Teachers share good practice at seminars

Citizenship and shared responsibility were themes that resonated with educators at recent PD workshops.

Two recent workshops gave teachers, educators and road safety professionals new insights and tools to support how young people learn about safe road use.

The events were hosted by the Greater Wellington Regional Council with support from the NZ Transport Agency.

Presenters included:

• Teachers Hayden Shaw, Sarah Howell, Alex Le Long and Catherine Hunter, who have all written or used curriculum resources available through the Transport Agency.
• Pam Hook on Citizenship and SOLO Taxonomy.
• Maria Kecskemeti on an identity-based approach to challenging risky behaviour.
• Diana-Grace Morris and Rachel Bolstad on learning through game design.

English HOD plans with colleagues

Twizel Area School HOD English Anneke Smit was among the teachers attending. She says she had looked at the Transport Agency’s curriculum resources before.

“I wanted some more support surrounding using them in the classroom.  Seeing that Pam Hook herself was going to be speaking at the day, along with Alex le Long – both educators I have admired for several years – was the clincher,” she says.

“For me, the best takeaway moment was a reminder that the roads are a commons and that we can teach citizenship surrounding this – while seeing our students as ‘bundles of capabilities’.”

Anneke says she will now collaborate with colleagues on road safety learning experiences for Twizel students, using ideas and resources from the Education Portal.

Important areas of safety for their school community include negotiating road hazards (especially when walking and biking) and being in and around cars safely.

Australia learns about NZ practices

Also attending was Tahlee Norton, Road Safety Programs Manager for the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) in the Australian state of Victoria.

“The ability to connect with teachers in their language and on their level was such a valuable opportunity,” she says.

“I really gained a lot from Pam Hook, Maria Kecskemeti and others. Their fresh perspectives gave me inspiration to challenge old road safety education issues in a new way.

“For my work at the TAC, the way in which New Zealand connects road safety education to the idea of citizenship resonates with our aim of 'shared responsibility' in our Towards Zero strategy and will be something I will explore in depth.”