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Judging your entries

Te whakawā

If your team has achieved outstanding results at your school, kura or early learning service, our judges will be excited to hear about your work.

Your entry will be judged on the extent to which it shows that a change in practice has resulted in improved and sustained outcomes for all children, young people and the broader community. The criteria for judging are drawn from the world-renowned Best Evidence Synthesis and supported by education strategies and curriculum documents developed in New Zealand. See the Resources section for more information.

Note that the judging process is completely independent. Neither the Ministry of Education nor the convenor has any influence on the judging panel’s decisions regarding the selection of finalists and winners.

Mēnā kua tino whai hua ā koutou mahi ko tō kura, rātonga kura kōhungahunga rānei, ka tino ongaonga ngā kaiwhakawā ki te kite i ā koutou mahi rangatira.

Ka whakawākia tā koutou tono whakauru i runga i te āhua o ngā mahi i panoni kia puta mai he painga mauroa mō ngā tamariki me ngā taiohi katoa me te hapori whānui. He mea tō mai ngā tikanga whakawā i ngā ariā rongonui o tēnei hanga e kīia nei ko Te Ariā Kete Raukura, ā, e tautokotia ana e ngā rautaki mātauranga me ngā tuhinga marautanga i waihangatia i Aotearoa tonu. Tirohia te wāhanga Rauemi mō ētahi atu kōrero.

Ka wehea atu kia noho motuhake te tukanga whakawā. Kāore he awenga ō te Tāhuhu, o te Kaiwhakarite rānei ki ngā whakatau a te Paepae Whakawā mō ngā whiringa toa.

The Judging Process

Te Tukanga Whakawā

Step 1

TUATAHI

First, all entries received by the closing date will be assessed to make sure they’re eligible — so don’t forget to view the eligibility criteria (on the entry form) before you start.

Ka tirotirohia ngā tono whakauru katoa ka tae mai i mua i te rā kati kia kitea ai mēnā kua ea te wāhi ki ngā tikanga māraurau — kei wareware koe ki te tirotiro i aua tikanga i mua i tō tīmatanga.

Step 2

TUARUA

An independent judging panel of New Zealand education leaders, academics and commentators will review the entries as outlined in the bullet points below.

The judging panel then meets to select up to four finalists for each category and for the Education Focus Prize.

Ka tirohia ngā tono e te paepae kaiwhakawā me ngā kaiārahi mātauranga, ngā pūkenga, ngā mātanga hoki i runga i te āhua o ngā kōrero e rārangi ana i raro nei.

Kāore e neke atu i te whā o ngā toa ka whiriwhiria mō ia wāhanga me te Taonga Mātauranga i te puna tono whakauru.

Step 3

TUATORU

The judging panel visits the finalists to see the case studies in action and speak with the team. After that, they convene to select each of the four category winners, the Education Focus Prize winner and winner of the Prime Minister’s Supreme Award.

Ka toro atu te paepae kaiwhakawā ki ngā whiringa toa kia kite i ngā mahi, ki te kōrero hoki ki te rōpū. Kātahi ka hui rātou ki te whakatau i ngā toa mō ngā wāhanga e whā, te toa mō te Taonga Mātauranga me te toa mō te Tohu Nui a te Pirimia.

What the judges look for

We asked past judges how to write a successful entry. Watch the video to see what they had to say.

Tā ngā kaiwhakawā e kimi ana

I pātai mātou ki ngā kaiawhakawa o mua mō te tuhi tono angitu. Mātakihia te ataata kia rongo i ngā kōrero.

The judging panel will review the entries to identify the extent to which each case study shows:

Ka tirotirohia ngā tono e te paepae kaiwhakawā kia mōhio ki tā ngā take wānanga e whakaatu mai:

  • change that reflects best evidence of what works to improve outcomes for children and young people
  • the use of curriculum and strategies developed in New Zealand
  • clear improvement in outcomes for children and young people – social, cultural and academic
  • that the improvements achieved are ongoing – i.e. that they were sustained over at least two years
  • evidence that your team’s entry has integrated the three elements of the Education Excellence Framework.
  • kaha hiki i te whai huanga ki tā ngā taunakitanga i kī ai mō ngā mahi whai hua mā ngā tamariki me ngā taiohi katoa; 
  • whai i ngā marautanga me ngā rautaki i waihangatia i Aotearoa tonu;
  • huanga mai o te pai mō ngā tamariki me ngā taiohi katoa – ā-nohoanga iwi nei, ā-tikanga, ā-mātanga anō
  • he mea mauroa ngā tutukitanga, mō ngā tau e rua, neke atu rānei
  • he kōrero taunaki hei whakaatu mai kua tōpū i tā koutou tono whakauru ngā huanga e toru o te Papa Kairangi.

