Summary of Practice

Professional Learning and Development Accreditation

The following summary of practice provides a personal profile and a summary of your expertise.
Personal Profile
First name and Surname Kate Brown

Your iwi (optional)

Personal statement (optional)
I am passionate about supporting teachers to develop and deliver a curriculum that
engages students, is relevant to their needs and environment, is focussed on
learning with understanding and inspires them to become life-long learners.
I encourage teachers to work collaboratively benefitting from their collective energy,
ideas, skills and knowledge.
I am an experienced teacher, curriculum writer, administrator, workshop presenter
and professional development provider.

Professional Learning and Development Overview

Curriculum review and development linking curriculum design, delivery, assessment and reporting with the
Tataiako cultural competencies, the NZC key competencies and the NZC learning area achievement objectives.

Inter-disciplinary programme development building cross subject units that dont compromise the knowledge
integrity and skills of each subject area, and are relevant to students needs and future.

Concept-based curriculum development curriculum design that builds from big ideas or concepts, focussing on
teaching for understanding and the development of intellect

Inquiry pedagogy - the constructivist approach to teaching and learning, connection with metacognitive thought
processes, setting students up for successful independent learning with advocacy

Professional Information

2015: Certified Trainer of Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction ; Lynn Erickson Institute, Montana, USA.

2005: International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme Workshop Leader Training ; Chiang Mai,
Thailand.

2005: Master of Education; Monash University, Australia,

2003: Higher Certificate in Educational Leadership; Auckland College of Education,

2000: Bachelor of Teaching and Learning; Christchurch College of Education.

1998: Advanced Diploma of Teaching; Auckland College of Education

Ministry of Education | Summary of Practice | Professional Learning and Development Accreditation v1.2
 1992: Higher Diploma of Teaching; Palmerston North Teachers College

1977: Trained Teachers Certificate; Christchurch Teachers College

Programme writing and development

Currently working with many primary and secondary schools to review curriculum and provide PLD in the development
of concept-based interdisciplinary curricula delivered through inquiry pedagogy.
Ten years working as a world-wide workshop presenter and PLD provider for the International Baccalaureate curriculum
Deputy Principal and curriculum coordinator at The International School of Azerbaijan
Member of the team reviewing the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (IBPYP)
Curriculum document writer and exemplar units of inquiry reviewer for the IBPYP
Deputy Principal with curriculum responsibility, Hibiscus Coast Intermediate School
Team member to write The Arts Curriculum document for the International Education Agency, Papua New Guinea.
Curriculum coordinator the International School of Lae, Papua New Guinea

Conference presentations
Energise 2017 (Queenstown): Developing Engaging Integrated Units of Work
Engaging Todays Learners
Energise 2016 (Ashburton): Digging Deeper into Inquiry using a Conceptual Model
Canterbury Area Schools Jumbo Day (2016): Digging Deeper into Inquiry using a Conceptual Model
TAISI 2016; The Association of International Schools of India (Amritsar, India):
Personalised Learning in the Early Years.
ULearn 2015 (Auckland): Digging Deeper into Inquiry using a Conceptual Model
International Baccalaureate Conference 2009 (Singapore): The Arts in the PYP

Membership of networks of expertise, boards, committees etc. applicable to the professional learning and
development you are offering

Member of the Grow Waitaha network in Christchurch

Summary of examples of practice

Curriculum review and development for primary and secondary schools

When working through a curriculum review with schools I use a process that links curriculum design, delivery, assessment and
reporting with the Tataiako cultural competencies, the NZC key competencies and the NZC learning area achievement objectives.
I support teachers to review the existing curriculum in light of what is relevant to the learning needs of their students in todays
world, and what is relevant to their school community. The most important consideration is whether students can make
meaningful personal links with the learning and will it be engaging? This is the starting point for all new learning as intellectual
and emotional engagement are essential to the motivation for learning.

The Tangata Whenuatanga competency is an important consideration when reviewing and designing new curriculum. Each
school has different Manaakitanga to consider, so no two curricula look the same. The curriculum design begins with the
students, then considers the uniqueness of the school, before considering national and global links.

I do not bring a design or model of curriculum to a school, but work through a process with a school to develop their unique
curriculum to meet the needs of their unique group of students. I am passionate about supporting teachers to build curriculum
that motivates learners and offers opportunities for teachers to work collaboratively benefitting from their collective energy, ideas,
skills and knowledge. I support a whole-school approach to curriculum review. I lead the school through a process where we
map the existing sections of the programme to be kept, and use those as the starting point for the new curriculum map.

Several of the schools I have been supporting have moved into, or are in the process of, building learning spaces catering for
larger numbers of students. These spaces require teachers to work collaboratively and programmes must be designed to allow
the students and teachers to make effective use of the learning areas. This has required a change of curriculum and pedagogical
approach in many schools I am supporting.

