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- Visiting Lecturer - Dr Hilary Tierney
- Teacher Education Excellence Awards
- Mathematics education book wins a highly commended at the CLL Educational Book Awards
- Early Childhood Teacher Education Information Evenings 2011
Visiting Lecturer - Dr Hilary Tierney
10 May 2012
Dr Hilary Tierney from the National University of Ireland, Maynooth will be joining us at SEPI as a Visiting Lecturer today until June 2nd. She will spend some of this time visiting the South Island also.
Her interests are broadly related to the professional practice in the social professions (youth work and community work especially) with an emphasis on education and training for that practice. Her other research interests relate to articulating the benefits and outcomes of youth work for young people, the role of informal social education in developing young people's critical capacities as local and global citizens.
She is located in PA211 on extension x5716 while on the Karori campus.
Hilary graduated from NUIM's first undergraduate professional youth work and community work Diploma in 1987. She went on to work in both youth work and community work, specialising in organisational development practice and in education and training for the emerging profession in FE and at third level. Hilary returned, part-time, to the Department of Applied Social Studies in 1996 and took up a full-time role in 2006. She co-ordinates the second year of the MA in Community and Youth Work and contributes across the professional programmes in the areas of youth work, professional skills development and research theory and practice.
Teacher Education Excellence Awards
1 May 2012
Victoria’s Faculty of Education held their annual Teacher Education Excellence Awards on Tuesday 24 April, celebrating graduating students who excelled in their academic studies and performed strongly while on teaching practicum experience in 2011.
The 14 recipients will graduate in May and are drawn from undergraduate and graduate qualifications in Early childhood, primary and secondary teaching. The winners achieved excellent grade point averages in course work and have also been outstanding performers in the classroom or early childhood setting.
Standing left to right:
Rain Forest, Tiffini Campbell, Umi Kamalruddin, Nicola Goodman, Amanda Stevens, Paula Turner, Tracy Toye, Bridie Mawdesley, Rose Cook
Seated left to right:
Elena Moretti, Roanna Henderson, Professor Carmen Dalli, Vice Chancellor Professor Pat Walsh, Hon Hekia Parata, Professor Dugald Scott, Brenda Service, Briana Lee
Professor Dugald Scott, Dean of the Faculty of Education said “The need to attract and reward the best possible candidates to teaching is obvious to everyone. In words used in the OECD report, Teachers Matter, “Good teachers are the backbone of any education system. That is why governments are constantly seeking teacher policies that will help them recruit and retain the best” For New Zealand the best teachers will be those who have the skills and knowledge to help maintain or improve the already impressive scores our 15 year old students achieve in international rankings, while reducing the wide dispersion of achievement.
The Minister for Education, Hon Hekia Parata, agreed “Quality teaching has the greatest effect on student achievement and relies on the teacher’s ability to establish a relationship with the learner.” She continued “Education has a two-fold purpose – to build social and cultural capacity and to contribute to economic growth. Our challenge is to facilitate learning and achieve the high level of learning for all students”
Two other teacher education awards were presented during the evening, the Ilse B Steinberger Prize and the Swafford Family Prize. Both prizes are awarded annually to outstanding students based on academic merit and teaching performance.
Mathematics education book wins a highly commended at the CLL Educational Book Awards
29 February 2012
Teaching Primary School Mathematics and Statistics: Evidence-based Practice edited by Faculty of Education senior lecturers Robin Averill and Roger Harvey, received a highly commended award at the annual CLL Educational Book Awards, held on 17 November in Auckland.
The book, designed as a text for student and practising teachers and published by NZCER, was shortlisted for the Best Book in Higher Education Award.
The CLL Educational Publishing Awards acknowledge excellence in presentation, content and appropriateness for New Zealand schools and tertiary institutions. “The x-factors that helped titles make the shortlist included exemplary pedagogical approaches and important New Zealand content presented in accessible and inspiring ways,” said Gillian Candler, convener of the CLL Educational Awards judging panel.
The judges further commented on the finalists as “publications which have not just a New Zealand flavour but strong New Zealand content that helps students and teachers develop deeper knowledge and understanding of important topics for our nation.”
After announcing the award, judges described Teaching Primary School Mathematics and Statistics: Evidence-based Practice as groundbreaking because it was suitable for higher education and as a text for teachers to review their practices in mathematics. They also said that it drew on and presented cutting-edge research.
Dr Averill was delighted with the award. “This book is a wonderful team effort. Many academics and teachers from around New Zealand and beyond contributed to it through their research, teaching, chapter writing and reviewing. It is full of accessible research, great teaching ideas, and classroom-ready activities. It is particularly pleasing that the aspects threaded through the book helping to make it a suitable for Aotearoa New Zealand were acknowledged by the judges.”
Early Childhood Teacher Education Information Evenings 2011
11 September 2011
The Faculty of Education is holding the annual Early Childhood Teacher Education information evenings in September and October. We invite people interested in early childhood education to come along with family and friends to hear more about our qualifications and ask questions about our programmes.
Information will be available on Early Childhood Teacher Education qualifications, upgrading qualifications and postgraduate study. The Faculty is offering undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Trimester Three for those interested in getting a head start on a new qualification.
Dates and locations for the information evenings:
- Thursday 22 September, 6.30pm –Tennant Common Room, Tennant Block, Faculty of Education, Donald St, Karori, Wellington
- Thursday 29 September, 6.30pm – Hutt City Kindergartens, 125 Naenae Rd, Lower Hutt
- Tuesday 4 October, 6.30pm – Mungavin Kindergarten, 19 Awatea St, Porirua
- Thursday 6 October, 6pm – REAP House, 340 Queen St, Masterton
For more information contact the Faculty of Education, phone 04-463 9500, or email education@vuw.ac.nz