Networks of Expertise Building Capability Across the Motu

By Maree Kirk

Networks of Expertise (NEX) were established as a key part of Professional Learning and Development (PLD) 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.

“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 were subject-related for example 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

education. It is based on the ecological systems approach to wellbeing for children with a disability and comes from 15 years of service provision and PhD research. This was also the basis of Dr Kirk’s research presentation in 2021 to the World Congress on Down Syndrome and the Australasian Institute of Intellectual Disability. The Supporting Teaching Practice programme has reached over 150 schools across New Zealand to date. NEX interactive forums for teachers working in primary and secondary schools have been run in Whakatane and Christchurch in 2021. Dr Kirk says, “The Whakatāne NEX group has a PLD schedule that has included a two-day seminar and resource development on the Individual Education Plan and Individual Transition Plan from school with an interschool and agency policy. Whakatāne/BOP region also held an Inclusive Literacy Design workshop, and we will build in the development of action research from this to track the teaching practice and students’ progress. In Wairarapa, the focus was on literacy, with one day on reading and language Intervention. Dr Kirk says, “Thinking more about inclusive curricula and assessment design at the outset of all lesson planning is paramount. This involves working with teachers, establishing learning pathways and assessment tasks with whānau and teachers, using evidence about students' knowledge, understanding, and skills to inform their teaching and everyday learning across all environments.” “It is important to engage children and young people as students in the planning process, in setting goals, and in their social skill development so that their ambitions and expectations are part of building capability throughout their education.” The NEX offers specific topic areas and links to theory and practice, full access to evidence-based resources, and resource development across a local group within your area or Kāhui Ako (Community of Learning). There is also some allowance for teacher release time for specific NEX PLDs. The NEX is an exciting development for the community of children and young people with Down syndrome and learning disabilities to provide adults around them with easier access to PLD. For further information email: info@stpds. co.nz Dr Maree Kirk is a wellbeing and capability consultant. She has a considerable career background in health and education and as contract Teaching Fellow in the Department of Societies and Cultures at the University of Waikato. She is the Director of the Bay of Plenty Down Syndrome Association Inc. an incorporated society operating as a charitable trust to provide professional development and an educational resource package to students with Down syndrome and learning disability.