Inter-disciplinary programme design through a concept-based curriculum

Through PLD sessions I support staff to develop an understanding of the advantages for student learning of a concept-based
curriculum and through a step by step process we create school-wide concept-based units of work, using achievement objectives
from the NZC. The units are designed to be locally relevant, make personal connections with each student, make authentic links
across the learning areas and highlight the importance of the students Tangata Whenuatanga and the schools Manaakitanga.
We also develop opportunities for the inclusion of issues of national and global importance. Developing concept-based
interdisciplinary units with teachers is a structure that allows for the curriculum to be co-constructed with the students as they
have the agency to choose contexts within the concepts that are of interest or of personal relevance. The concept of Ako is
developed as the teachers and students work together. This is often a challenging concept for conscientious teachers who are
used to having a complete unit planned before beginning the teaching with the students.

Inter-disciplinary programme design involves guiding teachers in the design of cross-curricula units of work that dont compromise
the integrity of the specific knowledge, skills and processes of each learning area. This is achieved through drawing out the
conceptual understandings in each of the learning areas and connecting learning areas where there are meaningful links within
conceptual understandings. The purpose of this is to develop a connected curriculum that offers students meaningful links as
they work within and across disciplines. Not all learning requirements can be linked with other learning areas, so some specific
learning objectives still need to be taught separately.

In my work with primary schools it is often logistically easier, as teachers have responsibility for the learning in several learning
areas, usually all. However, in secondary schools specialist teachers are responsible for only one or maybe two learning areas
and therefore it can be more challenging for them to move to a collaborative approach to programme design. At the unit planning
stage I work with each teacher to make sure they are confident that their learning area achievement objectives are able to be
recognised and addressed.

I supply continuous support, PLD and resources to scaffold teachers through the new cycle of planning, teaching, and
assessment and work with curriculum coordinators, team leaders, HOLAs, teams of teachers and individual teachers to support
their progress in understanding, development and implementation of inter-disciplinary units of work.

This change to a more collaborative approach to teaching and learning has often been used as the context for teachers
Teaching as Inquiry focus. I have supported teachers to design their process and consider what factors they will inquiry into to
view the impact of their teaching on their students.

Ministry of Education | Summary of Practice | Professional Learning and Development Accreditation v1.2
 Strengthening Inquiry pedagogy in schools
My PLD in inquiry pedagogy for both primary and secondary schools focusses on its beginnings in the constructivist approach to
learning and the importance of the social construction of meaning. Inquiry is the process which moves the students from their
current level of understanding to a new and deeper level of understanding.

Inquiry and assessment go hand in hand and I work with schools to build assessment practices that support inquiry and provide
the evidence to know where a students thinking and skills are and what support and scaffolding they require to move forward with
their learning. This support for assessment focus has resulted in the teachers and students developing assessment maps where,
the points of assessment in the inquiries are planned for, the strategies and tools for assessment are identified and teachers and
students purposely map what they need to do with the assessment information to support further learning.
I have worked with groups of staff to redesign their written reports to ensure that they become an accurate record of student
learning progress.

I use of four-step model of student independence in inquiry with teachers. This structure is a very clear model which allows
students to work within the appropriate level of independence for their skills. Effective inquiry learning is a highly structured and
scaffolded process and students can only be supported towards self-reliant independence, when they have sufficient skills and
resources. Teachers find it effective to use this model as it means that each student is set up for success with their inquiry.

Some teachers that I have worked with have been of the view that inquiry learning involves all students investigating a different
topic, which is unmanageable. This is not the case when you have a concept-based curriculum, students have agency to select a
context individually or in groups where they can deepen their understanding of the shared concept. As the students strengthen
their understanding and share their findings this provides authentic opportunities for Ako. This process of independent inquiry is
highly scaffolded and is only successful when the students are working at their appropriate level within the four levels of student
independence.

When working with schools I am constantly reminding teachers to ask themselves and their colleagues Why are we doing this?
Why is this important for these students learning? What do we want students to understand and be able to do ? I believe it is
important to allow each students understanding of their world develop in a manner and at a rate, that is appropriate for that
student.

I provide teachers with models, resources, scaffolds and strategies to enhance their inquiry teaching skills and support the
students inquiry learning. The inquiry approach to teaching and learning, connects with metacognitive thought processes,
setting students up for successful independent learning with advocacy. Just as students must reflect on their learning to guide
their next steps, so must the teachers reflect on their practice to guide the next steps in teaching and learning.

Referee One

Referee Name Richard Edmundson

Contact Number 027 622 1090

Contact email address en@linwoodcollege.school.nz

Referee Two

Referee Name Iva Hamilton

Contact Number 021 292 6515

Contact email address ihamilton@chisnallwood.school.nz