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Fulbright New Zealand announces two senior teachers of Special Education and Science will be heading to the United States on the 2016 Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching Programme for New Zealand Teachers.
These awards, supported by the Ministry of Education, are for highly accomplished New Zealand teachers in primary or secondary schooling to participate in an intensive professional development programme in the US for four months.
Two awards have been granted this year, to:
- Sarah Kennedy, Head of Special Education at Waimea College in Nelson; and
- Dr Simon McMillan, Head of the Science Department at Kaikorai Valley College, Dunedin.
They will each receive return airfares, housing and a maintenance allowance to spend four months hosted at the School of Education at the University of Indiana, Bloomington. They will enrol in advanced undergraduate or graduate level classes; design and complete an inquiry project; observe, team teach and/or conduct seminars or workshops in local schools and engage in other teaching related activities.
Mrs Kennedy will complete an inquiry project on investigating the key elements of leadership that most influence a successful Transition process. She was born in Nigeria and has a Masters in Special Education and Research from the University of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom.
“The learning needs associated with intellectual disability are extremely diverse ranging from those on the Autistic Spectrum and Down Syndrome, to those living with Cerebral Palsy, ADHD and Foetal Alcohol Syndrome. I anticipate my research will benefit this population of learners by contributing to the body of knowledge that will help make their Transition to contributing citizens as effective and successful as possible,” Mrs Kennedy says.
Dr McMillan, who completed his PhD in Sedimentary Geology at the University of Otago, will complete an inquiry project on strategies for explicit teaching and evaluation of metacognition for diverse learners in e-science.
“To me teaching is where I feel most at home – for me it is ‘where it’s at’. The teaching space is a learning space that occupies the classroom, but also the outside world; for students this includes home, their environment and in the community,” Dr McMillan says.
“Learning how to develop students’ metacognitive knowledge and skills, within active learning experiences, will empower them to see their own worth; the worth of those around them from different countries, and the place in which they live.”
This is the third year the Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching Programme for New Zealand Teachers has been operating. The wider Fulbright New Zealand programme promotes mutual understanding between New Zealand and the United States through educational and cultural exchange. More than 8,000 people worldwide are participating in Fulbright exchanges this year, in more than 160 countries.