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Exploring teaching excellence - Unitec | MIT Learning and Teaching Symposium 2025

Nāu te rourou, nāku te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi
With your food basket and my food basket, the people will thrive

An unmissable event for anyone keen to help shape up a new teaching excellence standards framework for Tāmaki Institute of Technology and Polytechnic (ITP's). You’ll experience excellent teaching and inspiring innovations, as we share ideas and insights about what excellent teaching should look like for a complex future, and how to embody it in a framework of standards. Register now.

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What does “teaching excellence” look like in your discipline? For your learners, for your industry? Are there “generic” characteristics of teaching excellence? Come and share — we need your perspectives!
We have the chance to co-create a new framework of teaching excellence standards for Tāmaki ITPs, which will support institutional processes such as: recruitment, professional development and promotion, criteria for teaching awards and more from 2026.
The annual regional Learning and Teaching Symposium on 4 July is the first stage of bringing stakeholders together to share ideas. Come along, get behind this kaupapa, and share your thoughts! We’ll also showcase excellent practice and future-oriented teaching innovations.

Overview

This year’s symposium invites participants to explore and help co-construct our take on teaching excellence in vocational education for the Tāmaki region.
As institutes serving a diverse region and complex future, our goal is to develop teaching excellence standards that reflect the Tāmaki context, our learners’ needs, and our ongoing commitment to transformative education.

What you will gain

The symposium will serve as a key milestone for Unitec and MIT as they begin to gather stakeholder insights that will inform a framework of teaching excellence standards during 2025. This will:

  • Contribute to the development of the 2026 teaching excellence standards framework.
  • Reflect on what excellence in teaching looks like in your own practice/s and disciplines.
  • Engage with colleagues across institutions to build consensus and collective insight.
  • Gain insights into existing excellent teaching and innovations. 

Event information

Date and time: Friday 4 July 2025 from 9am to 4pm.
Arrive early for carparking, registration,coffee and catching up with colleagues.
Location: Collaborative teaching space, room 183-1104, Unitec Mt Albert campus.

Programme

Last updated 17 June. Check back before the event for any final programme changes.

Time Activity
 9am  Registration
 Venue: Events Kitchen, Te Puna (building 180)
 9:30am  Mihi whakatau (opening)
 Room 183-1104
 9:50am  On teaching excellence: panel discussion
 Featuring award-winning teachers Kelly Pender (Toi Ohomai), Jone Tawakateni (Unitec), Emma Lambert (MIT) and Lara Tookey (AUT).
 Room 183-1104
 10:35am  Special feature: Through Their Eyes
 Teaching excellence from the learner perspective, facilitated by Sacha Garrity (Unitec).
 Room 183-1104
 11:15am
 Stream1
 Showcase: Teaching excellence in practice - Stream 1
 • Dual professionalism - Craig Goodhue (Unitec)
 • Thinking about thinking: Reflection as a strategy for excellence - Sue Tullett (Unitec)
 • It’s not about the content - Dave Hicks (Unitec)
 Room 183-1104
 11:15am
 Stream 2
 Showcase: Teaching excellence in practice - Stream 2
 • Fostering collaboration and interaction - Sarah Bampton (Unitec), Seyhun Ogut (Unitec)
 • A ‘shotgun driver’ role for the teacher supporting ākonga using AI - Sophia Li (MIT)
 • Work-based learning in cybersecurity - Bashar Barmada (Unitec)
 Room 183-1105
 12 midday  Lunch break
 Venue: Events Kitchen, Te Puna (building 180)
 12:30pm  Feature: Echo 360. A short functionality update including Echo Exam
 
James Oldfield (Unitec) with Howard Norton (Unitec)
 Room 183-1104
 12:45pm  Excellence through innovation
 Ako (AI) agents enhancing learning: a demonstration of early AI agent development at Unitec, highlighting the nursing collaborative project. James Oldfield (Unitec), with Sharnell Aumua (Unitec) and Maia Topp (MIT).
 Room 183-1104
 1:15pm  Māori perspectives on teaching excellence: Panel discussion
 Vivienne Merito (Unitec) and Dr Wiremu Manaia (MIT) facilitate kōrero with Veraneeca Taiepa (Unitec), Hohepa Renata (Unitec), Rikona Andrews (Unitec), and Hana Hohapata (MIT), DJ Jones (MIT), Kaine Haira (MIT).
 Room 183-1104
 2pm  Kōrerorero
 Facilitated group discussions sharing views and insights to inform co-design of a new MIT/Unitec teaching excellence standards framework for 2026.
 Our chance to gather your valuable perspectives.
 Room 183-1104
 3pm  Final remarks, close
 Room 183-1104
 3:20pm -  4pm  Refreshments and networking
 Venue: Events Kitchen, Te Puna (building 180)  

 

Register