Meet the 2021 Judging Panel

Tūtaki mai ki te Paepae Kaiwhakawā 2021

Professor Graeme Aitken

Professor of Education, Director of Educational Initiatives, Office of the Vice-Chancellor, University of Auckland

Graeme began his career in education teaching geography, history and social studies at Waitakere College. Since the late 1980s Graeme has contributed to curriculum development at the national level as a member of advisory groups on the development of the Social Sciences Learning Area within the 1997 and 2007 national curriculum frameworks.  His doctoral thesis on the history of social studies curriculum design in New Zealand generated recommendations that continue to influence the design of curriculum not just in New Zealand but also other parts of the world.

Graeme transitioned from secondary teaching into teacher education in the 1990s. He established the inaugural secondary teacher education programme at the University of Auckland in 1997 for which he subsequently received a University Distinguished Teaching Award.  Over more than a decade as a teacher educator Graeme influenced the futures of a generation of new teachers. His thinking and writing about teaching effectiveness culminated in his co-authored 'Social Sciences: Tikanga ā Iwi Best Evidence Synthesis', and in the model of Teaching as Inquiry that features in the New Zealand Curriculum and that informs the practice of most New Zealand teachers.

Graeme has advised the Ministry of Education on the development of Standards for Graduating Teachers and the Teaching Council on the use of its Standards as part of the approval process for teacher education programmes offered by tertiary institutions.  He is a member of the writing team for the Aotearoa New Zealand histories development within the New Zealand Curriculum.

Graeme has held a number of major leadership roles at the University of Auckland culminating in his appointment as Dean of the Faculty of Education and Social Work in 2008. In that position he formed the initial partnership with Teach First NZ that enabled field-based teacher education to become established in New Zealand secondary schools. He also initiated and still leads the development of STEM Online NZ.  He currently chairs the University’s subject review panels.

Throughout his career Graeme has aimed to contribute insights into practice that help decision-making by policy makers, schools and teachers in the best interests of learners and learning.

Professor Graeme Aitken

Ahorangi o te Mātauranga, Kaiārahi o ngā Kaupapa Mātauranga, Tari o te Tumuaki Matua, Te Whare Wānanga o Tāmaki Makaurau

I tīmata a Graeme i tāna umanga mātauranga ki te whakaako i te mātai matawhenua, te hītori, me ngā tikanga ā-iwi ki te Kura Tuarua o Waitākere. Nō ngā tau otinga o te ngahurutau 1980 ko whāngai a Graeme i te whanaketanga marautanga ki te taumata ā-motu hei mema o ngā rōpū tohutohu i te whanaketanga o ngā Wāhanga Ako Tikanga ā-Iwi i roto i ngā pou tarāwaho marautanga ā-motu i te tau 1997 me te 2007.  Nā tāna tuhinga kairangi mō te hītori o te marautanga tikanga ā-iwi ki Aotearoa, i pupū ake ngā marohitanga e whakaaweawe tonu ana i te āhua o te marautanga, kaua noa ki Aotearoa, engari kē ia, puta noa i te ao.

I whakawhiti a Graeme mai i te whakaako kura tuarua ki te whakaako pouako i te ngahurutau 1990. I whakatū ia i te oroko hōtaka mātauranga pouako kura tuarua ki te Whare Wānanga o Tāmaki Makaurau i te tau 1997, me te aha hoki, nā tēnā i riro i a ia te Tohu Whakaaro Kairangi a te Whare Wānanga. Neke atu i te ngahurutau hei kaiwhakaako pouako, ko whakaaweawe a Graeme i te onamata o ngā uri whakaheke nei o ngā pouako hōu. Nā āna tuhinga me ōna whakaaro mō te painga o te whakaakoranga, ko puāwai mai ai te tuhinga tahingatanga o 'Social Sciences: Tikanga ā Iwi Best Evidence Synthesis', me te tauira o te whakaakoranga hei mahi tūhura e noho ana ināianei hei tino wāhanga o te Marautanga o Aotearoa, ā, e whakaaweawe ana i ngā mahi a ngā pouako whānui o Aotearoa.

Ka tohutohu a Graeme i te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga i te whanaketanga o ngā Paerewa mō ngā Pouako Hōu, me te Matatū i ā rātou whakamahi i ngā Paerewa hei wāhanga o te tukanga whakaaetanga mō ngā hōtaka mātauranga pouako e hoatutia nei e ngā whare wānanga.  He mema ia o te tīma tuhituhi mō te whanaketanga hītori o Aotearoa, o roto i te New Zealand Curriculum.

Ko mau i a Graeme ngā tini tūranga ārahi matua ki te Whare Wānanga o Tāmaki Makaurau, e tau nei ki tana tohu ki te Kaiārahi o te Wāhanga Mātauranga me te Mahinga ā-Pāpori i te tau 2008. I taua tūranga, i waihanga ia i te oroko piringa ki a Teach First NZ, nā tēnā i whakahohe i te whakatūnga o te mātauranga pouako ā-wāhi-kē ki ngā kura tuarua ki Aotearoa. Ko whakahohe hoki ia, ā, e ārahi tonu ana hoki i te whanaketanga o STEM Online NZ.  Ko ia te tiamana i tēnei wā o ngā pae wānanga arotake kaupapa a te Whare Wānanga.

