A new approach to professional learning and development for technology teachers in New Zealand: Developing networks of expertise

Abstract

This article presents a study that focuses on the Mātanga’ (Māori term for expert) perspective of their leadership in a professional learning and development (PLD) programme in technology education. Funded by the Ministry of Education’s Network of Expertise Initiative, the PLD programme was designed and delivered by Technology Education New Zealand (TENZ), to foster teachers’ engagement with the technology education curriculum. It aimed to develop teacher specialist identity by focusing on [Author 1] and Williams’ notions of technological and technical thinking by matching teachers with Mātanga. The PLD model aimed to support teachers in remote areas, or for those who have limited access to curriculum support. In New Zealand, technology teachers are used to a top-down delivery approach to PLD where they are the receivers of information, which they then need to make sense of, for their own classroom and school setting. The aim of this project was to reposition the agency within the professional community. The developers of the PLD programme envisaged that once a community of Mātanga and teachers were established, teachers would feel more connected to local, regional and national support through digital networks. The long-term aim of the PLD programme was to create self-sustaining PLD in technology education, based on community needs. Research findings indicate that technology education is a subject that presents a confused identity. The Mātanga identified various factors affecting the nature of technology education in New Zealand. Mātanga had differing understandings and interpretations of the technology the result of their professional experiences and they recognised various factors affecting the nature of technology education in New Zealand. Most evident were the identified tensions for teachers’ curriculum and assessment understandings, and the pressures being placed on practitioners to remain current in their practice.