The Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA) has elected a new president.
Phil Smith, head of the history department at James Hargest High School in Invercargill, will take over the position in January.
He will replace Jen McCutcheon, who has completed her two-year term.
Mr Smith said he was looking forward to the challenge
after the union's difficult and protracted teachers' industrial dispute.
The union took criticism from several quarters, including parents, while industrial action took its toll on students.
"One of the key challenges for PPTA is to re-establish the importance of professional issues following the protracted industrial dispute," Mr Smith said in a statement.
"We need to re-energise PPTA's role in articulating professional issues as they tend to be forgotten during industrial disputes such as this one."
They included new curriculum and assessment programmes such as the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) and "their impact on teacher workloads, recruitment and retention", he said.
Ms McCutcheon told NZPA she was looking forward to getting back to her role as deputy principal of Greymouth High School next year.
"It will be good to get back into teaching again," she said.
She will retain a role in the union as senior vice-president.
- NZPA