Rā roto katoa i tāna umanga ko hiahia a Graeme ki te whāngai māramatanga ki ngā mahinga akoranga e āwhina ai i te whakatakoto kaupapa mā ngā kaiwaihanga kaupapahere, ngā kura me ngā pouako, hei tino painga.

Louise Ānaru

Principal, Kaitaia College

In late 2019 Louise was appointed as the principal of Kaiataia College.

Louise Ānaru was the principal of Flaxmere College which was the winner of the 2018 Prime Minister’s Education Excellence Awards Supreme Award.

Louise was the recipient of a Sir Peter Blake Emerging Leader Award in 2013. She affiliates to Ngāpuhi and Te Rawawa. Flaxmere College made good progress to achieve higher levels of equity and increased excellence in outcomes, with nearly all Māori students now gaining Level 1 NCEA and most achieving Level 2 and 3.

Louise has been actively involved in the National Aspiring Principals’ Programme and First-time Principals Programme, and is currently a Beginning Principal Mentor. She is also currently on the Professional Advisory Group providing advice on the NCEA review.

Louise Ānaru

Tumuaki, Kaitaia College

Nō te hiku o te tau 2019 ka kopoungia a Louise hei tumuaki ki te Kāreti o Kaitaia.

Ko Louise Ānaru te tumuaki o te Flaxmere Kāreti, ko ia te toa mō te Tohu Nui a te Pirimia i ngā Tohu Kairangi Mātauranga a te Pirimia i te tau 2018.

I whakawhiwhia a Louise ki te Tohu a Sir Peter Blake Emerging Leader i te tau 2013. He hononga ōna ki ngā iwi o Ngāpuhi me Te Rarawa. Inā te pai o te haere whakamua o Flaxmere Kāreti kia pai ake te whakawhiwhinga ōrite me hiranga hoki o ngā hua ako, ā, tata tonu te whiwhi o ngā ākonga Māori katoa i NCEA Taumata 1, me te nuinga i whiwhi Taumata 2 me 3.

Kei te whai wāhi hoki a Louise i te kaupapa ā-motu mō ngā Tumuaki Manawanui me ngā Tumuaki Hou, ā, ko ia hoki tētahi Taituara mō Ngā Tumuaki Hou. I tēnei wā kei runga ia i te Rōpū Tohutohu ā-Ngaiotanga mō te arotakenga o NCEA.

Carmen Dalli

Professor, School of Education, Victoria University of Wellington

Carmen started her academic career in the Department of Teaching the Early and Middle Years of the Faculty of Education at the University of Malta. She joined Victoria University of Wellington in 1986 where she teaches across undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, and is Director of the EdD programme.

In 1994, Carmen co-led the establishment of the Institute for Early Childhood Studies and served as its Director from 2011 to 2019. Between 2014 and 2017, she was also Associate Dean (Research) at the Faculty of Education.

Carmen has an international reputation for her research on early childhood (EC) teacher professionalism, EC policy, and infants and toddlers in EC services. Her policy work has included chairing the ministerial advisory group that co-developed the ten-year Early Learning Action Plan for New Zealand (2019-2029), being a member of the Ministerial Advisory Group on Quality for Under-Two Year-Olds in NZ Early Childhood Centres (2012), and a member of the NZ’s Ministry of Education Early Childhood Policy Researchers’ Forum since 2008. She has also provided advice on early childhood policy to the Ministry of Education and Employment in Malta, her country of origin.

Carmen co-edits the Springer book series entitled 'Policy and Pedagogy with Under-three Year Olds: Cross-disciplinary Insights and Innovations and Early Years – An International Research Journal'. Recent publications include: 'Under-three year olds in policy and practice' (2017 with E.J.White), and the Sage Handbook of Early Childhood Policy (2018 with L. Miller, C. Cameron and N. Barbour).

In 2020 Carmen completed a three-year Marsden-funded project called 'War and Peace in the Nursery: How do young children negotiate conflict to establish belonging and wellbeing in a multi-ethnic NZ early childhood centre?'

Carmen Dalli

Ahorangi, Kura Mātauranga, Te Herenga Waka

I tīmata a Carmen i tāna umanga mātauranga ki te Wāhanga Whakaako i ngā Tau Tīmata, o Waenga hoki ki te Wāhanga Mātauranga ki te Whare Wānanga o Malta. I hono atu ia ki Te Herenga Waka i te tau 1986, inā ko ia e whakaako ana i ngā hōtaka paetahi, pōkairua hoki, ā, ko ia te Kaiārahi o te hōtaka EdD.

I te tau 1994, i ārahi tahi a Carmen i te whakatūnga o te Kura mō ngā Akoranga Mātauranga Kōhungahunga, ā, i noho hei Kaiārahi mai i te tau 2011 ki te 2019. I waenga i te tau 2014 me te 2017, ko ia hoki te Tumuaki Tahi (Rangahau) ki te Wāhanga Mātauranga.

