Letitia Fickel is Chair of the NZ Council of Deans of Education, as well as the University of Canterbury’s Acting Pro-Vice-Chancellor College of Education, Health & Human Development.
The Government will fund 240 student places in a new programme that enables teachers to earn while they work towards their teacher qualification, to attract more kiwis into the profession, it was announced this week.
Letitia Fickel, Chair of the NZ Council of Deans of Education, as well as the University of Canterbury’s Acting Pro-Vice-Chancellor College of Education, Health & Human Development, comments.
“The NZ Council of Deans of Education is pleased to see the Ministry’s acknowledgement of the need for more teachers in our schools,” she says.
“The additional funding provided to universities for initial teacher education (ITE) is a welcome recognition of the investment that needs to be made to ensure high quality graduates who are well prepared to support all learners.
“At the same time, we are cautious about models that may undermine the critical need for new teachers to understand and use research-informed practices in order to ensure our children are receiving the equitable education they deserve to be successful in today’s increasingly complex society.
“Teaching is more than a set of ‘technical skills’; it is a complex profession. Countries with the most successful education systems recognise this and have therefore increased the supported and guided learning time prior to entry into the profession.
“Current ITE programmes have already demonstrated their ability to produce high quality teachers in a variety of contexts, and through a range of innovative and field-based programmes. Our experience with the Ministry of Education-funded Exemplary Initial Teacher Education (ITE) pilot has shown the vital importance of close working partnerships between the universities and schools, and with iwi and hapu, in the design and delivery of teacher education programmes.
“We look forward to working with the Ministry of Education to explore ways to integrate such models with the high quality ITE programmes already in place throughout New Zealand.”
More information: https://livenews.co.nz/2019/07/17/government-boosts-on-the-job-teacher-training/
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