at NZSE and has since found work in the IT industry.

Vodafone Warriors player Ben Henry is another shining example. Realising that his career as a professional league player would not last forever, he looked to NZSE to pursue a qualification in IT. “IT is a growing industry and one I firmly believe will continue to grow in importance. I feel that the course will really help me gain a job post-footy. I can’t put all my eggs in one basket, and that is my motivation,” says Henry.

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Private training establishment

“Being a private institution, we are nimble and can easily convert our training to suit industry needs, which gives us good standing in the industry …“ Student pathways

Sethi says there are essentially two pathways for students – vocational and academic.

Sethi is a huge advocate for portability of education, and as such, NZSE has alliances with high schools, tertiary education providers and industry bodies.

There is a strong emphasis on career services and student support. They aim to help students find their way into the course, and help them find their way out into the working world or to further education, by building their CV and interview skills.

They run workshops at some high schools so that students can see what options are open to them.

NZSE has also aligned itself witha number of tertiary providers, including Unitec, Massey University and MIT, to allow students to seamlessly continue their tertiary education if they wish.

All courses are aligned with industry certifications, allowing students’ qualifications to have national and international recognition. Sethi says they maintain close links with the IT professionals’ industry body.

“Being a private institution, we are nimble and can easily convert our training to suit industry needs, which gives us good standing in the industry, compared with some of the more traditional academically driven institutions,” says Sethi.

“It will be a real exchange of knowledge,” says Sethi.

As yet, however, there has been no support from Education New Zealand, but Sethi is optimistic about New Zealand’s export education efforts.

“New Zealand has made enormous strides in its education system and with its export education policy; we are thrilled to be bringing this into India and China. This has immense growth opportunities for us, as well as the education sector.”

Government policy has a big impact on institutions like NZSE. “We are at the mercy of government policy decisions,” says Sethi,“For example, when they took Level 7 IT off the long-term skills shortage list in 2010, we saw a drop in enrolments.”

Despite such challenges, NZSE appears to take it all in its stride as it continues to expand both domestically and internationally. No doubt it will meet any hurdles head-on as it embraces the next decade.

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The PTE curse

However, there are downsides to carrying the private training establishment (PTE) flag. Unfortunately, due to a handful of dubious PTEs that caught the attention of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) and the media, the general public’s view of PTEs has been tainted.

“It is a shame that some institutions have let the side down for everyone,” says Sethi.

Sethi says this is reflected in the way NZQA and the Ministry of Education conduct their visits to NZSE. He says they typically take a negative approach and appear to be on the lookout for faults and weaknesses, rather than taking an open-minded approach.

“The whole attitude to policing is not good,” says Sethi, “They should go down hard on the ones that aren’t complying.”

Sethi thinks the approach to tertiary education in New Zealand is skewed.

“In New Zealand you’re viewed as a business first, and an educational provider second. It should be the other way around.”

Overseas expansion

Sethi and his team are in the throes of expanding NZSE internationally. They opened an office in India last year, and are looking to do the same in China this year. Through these avenues NZSE will leverage relationships they have with educational institutes they already work with. They will look to provide their own courses there – for example, early childhood education is of great interest to India – and in return, bring back expertise to New Zealand, such as India’s strong IT experience.

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Education Review series

Postgrad Education 2015

19

Teach abroad

How old is too old

T

eaching abroad is becoming increasingly popular, as it gives educators across all sectors a chance for new teaching experiences and provides exciting opportunities for exploration into different countries and cultures.

Many teachers aged over 50 are jumping on the bandwagon and choosing to teach abroad to widen their horizons. But is age a restriction to teaching abroad?

Although every country has different rules and regulations when it comes to employing foreign teachers, a recent study from The International Educator has reported that over 65 per cent of the 176 schools interviewed said that their school’s host country does not have any age restrictions for issuing a working visa. For those who did report restrictions, the mandatory cut-off was around ages 60 and 65. This is promising news for older teachers who want to work overseas, as often these teachers have concerns about their ability to be hired.

In fact, in many cases, teachers aged over 50 are very sought after. The study revealed that many education institutes are eager to hire older candidates, particularly at secondary school level where wisdom and experience are desirable traits.

Older teachers can bring balance and most school heads from the study seemed to agree that good schools need a balance

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to teach overseas?