He hau ā-ao tō Carmen i tāna rangahau i ngā ngaiotanga pouako kōhungahunga (EC), ngā kaupapahere EC, me ngā ratonga EC mō te pēpi me te kōhungahunga. Ko āna mahi kaupapahere ko tae rā anō ki te noho hei tiamana o te rōpū tohutohu minita e whakawhanake tahi i te Mahere Hohenga Akoranga Kōhungahunga (2019-2029) ki Aotearoa, te noho hei mema o te Rōpū Tohutohu Minita mō te Kounga o ērā e Tamariki Iho i te Rua Tau ki ngā Puna Kōhungahunga ki Aotearoa (2012), me te noho hei mema o te Wānanga a ngā Kairangahau o ngā Herenga o tā Aotearoa Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga Puna Kōhungahunga nō te tau 2008. Kua whāngai āwhina hoki ia mō ngā herenga kōhungahunga ki te Tari Mātauranga me te Whiwhinga Mahi ki Malta, tōna oroko whenua.

Ka whakatika tahi hoki a Carmen i te kohinga pukapuka Springer i tapaina ko 'Policy and Pedagogy with Under-three Year Olds: Cross-disciplinary Insights and Innovations and Early Years – An International Research Journal'. E tae rā anō ana ngā whakaputanga tata nei ki: 'Under-three year olds in policy and practice' (2017 rāua ko E.J.White), me te Sage Handbook of Early Childhood Policy (2018 rātou ko L. Miller, ko C. Cameron, ko N. Barbour hoki).

I te tau 2020 i whakaoti a Carmen i tētahi hinonga toru-tau i whāngaia e te pūtea Marsden i tapaina ko 'War and Peace in the Nursery: How do young children negotiate conflict to establish belonging and wellbeing in a multi-ethnic NZ early childhood centre?'

Wendy Lee

Director of the Educational Leadership Project (ELP)

Wendy Lee is the director of ELP Ltd, which provides professional learning opportunities for teachers in the Early Childhood Education (ECE) sector in New Zealand.  Over the past two decades, her team has provided professional learning for teachers interested in the application of Learning Stories in many other countries including England, Germany, the USA and especially China.

Wendy started her career as a kindergarten teacher and was then a head teacher before becoming a lecturer in ECE at the North Shore Teachers Training College, Auckland. Later, she was a manager at the Waikato Kindergarten Association before leaving to form her own company, providing professional support for all teachers in the New Zealand ECE sector.

Her passion for ECE resulted in her becoming national President of the Kindergarten Teachers Association and then, as a mother, her strong advocacy for the role of mothers and children in society led to community work and ultimately to her role as a Councillor for the Rotorua District Council.  

Wendy's strong belief in life-long education, social equity and the key role of the ECE sector in achieving this, led to her increasing collaboration with Professor Margaret Carr over a range of ECE research projects emanating from Te Whāriki. These included co-directorship of the National ECE Assessment and Learning Exemplar project resulting in the Kei Tua o the Pae books on assessment.

More recently she has assisted Margaret in the co-authorship of several books on Learning Stories. Her determination to provide all ECE teachers with practical tools that are deeply embedded in the principles of the Whāriki is reflected in the development and application of Learning Stories for both assessment and professional learning.

Wendy Lee

Kaiwhakahaere Matua: Educational Leadership Project

Ko Wendy Lee te kaiwhakahaere matua o ELP Ltd, e tuku kaupapa ako ngaio mō ngā kaiako i te rāngai Kura Kōhungahunga (ECE) i Aotearoa. I ngā rua tekau kua hipa atu kua kawea e tana tīma ngā kaupapa ako ngaio mō ngā kaiako e kaingākau ana ki te whakataki i Ngā Pūrākau Ako, i ētahi whenua atu o te ao, pērā i Ingarangi, i Tiamani, te Huinga o ngā Taiwhenua o Amerika (USA), i Haina anō hoki.

I timata a Wendy i tana huarahi mahi hei kaiako kura pūhou, ā, nāwai, nāwai ka tū ko ia te kaiako matua i mua i tana tū hei pūkenga ki te Kāreti Whkakangungu Kaiako o te Raki Paewhenua i Tāmaki Makaurau. Nō muri mai ko ia anō te kaiwhakahaere o te Tōpūtanga Kura Pūhou o Waikato, kātahi ka wehe atu ia ki te whakatū i tana kamupene ake, mō te tuku tautoko ngaio mō ngā kaiako katoa o te rāngai Kura Kōhungahunga i Aotearoa.

Nā tōna ngākaunui mō ngā Kura Kōhungahunga ka puta ia hei Perehitini ā-Motu mō te Tōpūtanga Kura Pūhou me te mea hoki he māmā ia, nā tana kaha tautoko me te kōrero mō te wāhi ki ngā māmā me ngā tamariki i te porihanga ka uru ia ki ngā mahi hapori, ā, ko te mutunga atu ko tana tū hei Kaikaunihera mō te Rohe o Rotorua.

