The Awards ceremony will take place online from 3.30pm on Wednesday 23 November. The Prime Minister’s Educator of the Year Award will be awarded to one of the nine finalists and announced during the ceremony.
“The Panel had a very difficult job to select the awardees. All of those nominated inspire learners to thrive with their impact resonating beyond the learner to whānau and the wider community,” says Te Whatu Kairangi Selection Panel Chair, Dr Alison Kuiper.
Hosted by Ako Aotearoa, Te Whatu Kairangi was previously known as the Tertiary Teaching Excellence Awards; they are the most recognised and respected awards for tertiary education and training in Aotearoa New Zealand.
“The awards have been reshaped and restructured to create a more diverse and inclusive awards programme,” says Ako Aotearoa Director Helen Lomax.
A key change under the 2022 Te Whatu Kairangi process was the introduction of categories for the General Awards that focus on some of the important challenges facing tertiary education today. The categories include:
- Advancing approaches to, and the outcomes of, work-based learning
- Achieving diversity and inclusion for improving outcomes for: Māori learners; Pacific learners; neurodiverse learners; and/or learners with disabilities
- Innovation in learning, teaching, and curriculum (including developers, educators, or combinations)
- Progressing educational partnerships and collaboration
- Initiatives for progressing hauora and wellbeing in education
- Progressing seamless ākonga transitions between contexts
Up by 13% from the previous year, 26 portfolios were received from a wider range of tertiary education organisations, including Te Pūkenga organisations and private training establishments. The three-stage selection process involved initial assessments by external reviewers, shortlisting, and final decisions by a 10-person panel of experts.
2022 Te Whatu Kairangi Awardees
Kaupapa Māori Awardees
Rachel Dibble, Senior Lecturer, Social Services, Te Kura Matatini ki Otago | Otago Polytechnic | Te Pūkenga.
Jamie Smiler, Senior Academic in Tourism, Te Whare Wānanga o te Awakairangi | Wellington Institute of Technology | Te Pūkenga.
General Awardees with Enhancing Pacific Learners’ Success Endorsement
Dr Marcia Leenen-Young, Senior Lecturer in Pacific Studies, School of Māori and Pacific Studies, Waipapa Taumata Rau | The University of Auckland, for Achieving diversity and inclusion, for improving outcomes for: Māori learners; Pacific learners; neurodiverse learners; and/or learners with disabilities.
Patrick Vakaoti, Associate Professor in Sociology, Gender Studies and Criminology, Te Whare Wānanga o Otago | University of Ōtago, for Achieving diversity and inclusion, for improving outcomes for: Māori learners; Pacific learners; neurodiverse learners; and/or learners with disabilities.
General Awardees
Eileen Britt, Associate Professor in Psychology, Faculty of Science, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury, for Progressing seamless ākonga transitions between contexts.
David Cox, Lecturer, School of Mathematics and Statistics, Te Herenga Waka | Victoria University of Wellington, for Innovation in learning, teaching, and curriculum.
Richard Easther, Professor of Physics, Faculty of Science, Waipapa Taumata Rau |The University of Auckland, for Innovation in learning, teaching, and curriculum.
Carolyn Gates, Associate Professor in Veterinary Epidemiology and Education, School of Veterinary Science, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa | Massey University, for Advancing approaches to, and the outcomes of, work-based learning.
Christian Schott, Associate Professor in Tourism Management, School of Management, Te Herenga Waka | Victoria University of Wellington, for Innovation in learning, teaching, and curriculum.
Te Whatu Kairangi 2023 round will open on Thursday 24 November 2022. Further exciting changes, including the new Pacific Awards and Group Awards, will be announced at that time.