Background

Inception

Ako Aotearoa is New Zealand's first Centre for Tertiary Teaching Excellence. It has been set up as part of a $20 million Government initiative to boost the quality of teaching in all branches of the post-school education sector.

A consortium of institutions headed by Massey University won the contract to establish the Centre. The consortium includes AUT University, the University of Canterbury, Christchurch College of Education, UCOL, and Manukau Institute of Technology. The Centre comprises a national centre in Wellington with Regional Hubs in Christchurch, Palmerston North and Auckland.

Values and Principles

At Ako Aotearoa we are guided by our values and principles. These identify who we are and how we work. In all our operations we will:

• Focus on learner outcomes
• Be evidence-based
• Strive for excellence
• Collaborate
• Be accessible and responsive to diverse interests and perspectives
• Look for and foster innovation
• Be an independent voice for effective teaching and learning
• Draw on international perspectives where appropriate
• Take a leadership role.

Key activities of the Centre

The Centre will focus on supporting the development of teaching expertise across the tertiary sector. Specific activities are likely to include:

• Gathering, analysing, reporting and disseminating evidence about what works to enhance the effectiveness of teaching and learning
• Catalysing sustainable improvements to tertiary teaching and learning practices
• Creating incentives for tertiary teaching quality
• Liaising with equivalent overseas organisations
• Meeting the specific requirements of the funding agreement with the TEC.

Getting the Centre up and running