Nā tana kaha whakapono ki te mātauranga ako tūroa, te whiwhinga ōrite me te wāhi nui o te rāngai Kura Kōhungahunga hei whakatutuki i tēnei, ka whai wāhi ia ki te mahitahi me Ahorangi Margaret Carr mō te whānuitanga o ngā kaupapa rangahau e hua mai ana i Te Whāriki. Ko tētahi o āna mahi ko te tū hei kaiwhakahaere takirua o te kaupapa ā-motu mō  ngā Tauoaromahi Aromatawai me te Ako, ā, ko te hua i puta ko ngā pukapuka Kei Tua o Te Pae mō te aromatawai.

Nō nātata nei ka āwhina ia i a Margaret Carr ki te tuhi i ētahi pukapuka e pā ana ki ngā Pūrākau Ako. Ka kitea tōna manawanui ki te tuku mōhiotanga e taketake ana i ngā mātāpono Te Whāriki ki ngā kaiako Kura Kōhungahunga katoa i roto i ngā Pūrākau Ako nā rāua i waihanga mō te aromatawai mō te ako ngaio hoki.

Helen May

Emeritus Professor, College of Education, University of Otago

Helen May taught for nine years as a primary school teacher in the junior classes. Later, when Helen had her own children, she worked in childcare including five years as the Coordinator of the Victoria University of Wellington crèche.

In 1987 Helen began work in teacher education at Hamilton Teachers' College and later the University of Waikato. During the early 1990s she was the co-director, with Margaret Carr, of the early childhood curriculum project that led to the development of Te Whāriki, the first national curriculum guidelines for early childhood in New Zealand.

In 1995 Helen was appointed to the first New Zealand professorial Chair in Early Childhood Education at Victoria University of Wellington. In 2005, she was appointed as Professor of Education and Head of Faculty of Education at the University of Otago, and was the foundation Dean of the University of Otago College of Education after the merger with Dunedin College of Education.

Helen retired from Otago in 2017 and was appointed an Emeritus Professor. As well she became an Adjunct Professor at Victoria University of Wellington and is now living in Wellington. She has spoken and published widely in the field of early childhood curriculum and the history and policy of early year’s education. Her book 'Politics in the Playground' (2019, 3rd ed.) tells the post-war story of the growth of early childhood services including current times and the release of the government’s Early Learning Action Plan 2019-2029: He Taonga Te Tamaiti.

Helen was a member of the Minister’s Reference Group during its development. In 2020, she contributed to a co-authored book, 'Reimagining Teaching in Early Twentieth Century Experimental Schools'. Helen has served on the judging panel for the 2018 and 2019 Prime Minister’s Education Excellence Awards.

Helen May

Ahorangi o Mua, Te Whare Wānanga o Otago

I whakaako a Helen May hei pouako kura tuatahi mō ngā tau e iwa ki ngā akoranga tēina. Whai ake nā, i te whānautanga mai o ā Helen tamariki, i mahi ia hei kaitiaki kōhungahunga, tae rā anō ki ngā tau e rima hei Kaitohutohu o te puna kōhungahunga ki Te Herenga Waka.

I te tau 1987, i tīmata a Helen i tāna mahi mātauranga pouako ki te Kāreti Pouako ki Kirikiriroa, ā, ki te Whare Wānanga o Waikato whai ake nā i tērā. I ngā tau tuatahi o te ngahurutau 1990, ko ia te kaiwhakahaere, rāua tahi ko Margaret Carr, o te hinonga marautanga kōhungahunga i para i te huarahi ki Te Whāriki, arā, ngā kupu arataki marautanga ā-motu tuatahi mō te mātauranga kōhungahunga ki Aotearoa.

I te tau 1995 i meinga a Helen ki te Tūranga Ahorangi Mātauranga Kōhungahunga tuatahi ki Aotearoa ki Te Herenga Waka. I te tau 2005 i meinga ia hei Ahorangi Mātauranga, me te Ūpoko o te Wāhanga Mātauranga ki te Whare Wānanga o Ōtākou, ā, ko ia hoki te oroko Tumuaki o tō Te Whare Wānanga o Ōtākou Kāreti Mātauranga i muri ake i te hononga ki te te Kāreti Mātauranga o Ōtepoti.

I tāoki a Helen i a Ōtākou i te tau 2017, kātahi i karangatia hei Ahorangi o Mua. Me te aha hoki i meinga ia hei Ahorangi Āpiti ki Te Herenga Waka, ā, e noho ana ia ki Te Ūpoko o te Ika ināianei. Ka kōrero ia, ka whakaputa whānui hoki i te ao marautanga o te puna kōhungahunga, me te hītori, ngā kaupapahere hoki o te mātauranga i ngā tau tuatahi. Ko tāna pukapuka 'Politics in the Playground' (2019, putanga tuatoru) e kōrero ana i te pūrākau i muri i te pakanga mō te tupuranga o ngā ratonga kōhungahunga, tae rā anō ki ngā wā o nāianei, me te whakaputanga o tā te kāwanatanga Mahere Hohenga Akoranga Kōhungahunga 2019-2029: He Taonga Te Tamaiti.