KATE RUSSELL looks at how New Zealand and Australian teachers aged over 50 are faring in finding work abroad.

of age, wisdom and experience as well as youth, energy and gender. Although experience is an advantage for teachers aged over 50, they also need to be open to learning new ideas, engaging in professional development, and be willing to embrace change. The only barrier is that some overseas schools have concerns about health issues in older candidates and the associated costs in insuring them, and in some cases they need to demonstrate physical fitness and health.

High overseas placement rate

New Zealand has a high percentage of teachers aged over 50 applying to teach overseas and encouragingly most of them have success in landing the right job. There are a number of recruitment agencies in New Zealand that have no problem in placing teachers from all sectors (secondary, primary and early childhood) into positions across a wide range of countries.

Martin Strang from Oasis Education, a specialist international educator recruitment agency, says that they get many teachers aged over 50 from all sectors wanting to teach overseas and they don’t usually have any issues finding them work. He believes that there are many strengths that New Zealand teachers can bring to other countries, such as experience, stability, energy, humour and worldliness.

“All countries like New Zealanders,” he says.

Education Personnel, another New Zealand recruitment agency, also gets regular contact from educators aged over 50.

“In fact, it would be our second largest group of candidates, after the younger teachers setting off on their OE,” says managing director Stuart Birch. “Educators over 50 are often education leaders who are looking for a new challenge and to see the world after their kids have left home.”

He also comments that the majority of these teachers are primary trained; however, there are also significant numbers of ECE and secondary teachers.

Australia is another country with a growing number of older teachers looking to work abroad, and it seems as though these teachers have no difficulty finding work either. Nick Kendall, from Tasmanian-based Kendall Search Associates says that about 20 to 25 per cent of his candidates are over 50 years of age, which equates in numbers to between 80 and 100 candidates per year.

“If the candidates are exceptional teachers with great experiences and solid references, they can certainly be placed,” he says. “This is no different from candidates in other age brackets. These teachers can bring many desirable qualities to

overseas schools – a love of children, numeracy and literacy knowledge, and inquiry-based pedagogy are high up there on the list.”

What about older teachers coming to work in New Zealand? How easy is it for them to find work here? According to Martin Strang, teachers from the United Kingdom, USA, Canada and South Africa are very desirable to many New Zealand schools, but in some cases it can be hard for older teachers to secure work here.

“Work test criteria make these teachers difficult to employ after the age of 30 and securing work visas for teachers aged 30+ from the UK, USA, Canada and South Africa can be very hard to do,” he says. “Incoming numbers drop steeply at 50–55 as 55 is the cut-off for residency.”

“Educators over 50 are often education leaders who are looking for a new challenge and to see the world after their kids have left home.”

So which countries are more open to employing teachers aged over 50 and which ones aren’t? The research from The International Educator shows that things can vary within the same country from region to region and even from school to school.

For example, in some parts of China there is a high percentage of teachers aged over 60, and even up until age 70, but in other parts of China, it is very difficult for older teachers to find work. According to the study, there are no age limits in place in Lebanon, the Pacific Islands, South America, Uganda and Bangladesh.

Persistence brings rewards

Another important factor to take into consideration is that even when there are no firm age specifications stated, age discrimination can unfortunately come in to play in many parts of the world, so in some cases it can take persistence to find the right job in certain countries.

So those teachers who have always thought that they were too old to teach overseas should think again, because it seems that age and experience truly is an asset in many countries.

“Often these teachers are exceptional,” says Stuart Birch. “They have been teaching and leading in education a good few years and have learnt how to teach a wide range of children and work with a variety of people.”

As long as these teachers are flexible and open to new ideas they can most likely find a situation that works for them, no matter what their age.

awards

Recognising amazing Kiwi teachers:

get your nominations in New Zealand’s finest educators are set to be recognised as OfficeMax’s global programme ‘A Day Made Better’ kicks off for the fifth year.

N

ominations are now open for the national search, which sees outstanding primary and intermediate teachers rewarded for their contribution to education and learning.

Fifteen teachers, nominated by their fellow educational professionals, will have their day made better by the OfficeMax team.

Alongside a $1,000 prize pack of OfficeMax arts and crafts, stationery and office supplies for their classroom, the winners will also be rewarded with a surprise award ceremony in their classroom or assembly.

OfficeMax New Zealand’s national manager of government and education, Blair Horsfall, says the programme is a fantastic way to celebrate the passionate and dedicated teachers in New Zealand.

“OfficeMax wants to highlight the exceptional work teachers put in for their schools and students, and provide them the recognition they deserve,” he says.

“We’re encouraging parents and students to contact their local schools and suggest their favourite teachers for a nomination.

