When it rains, it pours.
The jobs are on the chopping block as a result of cost-cutting ‘restructuring’, which staff fear will result in poorer-quality programmes for teacher trainees.
The teacher-educators that are in the crosshairs are responsible for teaching classroom practice to trainee teachers, and supervising work-experience placements in schools and early childhood education centres. They mostly consist of former teachers with considerable classroom experience.
The University again wheeled out the familiar ‘research’ defense, saying that restructuring would ensure a greater proportion of college teaching was delivered by research-active staff. This was “in accordance with the University's vision as a research-led university,” chancellor Prof Vernon Squire said in a statement.
Smith told the ODT that the teacher educators felt the University was favouring research over practice and classroom experience. They were concerned restructuring would result in less contact time between teacher-educators and teacher trainees, less supervision for teacher trainees on work placements, bigger classes, and more emphasis on lectures, as opposed to tutorials and small-group work.
“There is a real fear that people who were employed for their expertise, in particular teaching practice areas such as Maori and Pacific Island education ... won't survive this.”
The restructuring process will create roughly seven new positions, with some of them being offered to existing staff. The overall net job loss will be between 15 and 20 positions.
The University is facing government funding cuts from next year, and has set up a taskforce to try to save money. Six departments, employing more than 330 staff, are being reviewed.