He mema a Helen o tā te Minita Rōpū Tohutoro i tāna whakawhanaketanga. I te tau 2020, i whāngai ia i te tuhinga tahitanga o tētahi pukapuka, 'Reimagining Teaching in Early Twentieth Century Experimental Schools'. Ko mahi a Helen ki te taumata whakawā mō ngā Tohu Mātauranga Kairangi a te Pirimia i te tau 2018 me te tau 2019.

Linley Myers, MNZM

Partner, Myers Bruce Leadership

Linley Myers has a Master of Education with first class honours, in which she researched the impact of teaching practices for students identified as Gifted and/or Talented.

After many years teaching and in senior leadership positions she worked with the Education Advisory Service as a leadership adviser and as a reviewer with ERO.

Linley was principal of Maungawhau School in Mount Eden, Auckland for six years and at Royal Oak Primary School for 10 years. She was lead principal for the Nga Manu Awhina RTLB cluster and was a member of the principals' national executive for RTLB. She was the inaugural lead principal for Te Iti Kahurangi, Kāhui Ako.

Linley recently received a Distinguished Fellow award for her services to the Auckland Primary Principals' Association. She is currently an independent Educational Consultant.

Linley Myers, MNZM

Hoa Pakihi, Myers Bruce Leadership

Kua whai a Linley Myers i te Tohu Paerua mō te Mātauranga, taumata kairangi hōnore, mōna i rangahau i te pāpātanga o ngā mahi whakaako ki ngā ākonga Pūmanawa nui.

Whai muri i ōna tau e hia nei e whakaako ana, e kawe ana hoki i ngā tūranga kaiārahi ka mahi ia me te Ratonga Kaitohutohu Mātauranga hei kaiārahi, ā, hei kaiarotake hoki i Te Tari Arotake Mātauranga (ERO).

Ko Linley te Tumuaki o Maungawhau School i Maungawhau, Tāmaki Makaurau anō mō ngā tau e ono, me te Kura Tuatahi o Royal Oak me ngā tau tekau. Ko ia te Tumuaki kaiārahi o te huinga o Ngā Manu Āwhina Kaiako Āwhina: Ako me te Whanonga (RTLB), ā, he mema hoki ia o te Rūnanga Tumuaki ā-Motu mō ngā RTLB. Ko ia anō te tumuaki kaiārahi tuatahi mō te Kāhui Ako o Te Iti Kahurangi.

Nō nātata nei ka whakawhiwhia a Linley ki te tohu Distinguished Fellow mō āna mahi i roto i te Rōpū Tumuaki Kura Tuatahi o Tāmaki Makaurau. I tēnei wā he Kaitohutohu Mātauranga Tū Motuhake ia.

Soana Pamaka

Principal, Tāmaki College

Soana Pamaka became Principal of Tāmaki College in 2006. She is the first Tongan to become a secondary school Principal in New Zealand. Prior to her appointment as principal, Soana was head of History, a Dean, and a Deputy Principal at Tāmaki College.

Away from the College, Soana is a Rotarian and is involved with a number of governance roles, which over the years have included the ASB Community Trust, Teach First NZ, Tāmaki Regeneration Company, Te Papa, Wellington and more recently she has been appointed to the Pasifika Futures Board under the Pasifika Medical Association Group.

Soana is married to Samiu and is the mother of Havea, Paul, Sela and Seini-Mino.  She works closely with students, staff, the community and her church. She is a highly respected leader in her community.

Soana Pamaka

Tumuaki, Te Kāreti o Tāmaki

 tohua a Soana Pamaka ki te tūranga Tumuaki o te Kāreti o Tāmaki i te tau 2006. Ko ia te oroko Tumuaki kura tuarua ki Aotearoa nō Ngāi Tonga. I mua kē mai i tāna tohuanga hei Tumuaki, ko Soana te ūpoko o te Hītori, he Kaihautū, he Tumuaki Tuarua hoki ki te Kāreti o Tāmaki.

Ki wāhi kē atu i te Kāreti, he mema o te rōpū Rotary a Soana, ā, e hono ana ia ki ngā tini mahinga ārahitanga i ngā tau ko taha ake nei, tae rā anō ki te ASB Community Trust, Teach First NZ, te Tāmaki Regeneration Company, Te Papa Tongarewa ki Te Ūpoko o te Ika, ā, inātata nei, ko tohua ia ki te Poari Pasifika Futures, ki raro i te Rōpū Huihuinga Rata Pasifika.

Ko moe a Soana ki a Samiu, ā, ko ia te whaea o Havea rātou ko Paul, ko Sela, ko Seini-Mino.  E mahi tata ana ia ki ngā ākonga, ngā kaimahi, te hapori me tana whare karakia. He rangatira rongonui ia ki tōna hapori.

Kate Shevland

Kate was Principal of Orewa College for more than twenty years and has strong links across the education sector. She was on the executive of the Auckland Secondary Principals Association and led the Orewa Community of Learning for its first four years. She is Trustee of the Pathways to Employment programme.

