Role

Samantha teaches in the Primary and Matauranga Māori course papers. I will teach Primary and Matauranga Māori course papers. Her primary goal this year is to develop fluency in the role as kaiako and all its facets.

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Education Background

Samantha’s primary teaching career was equal parts primary and secondary, mainstream and total immersion kura spanning 30 years. She maintained a classroom teaching role, regardless of management responsibilities - ko te tamaiti te pūtake o te matauranga. She is grateful for passionate, driven leaders, supportive and positive teams, and diligent, caring colleagues.

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Research Background

Samantha claims her foray into academic research is really just beginning. She has an interest in educational research around second language acquisition at home and at school.

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Teaching Interests

In a kura environment where sporting, cultural activities and learning overflow, curriculum was her niche. Samantha’s formative years in mainstream served her well in her transition to Kura - a learning environment that strives for academic and cultural success as Māori is a privileged kura to attend. She worked across Year 1-13 in various roles and curriculum areas and believes that every child should leave school with solid literacy and numeracy skills. She is a second language learner so she does feel empathy for young learners struggles in their literacy journey. There is still a long way to go in terms of resourcing materials to enrich students literacy experience.