Building teachers’ digital skills sparks creativity in ākonga
13 July 2023
The positive impact of professional learning and development (PLD) is being highlighted at Avonside Girls’ High School in Ōtautahi Christchurch
Ngā tikanga whakaaweawe a te kaiārahi mō ngā kaiako kura tuarua ki Aotearoa. This year, a new professional development initiative is being launched to target the needs of secondary kaiako in New Zealand who are mentoring others.
2022 is shaping up to be an exciting year for the secondary sector with the launch of a new professional development initiative between the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) and Kāpuhipuhi Wellinton Uni-Professional, a subsidiary of Victoria University of Wellington (VUW) focussed on developing non-degree courses.
Funded by the Ministry of Education, the PPTA has worked in partnership with VUW to develop a micro-credential course specifically targeted at the needs of secondary teachers who have leadership responsibilities that require them to mentor others. This includes heads of departments, deans, specialist classroom teachers and kāhui ako cluster leads.
The content has been developed by associate professor Kate Thornton from VUW’s School of Education in collaboration with a group of experienced school mentors.
The course is designed to focus on supporting mentoring capability within the secondary school sector and enable participants to gain the skills and attributes they will need to become effective mentors. At the conclusion of the course participants will have learnt about effective mentoring approaches, strategies and capabilities and be able to demonstrate these principles and practices in their roles as mentor teachers and leaders.
The project has been led by PPTA’s national PLD coordinator Helen Finn who says the decision to target funding to the sector in this way came about through feedback from its members.
“Although teachers understand the importance of mentoring and its impact, they rarely have an opportunity to undertake formal professional learning about the topic unless they do so themselves,” she says.
This course has a specific focus on what mentoring is in the context of Aotearoa and examines the approaches and frameworks through the lens of an educational leader.
Taught over one school term (12 weeks) using a blended approach, the course includes a set of self-paced modules, three webinars and a one-day face-to-face workshop (held in either Wellington, Auckland or Christchurch).
The 50 hours of course time is made up of a variety of learning experiences including reflective and collaborative tasks, readings, videos, and practical exercises. Course fees are covered by the PPTA and include expenses for travel, accommodation and childcare to ensure everyone who wants to participate can do so equitably.
Seven cohorts of 30 participants each are planned to be delivered throughout 2022 with another eight planned for 2023.
Micro-credentials have become an increasingly popular way to enable busy people to undertake postgraduate study. They’re stand-alone courses that lead to a formal award demonstrating the achievement of a set of skills and knowledge. In short, they are a credential that shows off your capability.
On completion of the assessment, participants get a certificate or a digital badge as evidence of their learning as well as five points that can standalone or be used to stack together with other points to use as a pathway to future tertiary study.
For more information or to register, you can contact Kāpuhipuhi Wellington Uni-Professional on (04) 463 6556 or email profdev@vuw.ac.nz
More information is also available on the Kāpuhipuhi Wellington Uni-Professional (external link)website(external link).
BY Education Gazette editors
Education Gazette | Tukutuku Kōrero, reporter@edgazette.govt.nz
Posted: 9:43 am, 28 January 2022
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