4 GREAT KEYNOTES FOR 2023
PLUS A FANTASTIC CHOICE OF WORKSHOPS AND SPECIAL PERFORMANCE.
READ MORE ABOUT OUR SPECIAL GUESTS HERE:
Keynote: Kay-Lee Jones
University of Canterbury
Kay-Lee Jones currently works in Teacher education at Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | The University of Canterbury. She is a proud māmā of three beautiful Māori, Samoan tamariki and has a teaching background in Māori medium settings. Her doctoral study focussed on the pūrākau (stories) of early childhood and primary teachers from Puna Reo 51% + te reo Māori immersion programmes.
Kay-Lee is a teacher of teachers, committed to “helping grow a heart for te Ao Māori”. The Board Chair of Te Pā o Rākaihautū describes her as “a great role model not only for her whānau but all who meet her.” In addition to winning a UC Teaching award in 2020, Kay-Lee has also been recognised on the national level by the prestigious Ako Aotearoa Sustained Excellence in Tertiary Teaching award – Kaupapa Māori category – only the second teacher at UC to achieve this.
Keynote: Kerry Purdue
Early Childhood Academic Staff Member
Open Polytechnic/Te Pūkenga
Current equity legislation, policy, strategies and plans along with research and literature highlighting the benefits of quality, equitable, rights-based education for children’s learning and development indicate that Aotearoa New Zealand’s early childhood education sector is making progress in addressing inequities for some disabled learners.
However, a recent Education Review Office report (ERO, 2022) notes considerable variation in quality provision for such learners around the motu. The report emphasises that some early learning services need to do more to strengthen quality provision within their programmes. If we are to continue improving inclusion and equity in early childhood education (ECE) for disabled learners, we need to further strengthen initial teacher education and early learning service partnerships to ensure kaiako can respond appropriately to the rights and needs of these learners.
This partner approach provides opportunities for services, kaiako, student teachers and lecturers to come together to share knowledge, skills, information, resources and practices directed towards improving the quality of early childhood provision. Such partnerships also help us to question and think about what is working well, what isn’t, and why from multiple perspectives. It is important that the sector continues to kōrero not only about the opportunities and challenges associated with implementing inclusion and equity research and policy in practice but also the partnership actions needed to ensure Aotearoa New Zealand’s ECE workforce can appropriately meet their obligations to disabled learners, both now and in the future.
I look forward to discussing this topic with you at the hui.
Keynote: Fuapepe Rimoni, Ali Glasgow and Robin Averill,
Teachers in initial teacher education at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington.
Collectively, Fuapepe, Ali and Robin have taught in early childhood, primary and secondary, and tertiary teaching contexts and together they have been researching into educators' perceptions of Pacific values.
Two have Pacific heritage (Fuapepe, Samoan and Ali, Cook Island and Tahitian), teach in initial teacher education at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington.
This year they released a book based on their research as a resource for educators to inform their work with Pacific learners and their families called "Pacific educators speak: Valuing our values" .
This book helps non-Pacific educators inform their work with Pacific learners and their families. There are differences in understandings of the values important to many Pacific people between Pacific and non-Pacific heritage educators. Pacific values of Belonging, Family, Love, Service ... SEE MORE HERE
Keynote: Sarah Probine
Senior Lecturer of Early Childhood Teaching - Manukau Institute of Technology/Te Pūkenga
Dr. Sarah Probine is a senior lecturer and the curriculum lead of the Bachelor of Education (Early childhood teaching) at Manukau Institute of Technology/Te Pūkenga, in Auckland. She has worked in initial teacher education for over ten years. Both her master’s and doctoral research (Probine, 2015; 2020) examined early childhood teachers' practices and young children’s learning through the visual arts. Her current research is exploring how inquiry-based project learning has been interpreted by early childhood teachers and communities in the context of Aotearoa, New Zealand.
Special performance: Jolt
Jolt have been pioneers of innovative, inclusive dance practice since 2001. We offer dance training, teacher training and community workshops for people with intellectual disabilities. Our programmes challenge mainstream perspectives about dance, disability, and difference by focussing on the individual - their unique way of moving, thinking and connecting.
