Last Tuesday Victoria University celebrated its brightest graduates from the Faculty of Education at the inaugural Teacher Education Excellence Awards.
Awards were given to those students who gained an A+ average in their academic studies and performed strongly while on teaching placement in 2010.
Thirteen recipients from a range of teacher education programmes received the awards, including early childhood, primary, and secondary teaching candidates.
Dean of the Faculty of Education, Professor Dugald Scott, says the awards were to acknowledge graduates who have excelled in a rigorous and demanding teaching programme.
“While all of Victoria’s graduate teachers know what to teach, know how to teach, and understand the responsibilities of belonging to the teaching profession, these graduates showed high levels of critical insight into the challenges of teaching and learning in New Zealand in the 21st century. They demonstrated professional excellence in their programme,” said Professor Scott.
One recipient, Rosemary Driver, was also awarded the llse B Steinberger Prize in Primary Teaching, awarded annually to the top Graduate Diploma of Teaching (Primary) student in the Faculty of Education.
Ms Driver, who is now teaching in Birchwood Primary in Nelson, was delighted to receive this recognition for her studies and excited about her new career.
“Teaching offers me an opportunity to be socially and professionally
responsive… It is very much a ‘get out what you put in’ kind of profession, and that suits me.”
“I… hope that I will be able to contribute to the education and welfare of young
people in New Zealand, and perhaps internationally, in a variety of ways.”
Like Ms Driver, many of the award recipients are now teaching in schools or centres around the country.