A highlight of the recent TENZ 2015 conference was the visit to 'Middle-Earth', including a meal at which the 2015 TENZ National Technology Awards were announced.

Two full busloads of conference attendees set off on the trip at 4pm on the gloriously fine Tuesday afternoon. When they arrived at the site they were treated to a fully guided tour of the largest ‘green’ movie set in the world in which the details of how the magical Hobbiton set was created and the beautiful piece of Waikato farmland was transformed into the set of ‘Middle Earth’ for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies.

The tour ended at the Hobbit drinking hole – The Green Dragon Inn – where the group had a delightful Hobbit meal. The relaxed candle-lit walk back through Hobbiton in the darkness to the buses was a magical way to end an exhilarating day and the group disembarked in Hamilton around midnight. It certainly was a fun way to end the first day of the conference.

At the dinner, the 2015 TENZ National Technology Awards were announced, with presentations made to Marietjke van Shalkwyk, Bev France, John Williams, Kerry Lee and Wendy Fox-Turnbull.

Marietjke van Shalkwyk – TENZ Leadership Award

Marietjie has been teaching Food Technology since 1998. She completed her Master of Education at Victoria University in 2002 and in 2003 receives a travel scholarship from Wellington High School to attend a KAGAN cooperative learning conference in USA.

In 2009 She received a RSNZ education fellowship award to work on the development of food science experimental kits. She was hosted by Massey University and the outcome of the project is now being marketed by the university as Mufti Kits. She has had great success with student entering and gaining scholarship in Food Technology and has run workshops at a variety of conferences.

Over the last five years Wellington High School has entered multiple teams in the CREST Product Development Challenge and has been a Southern North Island champion on multiple occasions. She is regularly visited and contacted by her peers around the country and willingly shares resources with individual teachers and departments..

Bev France – TENZ Research Award
John Williams – TENZ Research Award

The inaugural TENZ Research Award is presented for a outstanding scholarly research in the field of Technology Education submitted in a manuscript to the Australian Journal of Technologyv Education.

Bev is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Auckland. She has been an unsung pioneer in Technology education in this country with her long association with Technology education research. And her PhD study in realising the Technology curriculum through Biotechnology in 1997 was presented a mere two years after the Technology curriculum was first gazetted. Her name appears regularly in academic journals as well as presenting at PATT, TERC and TENZ conferences. She is at the University of Auckland lecturing on current NZC Technology and supervising Master’s and Doctoral level students in Technology education.

In 2012 Dr France led and edited the book Bringing Communities Together. It outlines research and current thinking about connected partnerships in Technology education – an important aspect of current classroom practice.

Professor P John Williams the Director of Te Hononga , Curriculum and Pedagogy TEMS Education Research Centre at Waikato University, leads the largest Technology Initial Teacher Training programme in the country. He has contributed in a leadership capacity to research, curriculum development and teacher training in the Technology and Design education domains both at a national and international level.

He has established the first the first creditable Technology Journal – the Australasian Journal of Technology Education – in the southern hemisphere , now in its second publication phase, to showcase Australasian research.

John has established his credibility through astute, informed research on Technology/Design education as an author researcher and editor with 114 publications between 2006 and 2015.

Kerry Lee – TENZ Teacher Educator Award

Kerry participated in the writing of the draft Technology curriculum in 1992 developing and trialing biotechnology activities and units with six-year-olds. She was selected as the only primary teacher from the Auckland/ Northland region to be trained as a national Technology education facilitator in 1994. In 1966 she was part of a team that won a Ministry of Education contract for Technology across Auckland and Northland for primary principal and teachers, and provided PD workshops from Mercer to Cape Reinga.

In 1998 Kerry was appointed to a position at the then Auckland Teachers College, and since then has played an active role in developing College of Education and then University of Auckland Technology courses and their associated resources. In 2001 she completed a Masters in Education specialising in Technology and was Head of Centre for Technology Education from 2002-2006. She has taken a leadership role in Pasifika Technology and Technology education research and was appointed Director Postgraduate (taught courses in 2015 and ) is now responsible for all post-graduate education course taught at the University. She has been selected to lead the University of Auckland innovation and entrepreneurship initiative for the faculty of Education and has taught researched and published in this field for well over a decade.

Wendy Fox-Turnbull – TENZ Outstanding Contribution to Technology Education Award

Wendy is an experienced primary teacher who has been involved in and committed to Technology education since its introduction as a new learning area in 1995. In 1997 she worked for the Christchurch College of Education as a Technology facilitator and advisor and became a lecturer in 1998. She has lead and supported the delivery of Technology education courses at the College of education and then the University of Canterbury for the last 17 years, contributing to both pre-service and graduate programmes in the primary and secondary sectors. Since 2008 she has been Deputy Head of School.

Wendy is committed to research informed practice, and has completed her Masters and Doctorate specialising in Technology education. She is a prolific writer with over four book chapters and sixteen journal articles to her name – many in the world’s most highly ranked publications.

Wendy plays a key role in the College of Education Science and Technology Research lab which leads research and development on creative and innovative approaches to learning and teaching in Science, Mathematics and Technology education.

Wendy demonstrates her leadership ability in numerous ways. She has represented the University of Canterbury at national Technology huis in a pre-service and in-service capacity. She has been a TENZ regional committee member since 1998 and chair of the national TENZ Senate and Council since 2006. In this role she has confidently worked with multiple organisations such as IPENZ, RSNZ, MOE and various industry groups.

Her knowledge and experience is highly valued respected and her contribution to Technology education is outstanding.

Awards were also announced for Ceri de Boo and Alister Jones. Alistair was unable to come to the TENZ awards dinner at Hobbiton on the Monday and he was presented with an Outstanding Award in Technology Education at morning tea at the conference on the Tuesday. The award recognised Alister’s long-standing commitment to the establishment of Technology in the New Zealand Curriculum.

Ceri de Boo – TENZ Outstanding Teacher Award

Wendy Fox-Turnbull presented Ceri de Boo with her TENZ Outstanding Teacher Award at a recent morning staff meeting at Cashmere High School

Ceri has been teaching Technology since 2011. During this time she has become a passionate, inspiring and successful teacher, with five students gaining scholarships for Textiles Technology under her tutelage.

She is an active member of the Technology fraternity within New Zealand and has taken on a number of mentoring and moderation roles. She has been invited to lecture at the University of Canterbury’s Teachers’ College, inspiring new teachers to create innovative and relevant modules of study for their students.

She generously acts as a mentor and moderator for other Technology teachers in the Canterbury region, as well as for her own faculty, and is the first port of call within the faculty when Technology advice is required.

She is known as being exceptionally kind, approachable and caring, not only for the wellbeing of her students and colleagues, but also for Technology as a career path for her students. Her goal is to become a Technology Faculty Co-ordinator, hence is teaching Junior Hard Materials Technology and Food Technology as well as Textiles at Cashmere High School.

Ceri is an inspirational leader of Technology and she encourages not only her students to excel but she also encourages her colleagues to strive for excellence.