Changhwan Lee from Tangaroa College talks with Nadeen Papali’i who is the programme lead from Ako Matatupu Teach First NZ. Photo / Greg Bowker
Changhwan Lee from Tangaroa College talks with Nadeen Papali’i who is the programme lead from Ako Matatupu Teach First NZ. Photo / Greg Bowker
The Herald is profiling 12 charities awarded $12,000 each from Auckland Airport’s Twelve Days of Christmas campaign. Each grant is made up of $10,000 donated by generous travellers who placed unwanted currency into money boxes dotted around the airport’s terminals in 2023, and as a cherry on top, Auckland Airport has gifted each charity an additional $2000.
When most school teachers are on holiday in January, a group of aspiring secondary school teachers will be heading off to summer school to explore new ways to lead young people in classrooms across the country, particularly in low-income communities.
They are on their second year of the Teach First NZ Programme, which is a scholarshipped, employment-based initial teacher education programme which allows them to work in a secondary school while completing a postgraduate diploma in secondary teaching.
These future teachers are hand-picked for showing signs of leadership, belief in the potential of young people and commitment to addressing challenges that schools and wider communities face when it comes to access to opportunity.
Half the Teach First NZ participants serve in Auckland schools, and most of those are in South Auckland.
Teach First NZ’s programme lead Nadeen Papali’i has come full circle with Teach First NZ. She is an alumni, having served as a classroom teacher and the director of the Health Science Academy at Tangaroa College in Ōtara.
Nadeen Papali’i is a programme lead from Ako Matatupu Teach First NZ. Photo / Greg Bowker
“I’m a product of this programme, having gone through it when it was first set up and serving at Tangaroa College. Now, I’m leading the programme that put me into the community as a teacher and I’m grateful I’m able to give back in this way and serve our young people to help them fulfil their potential,” Papali’i says.
While the potential of young people in Aotearoa is limitless, access to opportunity is not, she says.
Teach First NZ gives the example that 64 per cent of students from schools serving New Zealand’s poorest communities leave school with NCEA level 2 or higher, compared to 93 per cent of students from schools serving the most affluent communities.
“Inspirational leadership, both inside and outside the classroom, is crucial for improving outcomes for our rangatahi,” Papali’i says.
“So, the aim of our programme is to attract more great people into the education sector who are committed to the same vision as us and supporting them to grow as teachers and leaders who can make a difference.
The programme gives opportunity to teach in a secondary school that serves a low-income community whilst they complete a postgraduate qualification. Photo / Greg Bowker
“We partner with schools, communities, and iwi, looking to them for advice and guidance as to how we best meet the needs of students to make a real difference in their lives.
“In the classroom, we teach through an indigenous lens in terms of what things mean for Māori and Pasifika, and we are constantly asking, is what we are doing serving the learning of the young people in front of us?”
The summer school provides an intensive opportunity for trainees to focus on their own leadership project which they will deliver in their schools in 2024.
“They will be immersed in an intensive module, Brave Thinking: Strategic Teaching, where they will be inspired by guest speakers and study leaders who have served as agents of change in their fields, to be inspired to question and work towards social change and educational equity for all young people.”
Thanks to the Auckland Airport Twelve Days of Christmas campaign, 50 teachers will be heading off to the week-long summer school in January.
Teach First NZ is one of 12 charities being gifted $10,000 for work in South Auckland communities as part of Auckland Airport’s Twelve Days of Christmas campaign. This is funded by donations from generous travellers who have visited the airport this year and placed their unwanted foreign currency into moneyboxes dotted around the terminals. Auckland Airport has gifted an additional $2000 per grant.
Auckland Airport chief corporate services officer Melanie Dooney says the airport is delighted the $12,000 grant will support these future teachers on the summer camp.
“The South Auckland communities Teach First NZ works with will benefit hugely from this summer school and the ‘think tank’ that envisages and works towards educational equality for all young people, including the most disadvantaged, and will help create a brighter future for our young people and their communities,” Dooney says.
