Professional development: Embracing the ‘badging’ programme, individually and as a team

Lynn-Elisabeth Hill’s story below is a great example of one of our teachers engaging in both on-the-job learning and formal training, reflecting our 70-20-10 development model, through our new badging programme, launched last year.

Badges ‘help teachers to reflect’

Academic Leader Lynn-Elisabeth Hill –, Unitec stalwart and fan of continuous reflection – has embraced the new ‘badging’ professional development system, and says it’s going well so far.

An experienced teacher in the New Zealand Certificate in English Language (NZCEL) Level 4 team, Lynn-Elisabeth has been at Unitec for 18 years, so has seen a lot of change over the years. She loves teaching and loves her Level 4 team, who she says ‘work really well together’.

Lynn-Elisabeth has completed one badge already this year – the Moodle Basics ‘emerging’ badge. She started at the emerging level because, while she knows how to use Moodle, she wanted to revisit the basics and tick that badge off. ‘The Moodle course reminded me of things I already knew but haven’t thought of for while’ she said. So yes, even though it was the basics, it was helpful.

Last year, she achieved the ‘Design for Collaborative Learning’ Badge at the ‘modelling’ level. That badge was very relevant to her role, given all of her work with students learning English for academic purposes is collaborative, so it was an opportunity to be officially acknowledged for the skills she has.

The whole NZCEL Level 4 team is going to tackle the same badge this year: the ‘Peer Observation’ badge, starting at the ‘demonstrating’ level and working towards ‘modelling’. The team is made up of experienced teachers who have all been teaching the course for a number of years, so Lynn-Elisabeth sees this as an opportunity to gain ideas and inspiration from each other. ‘Our teachers are all great, and we generally don’t change what we’re doing when someone watches us but when it’s your peer you have so much respect for them, so you’re more aware of what you’re doing. And as the observer, you see different ways of approaching things, different activities for the students – it’s a learning opportunity for us.’

As for the change to Professional Development with the introduction of the badging system in 2018, Lynn-Elisabeth sees it as a positive move. ‘There is a choice to either learn something new or show that you can already do something. As an experienced teacher, demonstrating your skills brings things up to the surface – even if you think you know something, it’s an opportunity to remind you, and that’s valuable’ she says.

She’s also appreciated the fantastic support that Te Puna Ako Academic Adviser, Lisa Simperingham, has given. Lisa took her through the Moodle basics course, and has guided her in planning her team’s professional development this year.

Lynn-Elisabeth sees professional development as an important part of staying up-to-date in teaching practise. ‘What we need to do as teachers is constantly changing. Technology is always changing, the student body changes, research brings new findings, and stakeholder expectations change too.’

‘Professional development leads to reflection, and I think reflecting as a teacher is important’.

Our Unitec teaching competencies give teachers the opportunity to recognise existing areas of strength, and build on these. Every teacher needs to complete at least two badges this year.

Visit the Teacher Capability Development homepage on Moodle for details of the 18 badges currently available.  There is something for everyone, regardless of experience (relatively new or highly experienced teachers) and area of focus – from classroom practice to assessment and evaluation.

All about the NZCEL Level 4 course

Language Studies – Bridgepoint

Language Studies welcomes a unique group of students – either International students or domestic migrants and refugees, who are learning English as a second language. The NZCEL course prepares them for study, through teaching them English for academic purposes – the grammar, research, oral presentation, and referencing skills they’ll need in their study. The NZCEL Level 4 teaching team needs to consider what mainstream teachers are going to expect from students and help the students with those skills so they’re ready to move into a course of study.

What’s changed in the course in the past few years?

Since the Level 4 certificate changed to a national programme in 2014, the team deals with a lot more domestic students, alongside the International students they’ve always taught. It was a learning curve – the teachers needed to think about the students’ needs and adapt their approach. For example, the migrant and refugee students are generally older and have more family responsibilities, so class times needed to be considered, to allow for outside commitments. They may also have experienced trauma in their lives, so the teaching approach and language used needed to be adapted in some cases.