The CIT Diploma in Tertiary Teaching : a critical reflection : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Educational Administration at Massey University
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Date
1996
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Massey University
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Abstract
This thesis explores issues related to the implementation of a programme of tertiary and adult teacher education based on experiential learning and action research. The Diploma in Tertiary Teaching was developed in 1991 by The Education Centre (TEC) of the Central Institute of Technology, Heretaunga, New Zealand, as a response to changes in government educational funding and delivery policies. Its emphasis on open learning, student autonomy, action research and critical reflective practice placed the programme at odds with traditional programmes as well as the new National Qualifications Framework. The challenges of negotiating, resourcing and maintaining individual programmes of study for more than five hundred participants throughout New Zealand were compounded by funding and administrative systems based on classroom courses with set enrolment and completion times. More important were the issues faced by the TEC staff in attempting to meet the needs of a widely diverse student population while remaining true to the programme's philosophical base. The matter of whether, when and how to intervene to influence student decision-making, or the need to reconcile student outcomes with those of the programme present ethical and practical dilemmas that are not easy to resolve. The thesis describes the diploma programme, together with the philosophical, historical and political environments that influenced its evolution. Its main focus, however, is on questions and decisions relating to the translation of its theoretical and philosophical basis into reality. The study considers three major areas of debate – facilitation, mentoring, and assessment. Resolutions in each of the areas raise questions of meaning and practice which relate to the broader areas of the National Qualifications Framework and educational policy. The popularity and effectiveness of programmes such as the Diploma in Tertiary Teaching, as well as moves towards the use of electronic media and the internationalisation of education, are increasingly providing a challenge to traditional delivery methods and current government policies.
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Keywords
New Zealand, Technical education teachers -- Training of, Central Institute of Technology (N.Z.). Education Centre