Editorial

Kia ora tātou,

What a fabulous summer we have been experiencing, I trust you have all had time to refresh for 2020, it’s now time to get into the rhythm of the working year.

In April NZEALS will hold its biennial conference of which you can read more detail about in the accompanying articles.

The impending conference has made me reflect on the power of professional learning. As teachers and leaders on going learning is the necessary ‘food’ we need to enable us to confront the challenges known and unknown that lay before us. As such, ongoing learning is an indispensable asset filling our kete of knowledge and skills.

Sadly, I often hear people say great conference but back in the work place, new learning and ideas get lost due to the busyness of work, getting the way of deep reflection that leads to committed action. Perhaps this is a reflection on the conference style of keynote speeches following one another creating information overload, with little time to critically reflect on content and implications for practice.

As we know effective professional learning involves building theory and practice together. The format of NZEALS 2020 conference will give participants the opportunity to engage in theory and have rich dialogue in korero groups that focus on the conference themes affording opportunity participants to engage in collaborative sense making as they to unpack, probe and debate new and existing beliefs, deepening understanding and outcomes for practice.

Finally, we offer ‘hot off the press’ congratulations to one of our conference presenters Aimee Macaskill, General Manager of the University of Auckland Early Childhood Centres, on receiving one of the six Excellence in Teaching (NEiTA) Awards from Chris Hipkins last Friday. Well done, Aimee!

I look forward to seeing many of you at NZEALS 2020 conference Tūrangawaewae: A place to stand.

I trust the year ahead will be full of exciting new leadership adventures and growth.

Ngā mihi nui

Annette