“Our team is always excited to get behind and support the ‘A Day Made Better’ campaign and we’re looking forward to receiving this year’s nominations.”

‘A Day Made Better’ began in the United States in 2007 and is now an international programme run annually by OfficeMax. It has garnered the support of many celebrities, including Cynthia Nixon and Demi Lovato.

In the past four years, New Zealand has continued to grow the programme, with the number of surprises delivered to teachers increasing each year.

Last year 15 exceptional New Zealand teachers were presented with prizes by OfficeMax, accompanied by special guests from the Principals’ Federation and members of Sticky TV. The team behind ‘A Day Made Better’ travelled nationwide to surprise, thank and reward the winning teachers in their classrooms.

Nominations close on 25 September this year and winners will be selected by a judging panel from the New Zealand Principals’ Federation.

Principals, teachers and school administrators can nominate primary or intermediate school teachers through the website adaymadebetter.co.nz

New ZealaNd ScieNce Teacher

are you a SecoNdary ScieNce Teacher? do you waNT To briNg more ScieNce iNTo your primary School?

Top: One of the 2014 OfficeMax ‘A Day Made Better’ winners, Damian Burden, from Kaikorai Valley College receiving his prize Bottom: One of the 2014 OfficeMax ‘A Day Made Better’ winners, Benita Mareikura, from Napier Intermediate receiving her prize

New ZealaNd ScieNce Teacher iS aN eNgagiNg webSiTe aNd priNT jourNal for you aNd your School.

The voice of the New Zealand Association of Science Educators (NZASE), it’s a unique publication that proudly celebrates science education in Aotearoa.

Submissions also welcome. Please email melissa.wastney@nzme-ed.co.nz

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21

Tertiary teaching

Tertiary teaching qualification

first of its kind

Education Review looks at a new, work-based pathway into tertiary teaching.

I

t was a promising applicant who didn’t quite fit the acceptance criteria to Otago Polytechnic’s Graduate Diploma in Tertiary Education(GDTE) that got programme leader Dr Catherine Robinson thinking of different ways to make the qualification work for different circumstances.

This led to the new internship pathway for the Level 7 120 credit programme.

Tertiary teaching qualifications in general assume that the participant is already teaching in a polytechnic, university or for a private provider, as the integration of practice with the theory is a vital aspect of teaching qualifications at any level.

Last year, Robinson had a small number of enquiries from people who didn’t hold teaching positions but who were considering applying for tertiary teaching positions and who sought to become qualified first. Because they were not already teaching, they couldn’t be offered a place on the programme.

“Whilst considering a very good applicant who didn’t already have a teaching position, I questioned why we couldn’t think outside of the box. After all, people who want to teach at primary or secondary level go to university and as an integral part of their [teacher education] programmes, are placed in schools where they take part in the life of the school and learn to

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integrate theory and practice in the classroom, under the guidance of a mentor.”

And so the GDTE Internship pathway was born.

In the same way that early childhood, primary and secondary teaching qualifications incorporate practicum assignments, this pathway allows the practical elements of the programme to be acquired through an internship tertiary teaching position.

How the internship works

The internship pathway joins a range of other pathways to the GDTE: a distance pathway, which is facilitated online; a work-based pathway that is available to Dunedin-based tertiary educators using case studies, online material and regular tutorials, and an assessment of prior learning (APL) pathway for experienced educators who have no formal teaching qualifications (or at a lower level), which is facilitated online for those outside Dunedin or through tutorials for Dunedin educators.

The internship can be done full-time over one year (and students can apply for StudyLink) or part-time over two years. As a first step, students must have suitable qualifications and/ or experience to enable them to teach on one of Otago Polytechnic’s programmes. To qualify for

an internship, applicants need to have a bachelor’s degree or equivalent qualification, and practical, professional or industrial work experience.

Before acceptance, they must discuss what they will teach with the relevant head of school, who provides a school mentor to work with the intern to develop their teaching role.

Study is carried out through online course work, research, assignments, tutorials and workshops.

There are no large-scale lectures at set times, so study times are flexible and negotiated cooperatively between the facilitator, the school and the student.

The internships are unpaid but provide an opportunity to learn to teach under the guidance of a mentor. Each intern has an individual curriculum that involves teaching, assessing and developing resources.

Interns need to be able to commit one academic year (approximately 1,200 hours) to completing the programme, which includes both teaching and study.

“Internships are an integral part of the training for those wanting to become a tertiary teacher,” says Robinson.

