New information for Beginning Teachers
NZEI supports teachers through their registration process with training courses, mentoring and of course, a celebration when their registration comes through!
NZEI has two new resources for PRTs and the teachers that support them. Read these useful guides here:
NZEI guide for provisionally registered teachers in schools
NZEI guide for tutor teachers and principals
Other useful links
NZEI Membership and Resources
Young, new and student members website section
Teacher Registration
Teachers Council Application Form
School Actions Tutor Teachers
MOE First Year Teacher Allowance
MOE Second Year Teacher Allowance
Appointment Matters
Primary Teachers Collective Agreement 2004-7
Area Schools Teachers Collective Agreement 2004-2007.
Advice and Guidance Programme
Teacher Professional Learning and Development
After more than two years in development, the Teacher Professional Learning and Development (TPLD) Best Evidence Synthesis (BES) final report was officially launched in Auckland on 6 January 2008. This BES illuminates the kind of professional learning for teachers that strengthens valued outcomes for diverse learners.
It is positive that one of the key findings of this BES is that “teachers should be treated as self-regulating professionals who, if given sufficient time and resources are able to construct their own learning experiences and develop a more effective reality for their students through their collective expertise” .
Among the study’s most valuable findings is that teachers’ professional development is more successful when leaders and principals are involved. Students gained when teachers’ knowledge improved and the most successful teacher development programmes involved cycles of research and development.
In response to requests from NZEI, the Ministry of Education is providing free hard copies for New Zealand schools and teachers. These are available from orders@learningmedia.co.nz
You can also download a copy here
New Teaching Research Funded
Six new research projects will look at teaching practice in the early childhood, school and tertiary sectors.
The projects will receive $1.2 million from the Teaching and Learning Research Initiative (TLRI). They will each run for one or two years. The TLRI research fund was established by the government in 2002 to ensure ongoing investment in knowledge of best practice in the education sector.
Topics for the new projects are:
- developing a model for sustaining effective literacy and school practices once an intervention ends
- approaches to early childhood teaching that reflect and enact an ethic of care for the self, others and the environment, drawing on both kaupapa Maori and Western perspectives
- a project called Learning Wisdom for early childhood teachers to research their own practice, and look at child engagement with learning opportunities
- analysing the transition from secondary to tertiary education in mathematics
- an investigation into tertiary student engagement looking at the importance and nature of environmental influences
- exploring the teaching theories used in work integrated learning programmes undertaken by undergraduate students.
For details of the projects, and information about the TLRI, go to: www.tlri.org.nz
How to link minds
The Linking Minds scholarship funds up to four young New Zealand teachers to spend two weeks during the September holidays visiting schools in the United Kingdom. Participants have opportunities to build leadership capacity and study best teaching practice.
The award is sponsored by the NZ/UK Link Foundation, British Council, the Ministry of Education and the New Zealand Teachers Council.
Participants must be under 35 years old and in their first five years as fully registered teachers in the schools sector. Applications for the next round will open in April 2008.
For more information:
Study Awards
Information on the Ministry of Education-funded Primary Teacher Study Awards, Principals' Sabbaticals, and AP/DP Study Awards together with Fellowships for Teachers will be available from March 2008. Details
School Staffing
The rules governing staffing of schools have been changed to allow primary schools to employ an extra 455 teachers from 2007.
The changes, approved by Order in Council, will further reduce pupil teacher ratios in primary and special schools and help ease the workloads of teachers.
The increases, which affect all primary and special schools, include: a reduction in student-teacher ratios for years 9 and 10 from 25:1 to 23.5:1; a reduction in the maximum average class size from 26 to 25 for schools with rolls of less than 176; an increase in management staffing for schools with rolls above 92 (schools with rolls below this have had increases in previous years).
The Government is committed to further reducing pupil teacher ratios, including employing around 1,300 extra primary teachers in Year 1 classes over the next three years, so that by 2008 there are no more than 15 students in a class.
Teacher Refresher Courses
The Teachers' Refresher Course Committee (TRCC) was set up education visionary Dr Clarence Beeby back in in 1946. The aim is to :
- Improve the quality of teaching and learning in New Zealand education.
- Provide quality professional development for all New Zealand educators.
- Deliver national courses ‘for teachers by teachers’.
- Take account of research, and model best practice in education, in course planning.
TRCC offers some great courses for teachers run by teachers. Courses
Beeby Scholarships
New Zealand-based educators working in early childhood, primary, secondary, tertiary, or adult and community sectors, or educational researchers may now apply for the Beeby Fellowship, given jointly by the NZCER and UNESCO. The Fellow will research an innovative programme they are involved in, with a focus on aspects that have enhanced practice and students’ learning. Information
Teaching and Learning Initiative
The Teaching & Learning Research Initiative (TLRI) is a Government programme that aims to:
- build knowledge, through partnership research, about teaching and learning
- use this knowledge to create improved outcomes for learners
- create partnerships between practitioners and researchers to maximiIse the value and usefulness of research. Report Summaries
Two projects you may be interested in:
1. Effective Teacher Education Practice: The Impact of Written Assessment Feedback for Distance Learners
This project contributes to the research on the role of written assessment feedback. It identifies barriers that may undermine the potential effectiveness of written feedback, and reports on what kind of written feedback is likely to be most effective in engaging students and learning.
2. Great Expectations: Enhancing learning and strengthening teaching in primary schools with diverse student populations through action research.
In 2004 and 2005 this Teaching and Learning Research Initiative project investigated school-based action research for school improvement. Researchers from the University of Waikato (and later, The University of Auckland) worked with teacher-researchers from six primary schools to explore ways of changing the classroom practices of teachers. Full Reports
New Zealand Teachers Council
The Teachers Council's resource kit "Towards Full Registration" with information for PRTs, tutor and professional leaders is available electronically here.
Initial teacher education research
The New Zealand Teachers Council and the Ministry of Education started work on a joint research project on initial teacher education. Four Reports on Findings
NZEI Support for your professional learning
On-going learning and professional development is a hallmark of the teaching profession. NZEI encourages and support your professional development through:
- Liaison with and advocacy of members' views to the NZ Teachers Council.
- You can read the latest newsletters from the Teachers Council here.
- NZEI-organised seminars and meetings - check with your field officer for what's new.
- Reports and publications
- Advocacy for professional development .
- Find out more about NZEI's Primary Classroom Teachers Advisory Group and who your regional PCTAG representative is.