Telling the story of an unsung New Zealand hero through a home-based learning adventure

Join us to hear about ‘Fossil hunters’ - a dramatic inquiry-based learning adventure Catherine created for her class of year 2-3 students over lockdown in 2020. Beginning with some context about our professional relationship and the NZ curriculum, we will share how the programme of learning was developed - including culturally responsive elements. We’ll talk about how spaces for student creativity and ownership were maintained, share some of the childrens’ responses, and we’ll reflect on what we learned about curriculum and storymaking along the way. The presentation will take the form of a professional dialogue over zoom, with listeners welcome to ask questions and offer responses via chat. 

Viv Aitken

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Kia Ora, I’ve been involved in education for over twenty five years as a teacher, teacher educator, researcher, professional development facilitator, and convenor for www.mantleoftheexpert.co.nz. Formally Senior Lecturer in drama education at Waikato University and Associate Professor in Education at EIT, I’m now a Ministry-Accredited consultant with Tātai Angitu e3@ Massey, which gives me the privilege of working with schools all over Aotearoa implementing creative approaches to local curriculum. I enjoy writing and presenting and I’m very pleased to have recently finished a book Real in All the Ways that Matter: Weaving learning through the curriculum with Mantle of the Expert (NZCER 2021). I am co-chair of the newly formed Dramatic Inquiry Network Aotearoa Trust, which recently gained recognition from the NZ government as a Network of Expertise

Catherine Blewden

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Tēnā koutou katoa. I graduated from Waikato University in 1991 and have been teaching in various capacities ever since. I have worked in a number of  diverse schools at different year levels. I currently teach a lovely class of year two children and hold a Kāhui Ako position which supports improvement in student achievement and well-being by strengthening teaching practice. This role allows teachers to share skills and knowledge in new ways through a cycle of inquiry and improvement. My focus has been on developing knowledge, understanding and practise of Dramatic Inquiry and embedding this creative approach in my own classroom and throughout our school. I have recently written a contributing chapter for a book written by Professor David Giles, sharing my Dramatic Inquiry story and its transformative effect on school-wide teaching and learning.