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Networks of Expertise Building Capability Across the Motu By Maree Kirk
Networks of Expertise (NEX) were established as a key part of Professional L e a r n i n g a n d D eve l o p m e n t ( P L D) capability infrastructure following a Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga (Ministry of Education) review in 2015/16. The NEX initiative was piloted in 2016 and 2017 and introduced nationwide in 2018. In the past two years, NEX have mentored, coached, and provided professional learning development to as many as 15,000 teachers and kaiako throughout Aotearoa.
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“The strength of the programme is that the educators leading the networks are the very best teachers in the country,” says Murray Williams, recently retired chief executive of Whanaketanga Kaiako Aotearoa/Teacher Development Aotearoa (WKA/TDA). Most of the original nationwide networks we re s u b j e c t - re l a t e d f o r ex a m p l e agribusiness, or technology. In 2020, the Ministry of Education released a tender for further NEX and realigned it to support the strategic direction of changes in the education system. These included the Aotearoa New Zealand Histories Curriculum (ANZHC), the Review of Achievement Standards (RAS), the NCEA Change Programme, and the wider refresh of The New Zealand Curriculum. In 2021, 11 communities of practice and interest group networks joined the Network to establish a total of 36 groups. These included interest groups and
networks representing Pasifika education, gifted education, online teaching support, and inclusion of students with learning disabilities and Down syndrome. The teacher and kaiako-led service promotes peer-to-peer learning that strengthens collaboration and provides teachers and all kaiako, schools, and kura with ready-to-go support. Les Hoerara is representative of the quality of educators involved in the programme. The Kaitakawaenga, iwi relationship and partnership manager for WKA/TDA brings a background as an educationalist, researcher, and advocate of tikanga Māori to the NEX. Les supports and develops cultural capability across the NEX and resides in Tauranga Moana (Education Gazette, 2022, 101:1). NEX: Supporting Teachers Practice for inclusion of students with learning disabilities and Down Syndrome. This is the first Ministry of Education contract for PLD for children and young people with learning disability and Down syndrome in New Zealand. Its focus is on inclusive pedagogy with an interest in students with learning disabilities and Down syndrome. Programme Director, Dr Maree Kirk, ran the Supporting Teaching Practice for Students with Learning Disability and Down Syndrome (STPDS) programme from 2009, which formed the basis for this contract. It is a capability model for children and young people with Learning Disability and Down Syndrome in regular