The GDTE benefits those interested in a tertiary teaching career by enabling them to judge if tertiary teaching is for them, build up a work record

Tertiary teaching

”… this will give graduates a competitive advantage as many organisations they’ll be applying to won’t have put resources into training.” and references, and apply for a job as a fully qualified teacher.

“Being able to apply for a position as a fully trained tertiary teacher is really important,” she says. “We believe this will give graduates a competitive advantage as many organisations they’ll be applying to won’t have put resources into training.

“The internship suits those who are selfdirected, curious and motivated, such as people in mid-career looking for a change of direction.”

How is it going?

It is early days for the internship pathway as it was only established earlier this year. There are currently two enrolled interns, with another in the process of being enrolled.

Robinson says they are being selective about who they accept.

“There have been a number of applications from well-qualified people but Otago Polytechnic doesn’t offer the relevant programmes, such as media studies and Asian studies, to name two. There has been interest from qualified applicants from India and China, but I’ve hesitated to accept them. Our experience is that overseas students expect ‘study’ to involve timetabled lectures and we don’t yet have the resources to give these students the guidance they would need to work independently.”

Interestingly, the largest number of enquiries has come from people qualified in trades, culinary arts or with other practical skills, who want to teach at secondary level and work with older secondary students who are doing vocational courses. Robinson says they want the flexibility of the GDTE and the polytechnic experience, but for various reasons they don’t want to, or are unable to, do the university course that leads to a secondary teaching qualification.

“Every time I turn down an application from someone who really wants to teach, I reflect on what it would take to have said ‘yes’ and to be a part of the massive change of direction this ‘yes’ would have brought to that person’s life and the lives of those they might have taught,” she says.

“Thinking creatively and being flexible is the challenge for me as the internship moves through the various stages of its development.”

A

“I love what I do”

s a business owner and busy mum of two young children, Otago Polytechnic student and staff member Kylie Ellis has always been drawn to teaching and helping people.

Currently working as a facilitator at Capable NZ, a subsidiary of Otago Polytechnic which uses the highly regarded work-based learning (WBL) model, Ellis recently embarked on a Graduate Diploma in Tertiary Education (GDTE), which allows her to gain a teaching qualification through a guided internship – the first of its kind in New Zealand.

“My husband and I first came through Capable NZ in 2011, to complete the Bachelor of Applied Management,” says Ellis. “The experience was amazing and I was encouraged to become a facilitator and help other learners through the same process I experienced.

“I noticed I had some knowledge gaps in my facilitation, and was encouraged by a colleague to do the GDTE. I was ready to try something different and haven’t looked back since.”

Ellis is currently splitting her internship, which is approximately 1,200 hours in total, between Capable NZ and the Otago Polytechnic Institute of Sport and Adventure.

“My husband and I own Body Synergy – a musculoskeletal treatment facility and gym, so completing some of my internship with the institute and working with personal training students who are studying business and sports management made a lot of sense to me.”

As part of the internship, she gets to teach every week, lesson plan and attend team meetings.

Team culture a vital element

“Being immersed in the team culture is a really important aspect of the internship. I’ve learnt a lot about how the institute works, what their assessment process is and if there are opportunities for me to contribute.”

The other half of her internship at Capable NZ allows Ellis to work with experienced educators.

“I get to immerse myself in education and work with some amazing minds. I also get a very different perspective on the student experience. I understand because I’m doing it as well – which makes me a better learner and teacher.”

Kylie Ellis, one of the first interns on Otago Polytechnic’s Graduate Diploma in Tertiary Education (GDTE), speaks highly of the new pathway into tertiary teaching.

Kylie Ellis, Graduate Diploma in Tertiary Education student.

Photo credit: Hayden Parsons

The flexibility of the programme, which still allows Ellis to manage her busy life, has been a major advantage.

“Otago Polytechnic has been an amazing place to study and work. They have customised the programme, based on my individual needs. I don’t know many other places that would do that!”

After graduating early next year, she hopes to take on Capable NZ learners who are keen to study the GDTE programme.

“I really feel I’ve found a niche in what I do – it’s empowering, enlightening and truly enjoyable.

I love teaching.”

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Education Review series

Postgrad Education 2015 23

ECE

Answering the call to early

childhood education

Education Review finds two people who have changed tack in their careers to retrain as early childhood educators and have never looked back.

From teens to tots Deputy principal Michael Loretz left a 21year career in secondary teaching to retrain as an early childhood teacher.