She has previously been on the Board of Rodney Economic Development Trust, Auckland Secondary Schools Headmaster’s Association, Harbour Sport, Chair of North Shore Secondary Principals Group, and on many local educational advisory committees. She was on the Ministerial reference groups for the RTLB review and Twenty-First Century Learning.

Kate is currently on the New Zealand Qualifications Authority Board. She is a strong advocate for relevant future-focused learning, responsive to student and societal needs.

Kate Shevland

Ko Kate te Tumuaki ki te Kāreti o Ōrewa neke atu i ngā tau e rua tekau, ā, he hononga kaha puta noa i te ao mātauranga. I noho ia ki te rōpū whakahaere o te Huinga Tumuaki Kura Tuarua ki Tāmaki Makaurau, ā, i ārahi i tā Ōrewa Hapori Akoranga i ōna oroko tau e whā. He Kaiwhirinaki ia o te hōtaka Ara Whiwhinga Mahi (Pathways to Employment).

He wā ōna i noho ki te Poari Whirinaki Whakawhanaketanga Ohaoha ki Rodney, ki Te Huihuinga Tumuaki Kura Tuarua ki Tāmaki Makaurau, ki Harbour Sport, hei Tiamana o Te Rōpū Tumuaki Kura Tuarua ki North Shore, ki ngā tini komiti tohutohu ā-rohe i te mātauranga. Ko ia tērā i noho ki ngā rōpū tohutoro mō te arotake RTLB, me te Akoranga Rautau Rua Tekau Mā Tahi.

I tēnei wā tonu, kei te Poari Mana Tohu Mātauranga o Aotearoa a Kate. He kaihapahapai kaha ia o te akoranga onamata, e hāngai ana ki ngā hiahia o te ākonga me te pāpori.

Distinguished Professor Graham Hingangaroa Smith – CNZM

Distinguished Professor and Inaugural appointee to ‘Te Toi Ihorei ki Purehuroa’ Scholar of Distinction position

Te Aitanga a Hauiti, Ngati Apa, Ngati Kahungunu, Kati Mamoe

Professor Graham Hingangaroa Smith is a prominent Māori educationalist and advocate who has been at the forefront of alternative Māori initiatives in the education field and beyond. His academic background is within the disciplines of Education, Social Anthropology and Cultural and Policy Studies. More specifically, his academic work has centered on intervening in Māori cultural, political, social, educational and economic underdevelopment.

Professor Smith trained as a Primary teacher and taught in Auckland schools before taking up a lecturing position at the Auckland Teachers College. He then took up a position in the School of Education at the University of Auckland and completed his PhD ‘Kaupapa Māori Theory as Transformative Praxis’ in 1997.

Over the years Professor Smith has been an influential contributor to the development of what he has described as the ‘twenty-five-year Māori educational revolution, 1982 – 2007’. This period saw the development of a range of alternative educational strategies by Māori communities, beginning with Te Kohanga Reo (Māori Language pre-school initiative), through the Māori Immersion elementary school development (Kura Kaupapa Māori), Māori Secondary Schools (Whare Kura) and the emerging tertiary option of Whare Wananga. He has had a ‘hands-on’ approach with respect to his participation and commitment within these initiatives. Professor Smith was the foundation chairperson of the Council for Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi, an indigenous-university entity in Whakatāne and on his return from Canada in 2007 became its CEO for eight years, retiring in 2015.

He has also contributed on a broad front to New Zealand education as a whole; he remains a leading voice in the challenge for the legitimate inclusion of Māori theorizing within the traditional academy; he has led a concentrated effort focused on increasing numbers of Māori students at Master’s and Doctoral levels; he has built a broad-based international network of indigenous scholars who work with Māori and his lead in Māori educational theorizing has informed the emergence of Māori Education studies as a distinct entity in Education Faculties within New Zealand universities. Perhaps his most significant contribution is enacting theory into transforming actions. In this regard he has often left the comfort of the mainstream to engage in organic transformation. In his words, ‘academics need to get beyond simply describing the pathology of our existence and to answer the critical question “What has changed as a result of my work?”

To this end, Professor Smith has helped establish and taught in Te Kohanga Reo, Kura Kaupapa Māori, and Te Whare Wananga contexts. Professor Smith was Pro Vice Chancellor (Māori) for four and half years at the University of Auckland. Following this he was invited to take up a Visiting Chair as the Universitas 21 Distinguished Professor of Education at the University of British Columbia, a position he filled for five years.

Professor Smith is one of the most influential, internationally recognized, indigenous educators today. He was awarded a CNZM in 2014. In 2016 Professor Smith became the Patron of Te Akatea Māori Principals Association. In 2017 he received the Prime Minister’s Award for contribution to New Zealand Education. In 2020 he was appointed to the position of ‘Te Toi Ihorei ki Purehuroa’ — an invited appointment reserved for Scholars of Distinction at Massey University.

