Initiated by King’s College, the Teacher Education in Schools Programme invites a cohort of student teachers to spend four days a week immersed in participating schools in south and east Auckland while studying for their Graduate Diploma in Teaching.
“This is a model of teacher training that is going to help Auckland schools and teacher recruitment generally. We’re proud to be involved,” Headmaster Simon Lamb says.
Its emphasis on practical, in-classroom experience, with theory delivered online, sets the programme apart from traditional teacher training models.
“That’s where the teacher training really happens: when you’re standing in front of a class trying to deliver,” Mr Lamb says. “The learning is exponential once you start doing the practice as opposed to just the theory.”
King’s is joined by local schools Aorere College, De La Salle and Tangaroa College, as well as Onehunga High School, One Tree Hill College and Saint Kentigern College. Student teachers will each experience life in two of the participating schools over the course of the year.
The opportunity for collaboration between King’s and its local counterparts is one that Mr Lamb is pleased to have been able to take hold of.
“We’re connecting in a way that we are really appreciating, all being part of south Auckland. Connections between schools are good for everyone, and this is another way of us working together,” Mr Lamb says.
“Talking more regularly to people like Myles [Hogarty] at De La Salle and Deidre [Shea] at Onehunga, for example, has led to other collaborations coming out of these closer connections already.”
Learning on site, student teachers will build knowledge of effective teaching practices from experienced teachers, while becoming immersed in school life and culture. The benefit of this goes both ways.
“The energy and enthusiasm of the student teachers will rub off on everybody, and I look forward to seeing them become part of the place,” Mr Lamb says.
The programme begins in February 2022, with the successful applicants to be welcomed into and introduced to the King’s community at the start of the school year.
To find out more, visit www.auckland.ac.nz/secondary or email: education@auckland.ac.nz.
