Conference attendees catch up during the break
Our Mt Albert campus was the venue for the sold-out ‘Talking Teaching’ conference last month. Attendees from all over New Zealand gathered for the two-day programme, to share best practice in tertiary teaching and to help grow support networks for tertiary teachers.
Talking Teaching is an annual conference organised by the national Ako Academy of Excellence, an organisation comprising all winners of the National Tertiary Teaching Excellence awards to date. Initially aimed solely at members of the Academy, three years ago it was opened to the public. This year’s 300 attendees, including over 100 of Unitec’s academic staff, hailed from a range of backgrounds, with the common interest of tertiary teaching and learning.
Faumuina Associate Professor Fa’afetai Sopoaga
To open the conference, guests were welcomed with a pōhiri followed by a moving keynote presentation from last year’s Ako Aotearoa Prime Minister’s Supreme Award winner, Faumuina Associate Professor Fa’afetai Sopoaga.
The two-day programme included six concurrent streams of presentations, including around 20 presentations involving Unitec staff. Along with the diverse and valuable presentations, highlights included a very well-received tour of our marae by Taurahere Marae Lecturer Hohepa Renata and the conference dinner, held at Auckland University’s Fale Pasifika, which was a fantastic networking opportunity.
Guests were welcomed onto our marae
James Oldfield, Digital Learning Lead in Te Puna Ako and member of the Ako Academy of Excellence said feedback on the conference was very positive.
Babar Mahmood, Unitec’s Senior Lecturer in the School of Engineering and Applied Technology presenting at the Talking Teaching conference
“Guests commented on the quality of our facilities and the sessions and also the outstanding event management by Event and Administration Advisor, Kirsten Petersen.”
“Hosting the Talking Teaching conference here at Unitec was a great opportunity for our staff to engage with people from across the tertiary sector who are passionate about learning and teaching in a shared kaupapa of diverse learners and inclusive teaching.”