Distinguished Professor Graham Hingangaroa Smith – CNZM

Ahorangi Taiea, me te kopounga Tuatahi ki Te Toi Ihorei ki Pūrehuroa, tūranga ahorangi taiea rānei

Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti, Ngāti Apa, Ngāti Kahungunu, Kāti Māmoe

He kaimātai mātauranga rongonui, he kaihapahapai hoki a Toihuarewa Graham Hingangaroa Smith ko tū ki te aroaro o ngā kaupapa Māori rerekē ki te ao mātauranga, ki tua atu hoki. Ko tāna ahunga mātauranga he mea nō roto i ngā kaupapa Mātauranga, Mātauranga Tikanga Tāngata ā-Hapori, me ngā Mātauranga Ahurea me te Kaupapahere. Kia tautuhi ake, ko aro āna mahinga mātauranga he mea tutū pai i ngā ahurea, ngā tōrangapū, ngā pāpori, ngā mātauranga me ngā whanaketanga ohaoha Māori.

He pouako kura tuatahi a Toihuarewa Graham Hingangaroa Smith ko whakaako ki ngā kura o Tāmaki Makaurau i mua i tāna hūnuku ki te tūranga pūkenga ki Te Kāreti Pouako ki Tāmaki Makaurau. Kātahi i mahi ia ki tētahi tūranga o te Kura Mātauranga ki te Whare Wānanga o Tāmaki Makaurau, ka rua i whakaoti i tāna tohu Kairangi ‘Kaupapa Māori Theory as Transformative Praxis’ i te tau 1997.

I ngā tau ko taha ake, he kaiwhāngai hirahira a Toihuarewa Graham Hingangaroa Smith i te whanaketanga i tāna e kīia ai ko te ‘hurihanga rua tekau mā rima tau o te mātauranga Māori, 1982 – 2007’. I kitea i tēnei wāhanga te whanaketanga o ngā rautaki mātauranga rerekē whakaehu e ngā hapori Māori, me te tīmata ki te Kōhanga Reo, rā roto i te Kura Kaupapa Māori, tae noa ki te Wharekura, me te putanga mai o te Whare Wānanga. He ‘ringa raupā’ tāna momo ahunga e hāngai ana ki tāna mahi tahi me te ū ki ēnei kaupapa. Ko ia te tiamana tuatahi o te Kaunihera mō Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi, he whare wānanga taketake ki Whakatāne, ā, i tāna hokinga mai i Kānata i te tau 2007, i noho hei Tumu Whakarae mō ngā tau e waru, me te tāoki i te tau 2015.

Ka whāngai whānui hoki ia i te ao mātauranga o Aotearoa; he kanohi kitea ia mō te wero i te whakaurunga tūturu o Ngāi Māori e huatau ana ki te whare wānanga taketake; ka ārahi ia i te ūnga ki te whakatupu ake i ngā taupori ākonga Māori ki ngā taumata Paerua me te Kairangi; ka waihanga i tētahi tukutuku whānui ā-ao o ngā mātanga taketake e mahi tahi ana me ngā Māori, ā, nā tāna toronga i te ao huatau o te mātauranga Māori ko kitea te puāwaitanga a ngā kaupapa Mātauranga Māori hei mea tautuhi ki ngā Wāhanga Mātauranga i ngā whare wānanga o Aotearoa. Ainī pea ko tāna tino mahi ko te whakatinana i ngā huatau kia noho hei mahinga tūturu. Nā tēnei, ko rite tonu tana wehe i te hāneanea o te auraki kia whakapāpā i te hurihanga māori. Hei tāna, ‘me toro atu ngā mātanga ki tua i te whakaatu noa i te mātai o tō tātou oranga, me te whakautu i te pātai hirahira, “Kua panoni te aha nā tāku mahi?”‘

Me te aha hoki, ka āwhina a Toihuarewa Graham Hingangaroa Smith kia whakatū, kia whakaako hoki ki ngā horopaki Kōhanga Reo, Kura Kaupapa Māori me Te Whare Wananga. Ko ia hoki te Tumuaki Tuarua (Māori) mō ngā tau e whā me te haurua ki te Whare Wānanga o Tāmaki Makaurau. I muri ake i tēnei i pōhiritia ia kia noho ki te Tūru Manuhiri hei Toihuarewa Kairangi o te Mātauranga o Universitas 21 ki te Whare Wānanga o British Columbia, he tūranga ōna mō ngā tau e rima.

Ko Toihuarewa Graham Hingangaroa Smith tētahi o ngā kaimātai mātauranga taketake hirahira rawa, mōhiotia rawatia i te ao, whakaweawe rawa hoki i ēnei rā. I riro i a ia te tohu CNZM i te tau 2014. I te tau 2016 i riro mā Toihuarewa Graham Hingangaroa Smith ko te Kairangi o tā Te Akatea Huihuinga Tumuaki Māori. I te tau 2017, i riro i a ia te Tohu a te Pirimia mō te whāngai i te Mātauranga ki Aotearoa. I te tau 2020 i tohua ia ki te tūranga o ‘Te Toi Ihorei ki Pūrehuroa’ — he tūranga tono ko wātea noa ki ngā Pūkenga Kairangi ki Te Kunenga ki Pūrehurua.