Photo caption:听Professor Joce Nuttall, Amo Matua | Executive Dean of Te Whare W膩nanga o Waitaha | 网曝门 Te Kaupeka Ako | Faculty of Education.
After an extensive career as a leader, educator, and researcher in Australian universities, Professor Nuttall returned to 艑tautahi Christchurch last year to serve as Amo Matua | Executive Dean of Te Whare W膩nanga o Waitaha听 网曝门 Te Kaupeka Ako | Faculty of Education. Her aim in this role is to give back to the University and the education sector.听 听
鈥淭he 网曝门 holds a special place in my heart. It is where I began my journey when I gave my first lecture while doing my master鈥檚. As I approach the latter stages of my career, I feel a strong desire to make a significant contribution, investing my experience and passion into the profession and institution that gave me my start,鈥 Professor Nuttall says.听听
Passionate about education, Professor Nuttall wanted to be a teacher before she even went to school.听听
鈥淢y maternal grandparents were inheritors of the strong Scottish tradition of prioritising education for girls, which encouraged me to see education as a portal to a world of opportunity from an early age.鈥澨
After starting in primary teaching, Professor Nuttall fell in love with early childhood education, building her career in research and teacher education in the sector.听
鈥淚'm a teacher education researcher, particularly interested in practicing teachers鈥 how they think, learn, and develop their practice. I want to know how they do things differently, how they cope with change, and how they interpret the curriculum.鈥澨
Through her leadership role as Executive Dean, Professor Nuttall is focused on developing research and working with the community.听
鈥淭eacher education shouldn鈥檛 be a transactional relationship between universities and the sector, where we鈥檙e exchanging ideas, data or funding. It鈥檚 actually about standing shoulder to shoulder and saying, 鈥榃hat are the problems of mutual interest that we need to work together to counter鈥.听 听
鈥淭he impact of this approach not only makes an educational change but builds solidarity in the community, which is a distinctive feature of our research鈥攁 practical application in real-world settings.鈥澨
Professor Nuttall says this approach could involve working with colleagues in China to explore digital transformation in education, or with young children in South Canterbury to understand how they feel about waterways.听听
鈥淲e鈥檝e got some really fine researchers in the faculty as well as the highest proportion of M膩ori staff of any Faculty of Education in the country, a lot of whom are early career researchers. Seeing their career development flourish is something I鈥檓 incredibly excited about.听
鈥淲ithin the faculty, there are also sites of resource-intensive research such as the Child Well-being Research Institute. With growing political interest in structured literacy, the institute has been very good at developing its relationships with the Government and schools,鈥 Professor Nuttall says.听
Professor Nuttall says teacher education in New 网曝门 is currently facing numerous challenges and changes related to budget constraints, strategic planning, and maintaining the quality of programmes amidst decreasing enrolments.听
鈥淎s a faculty, we are continuously seeking ways to best serve the sector by preparing confident and competent teachers.听听
鈥淭he question I鈥檓 always asking myself is, 鈥榃hat does this look like from the student鈥檚 point of view and how will this enhance their learning and give them a better experience at university?鈥欌澨
With a focus on renewing, refreshing, and reinvigorating the teaching profession, Professor Nuttall says the student experience must guide the faculty.听
Despite the challenges, she believes that education is an incredibly rich and rewarding sector.听
鈥淥ur students are diverse, and that鈥檚 one of the things I love about working in education. It鈥檚 the diversity that makes it so much fun, so we must be prepared to understand diversity and draw on the life experiences of our students,鈥 she says.听
鈥淭eaching is a demanding yet joyful and satisfying profession. It is a unique profession where individuals鈥攈aving already been students themselves鈥攈ave observed 15,000 hours of teaching by the time they enter the field. They have found joy in education.鈥澨
The integration of new technology, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), in education, is also having major implications, not only for faculty staff and preparing students, but also for schools and early childhood centres. 鈥淚t is our role to explore ways to equip schools and early childhood centres to be adept users and discerning consumers of AI, fostering a critical conscience of its implications across all parts of the education sector.鈥澨
Outside of work, learning is also a large part of Professor Nuttall鈥檚 personal life.听听
鈥淚 have spent the last five-or-six years learning Korean. I always wanted to learn another language, but I just didn鈥檛 think it would be Korean,鈥 she says.听听
Through several coincidences, she became interested in Korean history and culture. 鈥淥nce I started to understand more about it, I just went down a rabbit hole and I鈥檝e never come out again.听
鈥淚t鈥檚 not just the language itself; I鈥檓 also interested in the textiles, history, literature, films, and music. It鈥檚 a fascinating country, really fascinating. I鈥檝e really enjoyed that experience and now I have mastered a kind of basic to intermediate level of the language. It makes the whole cultural and travel experience so much more fun being able to speak the language.鈥澨
This passion for learning extends to seeing others learn. 鈥淜nowing you have been a part of someone鈥檚 learning, whether it鈥檚 adult education, postgraduate education, schools, or early childhood, is extraordinarily satisfying. My hope for any of our graduates is that they encounter that satisfaction and joy.鈥