Role

Penny leads our postgraduate programmes. She provides academic, pedagogical and people leadership to the post graduate lecturing staff and ensures consistent high quality of our Master of Education (ECE) and Post Graduate Diploma programmes.

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Education Background

Penny’s career in the early childhood education sector spans 35 years, from early childhood teaching and leadership to tertiary level teaching. She taught in the Bachelor of Teaching Early Years programme at Massey University for 15 years before joining Te Rito Maioha in 2013. In addition to her academic role, Penny was a representative on the Te Rito Maioha Council for six years, a governance role which complemented her role as chair of Ruahine Kindergartens.

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Research Background

Penny is passionate about teachers’ practices and how their beliefs influence their day-to-day work. Her master’s research explored the role of peers in children’s learning, and this led to a PhD investigating teachers’ beliefs and practices related to peer learning, using both qualitative and quantitative methods to strengthen research design.

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Teaching Interests

Having taught and practised leadership over many years, Penny is passionate about teaching students about leadership and governance. She believes in collaborative, inclusive, and empathetic leadership which enables people to be heard. Penny is motivated by growing strong teams and seeing people reach their potential. She enjoys getting to know students and learning from the experiences they bring and the knowledge they have. Penny is strongly influenced by her upbringing, giving her a firm belief in women achieving in family and career, and a strong work ethic.

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Recent Publications

Cameron, M., Aspden, K., Smith, P., & McLaughlin, T. (2023). “The curriculum just flows” – An examination of teachers’ understandings and implementation of Te Whāriki pre–2017. Waikato Journal of Education, 23(1), 41-53. https://doi.org/10.15663/wje.v28i1.1037

Smith, P., and Carlyon, T. (2024). Examining assessment principles and practices within the online components of an initial teacher education programme in Aotearoa New Zealand. Assessment matters: online first. New Zealand Council for Educational Research https://doi.org/10.18296/am.0066

Smith, P., and Cameron, M. (2024). Professional learning to support effective leadership in early childhood education. In Carlyon, T., and Merry, R. (Eds.) Effective leadership in early childhood services and primary school education in Aotearoa New Zealand (pp. 85-96). NZCER Press.