Teacher Education Forum of Aotearoa New Zealand (TEFANZ)
Te Rauika Titohu Kaiako o Aotearoa
Annual Report 2010
General
Since our last Annual General meeting in July 2009 education has continued to be at the forefront of the government’s policy agenda. In terms of teacher education, we are waiting for the Minister of Education to report on the outcomes of the Education Workforce Advisory Group consultation document. Given the current governmental focus on standards and cost-cutting it does not bode well for teacher education. We also have the 2012 PBRF round looming, which is taking a lot of time and energy. However, TEFANZ will certainly take up the opportunity to submit suggestions to the PBRF panel regarding criteria for determining quality and impact of education research as suggested by Professor Johh Hattie at the 2010 Conference.
Matters arising from the 2009 AGM
Professor Noeline Alcorn and Dennis McGrath were recognized at the TEFANZ 2010 Conference dinner for their significant contribution to TEFANZ and teacher education in New Zealand. Noeline and Dennis are the first to be recognized in this way following agreement at the 2009 AGM to recognize ex TEFANZ members who, because they have retired do not meet the criteria for the current excellence awards.
TEFANZ accounts were approved at the February 2010 Executive meeting as agreed at the 2009 AGM order to meet incorporated society’s year-end deadline of 28 February. As also agreed at the 2009 AGM, the accounts are tabled for information at the 2010 AGM.
TEFANZ research
At the 2009 AGM the meeting endorsed the proposal that Barry, Lexie and Mary investigate Ako Aotearoa funding to research employer perceptions of teacher education graduates preparedness to teach. The idea was to develop an instrument that could be used by TEFANZ member institutions to provide national data and enable institutions to their own data for their own use.
Barry led the development of the initial proposal, which was positively received by Ako who then requested more detail. The team commissioned a literature review to be done to identify potentially useful instruments. The review has just been completed and we are now looking to develop a survey that hopefully will be ready to trial in 2011.
Executive
Barry Brooker, University of Canterbury
Lexie Grudnoff, University of Auckland (Chairperson)
Mary Simpson, University of Otago (Deputy Chairperson)
Sally Henson, Massey University
Jenny Ritchie, Unitec, New Zealand
Rosina Taniwha, Te Wananga O Awanuirangi
Catherine Lang resigned from the Executive at the at the February 2010 executive meeting due to her upcoming retirement from Waikato University. We wish Catherine best wishes for her new life, and thank her for the huge amount of work she has undertaken for TEFANZ and teacher education generally over a number of decades. Beverley Cooper from Waikato University was co-opted onto the Executive. Barry Brooker, Lexie Grudnoff and Mary Simpson were confirmed for a further two-year at the 2009 AGM. Sally Hansen, Jenny Ritchie and Rosina Taniwha term comes up for renewal at the 2010 AGM.
The Executive has met face-to-face twice over the last year: 19 February at the University of Canterbury and 27 October 2010 in Auckland in conjunction with the Conference. As usual, informal communication has been carried out through emails and telephone conversations.
Representation and Liaison
The Executive has worked to build on strong efforts made by key people since TEFANZ commenced to ensure its position as the national voice for teacher education in the political and policy arena, to improve the perception of teacher education, and to provide an effective forum for interaction and development among teacher educators. In most cases this has been achieved via meetings and active participation in committees/working groups.
Meetings have taken place Peter Lind, Director, and Barbara Benson, Teacher Education Manager, New Zealand Teachers Council; Peter Coolbear, Director Ako Aotearoa. A meeting had also been sought with the Minister of Education.
TEFANZ representation: Sally Hansen for the Secondary Principals and Leaders Forum; Mary Simpson for the Tertiary Teaching Awards; Lexie Grudnoff for the NZTC ITE Processes Review Reference Group; Education Review Office (to take place in November, 2010).
TEFANZ Submissions
The previous year has been a very busy one in terms of making submissions to a number of policy proposals. These included:
New Zealand Teachers Council: Practising Certificate Fee Increase Consultation; responses to numerous iterations of the Consultation Document on the Approvals and Monitoring Processes for Initial Teacher Education.
Minister of Education: Feedback to the Education Workforce Advisory Group Discussion document.
Awards
The second TEFANZ Awards were presented at the 2009 Biennial Forum hosted by Massey University College of Education. There were no awards presented this year. Professor Noeline Alcorn and Dennis McGrath were recognized at the Conference dinner for their contribution to teacher education and TEFANZ. We urge members to encourage applications for the next round of awards, which will be presented at the 2011 TEFANZ Forum. Information including closing dates will be posted on the website by early February.
Website
The University of Waikato’s School of Education experts have continued to provide generous support in the maintenance of the TEFANZ website. Thank you also to the work Catherine Lang has done to ensure that the website is up to date and accurate.
Finance and Administration
Invoices for membership subscriptions will be sent out in the next month ($1000 for institutions with fewer than 500 EFTS; $2000 for those with more than 500 EFTS). As the current chair is from The University of Auckland, TEFANZ administration and finances are managed by the Faculty of Education. Sincere thanks go to Judy Robinson and Bevan Iles for the additional work they undertake on TEFANZ’s behalf.
Forum 2009
The Bienniel Forum was held 16-17 July at Massey University. The theme was ‘Teacher Education: Now and in the Future’ and those who attended can testify that this was a professionally rewarding and most enjoyable event. Thank you once again to the College of Education for hosting the Forum, with special thanks to Sally Hansen and the organizing group who put in the hard work to make the Forum such a success.
Otago University, College of Education will host the next TEFANZ Forum in July 2011. Further details, including dates, will be available later in the year on the TEFANZ website.
Conference 2010
The Biennial TEFANZ Conference “Teacher Education Matters” is currently underway at Auckland University, hosted by the Faculty of Education. Particular thanks go to the team who has done all the hard work around organizing the event and providing us with opportunities to network and engage with teacher education colleagues.