M

ichael Loretz and his wife Rebecca began to entertain the idea of opening an early childhood centre after seeing their nine children go through kindergarten. With that goal in mind, the former deputy principal at Mt Roskill Grammar decided to leave a 21-year career teaching secondary school to complete a Graduate Diploma in Teaching (Early Childhood Education) at The University of Auckland.

“The environment’s so tactile and interesting that I can really imagine myself in that context,” says Loretz of early childhood education settings.

“Everything’s fluid, there’s no sort of set idea of what you want to achieve apart from you want the kids to explore their world and make meaning of things and grow in literacies of all sorts. So I am looking forward to that more open, diverse environment.”

Male ECE teachers in demand

Loretz will be a welcome addition to early childhood education. Recent MBIE data shows the demand for ECE teachers is forecast to

From Trelise Cooper to Te Whāriki Upon realising the fashion industry wasn’t for her, Danielle Smith found fulfilment in early childhood education.

D

anielle Smith was a young girl who lived and breathed fashion with a dream of one day being involved in the glamorous industry. After her dreams came true, she enjoyed three years working as a senior cutter at a renowned clothing cutting business, cutting garments for the likes of world- renowned Kiwi designers Karen Walker and Trelise Cooper, but when the time came to start a family Smith felt that the demanding fashion industry was no longer suited to her lifestyle and she needed to pursue a more flexible career path.

After a lot of soul searching and research, Smith decided to study early childhood education. She was drawn to the profession by her love of children and inspired by her own beautiful childhood.

“I was brought up in a very holistic sense, my life was enriched with meaningful, respectful relationships and interactions and I had a very attentive family. I felt that I was capable of providing the same care, nurturing, and developmental experiences I had as a child, and I wanted to be able to share this with children attending early childhood centres,” she says.

She decided to pursue an early childhood education qualification to further her skill set, studying towards a Bachelor of Teaching (Early Childhood Education) at New Zealand Tertiary

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College (NZTC) for five years, taking a two-year break from her study when her daughter was born.

Work-life balance

She credits the college’s unique online-learning study mode (NZTC Online) for enabling her to balance her study with her family commitments and part-time work.

“I love the flexibility that NZTC provides. It allowed me to have a second child and come back to my study, and they were warm and welcoming like I’d never left. There was a lot of support, they knew where I was at and what I was up to,” she says.

The networking within NZTC was a highlight for Danielle who enjoyed chatting online to other ECE students throughout New Zealand, hearing about their different experiences at early childhood centres, and within their respective communities and families.

Smith was the top Māori graduate in her 2015 class. Heleine Feki, NZTC’s lecturer (Pasifika Leadership, Māori Partnership) described her as “an amazing student” and very determined.

NZTC CEO Selena Fox also commended Smith on her outstanding results.

“NZTC provides specific and relevant additional support to our Māori and Pasifika students with initiatives such as the korero talanoa nights led by Heleine. Danielle utilised this assistance, never afraid to ask for help. She will be a highly

rise steadily over the next three to five years, and male teachers are in demand, given latest census statistics show only three percent of teachers in the early childhood sector are men.

Loretz thinks men bring a muchneeded masculine perspective to early childhood education.

“Often children lack fathers in their lives; having men in education is not a substitute for that but certainly a masculine influence is something kids also need,” he says.

“I have noticed that I am sort of a minority, but that doesn’t bother me – there’s a worthy job to do. It’s fun doing it and it’s one of the most rewarding things people can do.”

Danielle Smith at the 2015 NZTC graduation ceremony valued ECE practitioner.”

After working in the cutthroat, demanding, and highly stressful fashion industry, Danielle is enjoying the different lifestyle that a career in early childhood education affords her; most importantly, more time to spend with her two young children.

“I love the flexibility of ECE and the satisfaction I get after a day’s work. Who wouldn’t be satisfied after a day of cuddles and drooly kisses from a room of 12 beautiful under-two-yearolds? I never felt like that after a day working in the fashion industry.

“I understand my children more, and have gained a really deep respect for our small New Zealanders who are our future, so the better care they receive, the better our future for New Zealand.”

“I love the flexibility of ECE and the satisfaction I get after a day’s work.”

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www.creative.auckland.ac.nz

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Saul Taylor Unitec graduate and Senior Teacher of the Deaf, Kelston Deaf Education Centre

We take educators further Are you working in education and seeking advanced professional and leadership development? Then look no further than Unitec. Our experienced staff offer an unsurpassed level of personal and academic support that will take your career to the next level.

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